Alarm Sounding

* Gamber: Units from Gamber responded to a fire alarm on Kays Mill Road at 10:14 p.m. Saturday.* Sykesville: Firefighters investigated a fire alarm sounding on Frederick Road at 8:12 p.m. Saturday.* Carrolltowne: Sykesville firefighters were dispatched to investigate an alarm sounding in a building on Marvin Avenue at 1:43 p.m. Thursday.* Sykesville: Units from the Sykesville company responded to a fire alarm sounding in a building on McNeal Road at 11:57 a.m. Thursday.* Sherlock Holmes Estates: Sykesville was dispatched to investigate a fire alarm sounding in a building on Watson Court at 9:58 a.m. Thursday.

The city's firefighter unions have stepped up pressure on Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon to reverse proposed cuts to the Fire Department, airing a radio ad that says the budget would increase response times to emergencies. The department is one of the hardest-hit agencies in the proposed budget, absorbing $3 million in cuts that would result in the closures of two fire companies - essentially, two fire apparatuses would be shut down and its firefighters reassigned within the agency. City officials note that no one would be laid off and that no firehouses would close permanently, though houses would close on a rotating basis to reduce spending on overtime.

FIRE* Eldersburg: Sykesville and Gamber were dispatched to Liberty High School on Bartholow Road to investigate a fire alarm sounding at 11:05 a.m. Monday. Units were out for five minutes.* Sykesville: Sykesville responded to a fire alarm sounding in a house on Slacks Road at 3:01 p.m. Monday. Units were out for 24 minutes.

A major report on the growing problem of childhood obesity calls for "fundamental changes in our society" that would affect how children spend their time and how food is advertised, packaged and sold to them. The report by the Institute of Medicine calls for schools to restrict vending machine sales and require at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Planners should design communities that encourage walking and other exercise, parents should restrict television and computer time to a total of two hours a day, and federal officials should monitor food advertising geared toward children, it says.

FIRE* Sykesville: Sykesville investigated a fire alarm sounding in a house on Neale Court at 2:17 p.m. Tuesday. The unit was out for 10 minutes.Sykesville responded to a fire alarm sounding in a house on Bernard Way at 1:42 p.m. Tuesday. The unit was out for 20 minutes.

FIRE* Winfield: An alarm sounding in a house on Fannie Dorsey Road at 4:45 a.m. Friday was investigated by units from the Winfield station.

FIRE* Taneytown: Taneytown assisted Adams County, Pa., for a fire alarm sounding on Maple Avenue in Littlestown at 8:28 a.m. Thursday. Units were canceled after one minute.* Union Bridge: Engines from Union Bridge and New Windsor were dispatched to investigate a fire alarm sounding in TC building on Whyte Street at 11:28 a.m. Tuesday. Units were out for five minutes.

FIRE* Hampstead: Hampstead and Arcadia of Baltimore County were dispatched to investigate the report of a fire alarm sounding in a building in the 700 block of Hanover Pike at 9:06 a.m. yesterday. The call was canceled after three minutes.Hampstead, Manchester and Arcadia of Baltimore County responded to investigate the report of a fire alarm sounding in a building in the 500 block of Hanover Pike at 8:26 a.m. Tuesday. Units were out for 20 minutes.

FIRE* Taneytown: Firefighters from the Taneytown and Harney stations responded for a fire alarm sounding in a building on Broad Street at 1:39 a.m. Sunday. Units were out for 27 minutes.Taneytown firefighters responded for a fire alarm sounding in a building on Bear Run Road at 12:51 a.m. Sunday. They were out for 34 minutes.* Union Bridge: Firefighters from the Union Bridge fire station responded to a house on McKinstrys Mill Road for a furnace fire at 4:41 p.m. Sunday. Units were out for one hour.

FIRE LOG* Sykesville: Sykesville responded to investigate the report of a carbon monoxide detector sounding in a building in the 1400 block of Stevens Road at 11:18 a.m. Sunday. Units were out for 30 minutes.Sykesville was dispatched to investigate the report of a fire alarm sounding in a building in the 5500 block of Strawbridge Terrace at 6:29 a.m. Sunday. Firefighters were out for 20 minutes.Sykesville responded to investigate the report of a fire alarm sounding in a building in the 300 block of Kingston Circle at 10:25 p.m. Saturday.

