Disaster_Accident

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Firefighter Nick Tamburro pays respects outside the Stamford, Conn., home where a Christmas morning fire killed three girls and their grandparents. Officials said fireplace ashes in a bag started the fire that devoured the large Victorian house. (Associated Press)

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Goalie Tomas Vokoun's appearance in relief of Michal Neuvirth on Monday night was his first action for the Washington Capitals in almost two weeks. (AP Photo)

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Authorities inspect a private plane that crashed into a field in South Knoxville, Tenn., on Dec. 26, 2011. (Associated Press/The Knoxville News Sentinel)

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Volunteer firefighter William Sierra carries fire hoses to be tested outside El Agustino 176 fire station in Lima, Peru. The country's underequipped first responders are unable to answer 40,000 emergency calls a year, or nearly a third of the annual pleas for help, because they are short of equipment, pumps and ambulances. (Associated Press)

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Volunteer firefighters from the Lima Four fire station push a car that was involved in a traffic accident. Peru's firefighters are so cash-strapped and ill-equipped that vital lifesaving equipment too often fails at a burning building or at a crash scene where people are pretzeled in mangled vehicles. (Associated Press)

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Fire destroyed a Victorian-style house on Long Island Sound in Stamford, Conn., on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. Officials said two adults and three children died in the blaze, and two others escaped. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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Firefighters investigate a house where an early morning fire left five people dead Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011, in Stamford, Conn. Officials said the fire, which was reported shortly before 5 a.m., killed two adults and three children. Two others escaped. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder must decide whether to appoint an emergency manager to keep financially crippled Detroit from going under. (Associated Press)

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British singer George Michael leaves his house in north London, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. Michael, short of breath and appearing weak, said Friday he has recovered from a life-threatening bout with pneumonia that kept him in a Vienna hospital for a month. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

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Stamford, Conn., Mayor Michael Pavia (right) and Acting Fire Chief Antonio Conte give a brief statement about a house fire that killed five people on Christmas morning, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Stamford Advocate, Lindsay Niegelberg )

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North Koreans pay their respects to the late leader Kim Jong-il in front of his portrait in Chagang, North Korea, on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)

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Minnesota Vikings free safety Mistral Raymond (41) intercepts a ball intended for Washington Redskins wide receiver Santana Moss (89) in the fourth period as the Washington Redskins take on the Minnesota Vikings at Fedex Field, Landover, MD, Saturday, December 24, 2011. (Andrew Harnik / The Washington Times)

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Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko prepares to testify on Capitol Hill on Thursday before a Senate Clean Air and Nuclear Safety subcommittee hearing. He said the newly approved design would ensure safety through simplified security functions and other features. He also said plants using the design could withstand damage from an airplane crash without significant release of radioactive materials - an issue that gained attention after the 2001 terrorist attacks. (Associated Press)