British company SNO!zone is offering a white Christmas on auction site eBay to raise money for charity. SNO!zone, which operates three indoor ski slopes, promises to deliver a 10-ton truck loaded with snow on Christmas Eve. Winner of the auction will also get a decorated Christmas three, a front door wreath and Christmas lights.

Rescuers are going to carry oxygen masks specially designed for animals. Six fire trucks in Appleton, WI and 13 ambulances will be equipped with masks intended for dogs, cats and other small animals. Donations paid for each of the $49 masks. They come in three sizes. The fire chief was inspired to buy the masks after seeing a picture of a firefighter giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a cat. Nearby Madison Fire Department already carries similar masks on its seven ambulances, though they haven't used them yet.

Firemen are all fired up about a fire station that was built without a pole. Officials said the pole would cause more injuries than it was worth, and in its place firemen will have to go down three flights of stairs to reach their trucks.

A Japanese research team is planning to run a campaign on environmental awareness by entering a racecar that runs on cooking oil, used to fry tempura, in the Dakar rally. Hidefumi Onaka, a lecturer at the Osaka Sangyo University, said Toyota's Land Cruiser 100 would be the first racecar to run on bio-diesel in the prestigious sporting event. Onaka told the Canadian Press, "We want to show what tempura oil can achieve, as a way to raise environmental awareness. . . We're not doing it just for fun, so we decided to enter an internationally acclaimed event and appeal to the world. "

A dairy truck accident unleashes a river of cream and forces the closure of a highway in Oldenburg, Germany. The truck's driver fell asleep at the wheel, and the vehicle swerved. It smashed into a safety barrier, causing $74,980 of damage.