Four smoke detectors apparently woke Mary Gray from her sleep early yesterday, alerting her to a smoky fire in the downstairs of her Southeast Baltimore rowhouse, fire officials said. But it wasn't soon enough to avert a tragedy. She shook her husband, Richard Scott Gray, 39, but fire officials said he apparently didn't rouse from slumber. Both evidently passed out in the second-floor bedroom of their home in the 1500 block of Elrino St., officials said. They were found by firefighters responding to a neighbor's 911 call minutes past 4 a.m. Mr. Gray was pronounced dead on arrival at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

DALLAS -- The cockpit voice recorder from golfer Payne Stewart's Learjet has confirmed what investigators suspected: Stewart and five others aboard likely died from lack of oxygen because the airplane lost cabin pressure. The cockpit voice recorder, which picked up the last 30 minutes of sound inside the cabin, contained no voices, but there are sounds consistent with various alarms for cabin pressure and stall warnings, the National Transportation Safety Board stated yesterday.

Three captains at the Maryland Correctional Institution at Jessup failed to act on an explicit warning two weeks before an escape May 18 that armed robber Byron L. Smoot was planning to break out, a corrections officer has told authorities.Corrections Commissioner William W. Sondervan confirmed yesterday that the officer has submitted a written report to prison officials detailing her warning to her superiors. Sources identified the officer as Bernadette Thomas.Meanwhile, a corrections officer who was fired for failing to react to an alarm is asserting that it did not go off. In an interview with The Sun, Nina M. Polley said a microwave motion detector that should have sounded the alert was not turned on when Smoot and convicted murderer Gregory L. Lawrence fled by scaling a prison fence.

FiresWinfield: Firefighters responded at 10: 07 p.m. Wednesday to a woods fire in the 2700 block of Sams Creek Road. Units were out 46 minutes.Mount Airy: Firefighters responded at 11: 15 p.m. Wednesday to an automatic fire alarm sounding in the 300 block of Century St. Units were out 41 minutes.Mount Airy: Firefighters responded at 12: 03 a.m. Thursday to an automatic fire alarm sounding in the 9800 block of Main St. in Montgomery County. Units were out 18 minutes.Mount Airy: Firefighters responded at 3: 50 a.m. Thursday for burning electrical wires in the 6200 block of Buffalo Road.

WITH STOCK averages this morning hovering below record highs, but the Standard & Poor's 500 price-to-earnings ratio at 20.09 times earnings -- well above its normal level -- investors may wonder where to put money now. Here are some views:CAUTIOUS CORNER: "How much better can things get? By historical standards, not much. Be cautious." (Smart Money, Yale Hirsch.)"Stocks are overvalued on almost all long-term fundamental measures. Go 100 percent cash or sell 'short' immediately." (Crawford Perspectives.

It had all the makings of a catastrophe.Television newscasters broke into their programs last night with a report of a two-alarm fire at the historic State House in Annapolis. At least one reported that smoke and flames were shooting from the building's dome.The only thing missing was the fire.An apparent sprinkler system malfunction triggered a two-alarm response by Annapolis and Anne Arundel County firefighters and created a halo of cascading water visible for blocks.A fire alarm went off about 10: 35 p.m., with water shooting through high-pressure pipes at 1,000 gallons a minute from the basement to the dome, which is under repair and covered by scaffolding.

FireWinfield: Winfield investigated a fire alarm sounding in the 5500 block of Woodbine Road at 4:30 p.m. Monday. Units were out for 20 minutes.Winfield: Winfield investigated a fire alarm sounding in the 1000 block of Montclare Drive at 12:13 p.m. Monday. Units were out for 20 minutes.Woodbine: Winfield, Mount Airy, Sykesville and West Friendship of Howard County were dispatched to a barn fire in the 6900 block of Woodbine Road at 12:23 p.m. Monday. Units were out for 40 minutes.

FIRE* Sykesville: Engines from Sykesville and Gamber were dispatched to a fire alarm sounding in a building in the 1300 block of Londontown Blvd. at 4:17 p.m. Wednesday. Units were out five minutes.Sykesville firefighters were dispatched to investigate a natural gas line break at Bennett and Oklahoma roads at 2:06 p.m. Wednesday. Firefighters discovered that the cap of the gas line had been knocked off. No one was injured. Fire units were out an hour.* Gamber: Gamber firefighters responded to a fire alarm sounding in a house in the 2000 block of Kays Mill Road at 8:51 a.m. Wednesday.