It Just Rolled Out of a Junked Car

AN AUTOMOBILE JUNK YARD NEAR HONOLULU, Hawai'i, was the scene of an explosion and fire Tuesday afternoon.

KHON-TV

When an operator of the yard excavator rolled over a car to be picked up, an acetylene cylinder rolled out breaking the valve.  As the leak began, a spark ignited the gas and it exploded.  The excavator operater was burned and had to be transported to the hospital in serious condition.

The explosion started a fire in the junkyard that involved a pile of tires and sent a column of thick smoke up that could be seen for miles away.  The Honolulu Fire Department responded and had the fire out in about an hour.  Damage is estimated at $300,000.

KHON-TV Ch. 2 has more in their story HERE.  They also filed this video report:

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Police Quickly Class it Suspicious

A DEVASTATING EXPLOSION LEVELED A CHANDLER, Arizona, house late Sunday night and caused enough damage to the home next door that it was destroyed also.

KTVK / AzAce

The withering blast that was felt up to two miles away immediately pulverized the house that had nobody in it at the time.  The resident who was not at home was located later this morning and he confirmed that there should be nobody in the house or its debris.

The police soon declared that the incident was "suspicious" based on some early evidence that they had, coupled with the fact that the home did not have any sort of gas service to it.

KTVK / Roscoe

AZCentral News filed this video report from the scene:

*  *  *

KTVK

Phoenix Channel 3 has filed this updated report just before 1 pm Eastern:

A full investigation is underway including agents from ATF.  Already the investigators are telling the press that the explosion was intentional and not an accident.

KTVK-TV has more details, videos and a photo gallery HERE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Government Interfering With Dedicated Tax Evasion

ITALY IS A COUNTRY WITH A STRONG culture of tax evasion, almost to the level of having a right to do so.  Recently the central govenment announced a crackdown on tax evaders, beginning with a raid on vacationers at a ski resort.  The government-owned company Equitalia is the designated collector of unpaid taxes and fines, and assigned to go after the evaders.

On Monday night the Naples office of Equitalia was rocked with three explosive devices that blew out the door and the windows of the office.

This was only the latest in a string of incendiary protests against the government's latest attempt to raise taxes and become more aggressive in collecting unpaid accounts.  On December 9 this recent protest began when a letter bomb was delivered to the main Equitalia office in Rome.  One man was injured and a desk was made unusable forevermore.  A second letter bomb was intercepted by the police a week later.

However, a series of Molotov cocktail attacks were carried out on the local Equitalia offices in three other cities while several other local offices around the country began receiving envelopes containing bullets, loose gunpowder, and threatening notes.  Ten days ago several offices were adorned with "suicide puppets," dolls doused with a blood-colored liquid and hanging from a noose outside the front doors.

Il Mattino has posted some video from the scene of Monday's attack in Naples:

ZeeNews has more details HERE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Not a Good Week For the Shipping Business

A MERCHANT FREIGHTER THAT CARRIES PETROLEUM products had a hull-breaking explosion Sunday morning off the coast of South Korea.

Korea Coast Guard photo via Reuters

The ship had just left the port at Incheon when it blew up.  It is believed that five of the 16-man crew were killed and perhaps six more are missing.

The Korea Herald tells us:

Doola Shipping, which operates the ship, said the explosion seems to have taken place while gas was being drained from the oil tank. "The vessel usually transports diesel, but this time it carried gasoline. We are now examining whether it had any relation to the explosion," a company official said.

Korea Coast Guard photo via Reuters

The explosion was not caused by any external shock, Coast Guard officials said, adding it suddenly occurred when some crew members were cleaning the oil tank on the deck. They will request a forensic test for the case, the officials said.

Apparently the gasoline had been offloaded at Incheon and it was the vapors in the tank that exploded.  There was no product leaked into the sea as a result of the accident.  An investigation is open to determine what happened.

Euro News posted this raw video showing a closeup view of the ship from sea level:

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Criminal Charges Pending Against Owner

A GAS EXPLOSION WHICH TRIGGERED two more gas cannisters in the kitchen of a Moscow, Russia restaurant, killed two people and injured at least 39 more while destroying the building.

The blast occurred around 3:30 pm local time on Monday at the Il Pittore Italian restaurant.  Russia Today news service reports:

The blasts blew out windows and caused the walls and roof to collapse. The kitchen area then caught fire. The blaze was initially contained within the kitchen, but quickly spread to cover 250 square meters. Firefighters were sent to the scene and were able to douse the fire by 16.50 PM. Authorities have already excluded the possibility that the blasts were part of a terrorist attack.

RIA Novosti

A Moscow health department official said 39 [toll now raised to 41....ed.]people were injured, with 32 of them hospitalized. Most of the people were injured by shattered glass and sustained skin burns. The condition of six injured people was classified as serious. Both of the dead victims were apparently employees of the restaurant.

The investigative committee says two criminal cases have been launched: one on providing unsafe services and on involuntary manslaughter. The Emergency Ministry has issued a preliminary statement, saying the explosions were caused by improper use of gas equipment.

One of the fatalities was a 44-yr.-old chef and the other was an unidentified employee also found in the kitchen.  The head chef is barely alive with 100% burns to his body, inhalation burns, and other injuries.

Authorities are saying that the area does not have natural gas service, so the restaurant had illegally connected a series of 50-litre gas cylinders to run the ovens.

RIA Novosti has filed some raw video taken at the scene:

The Italian Consulate General in Moscow reported that there were no Italians in the restaurant at the time.

The Moscow News has MORE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Some Photogenic Destruction This Weekend

*  *  *

Con-Agra Flour Mill – Huron, Ohio

*  *  *

Prudential Insurance Building – Houston, Texas

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Residents Wondering, "Who's Next?"

SLIGHTLY LESS THAN A YEAR after a natural gas explosion leveled several homes and killed five people, Allentown, Pennsylvania had another incident Thursday but without the severity of outcome.

Express-Times / Clerico

The local gas company is continually replacing aged cast-iron gas mains through the city and while they were working on North Fulton St. Thursday afternoon a leak developed in the line somewhere and a resident near the work site started smelling a strong odor in his house.  He went out to the consctruction crew and told them of the smell, then two workers went into his house to check.  Within minutes the accumulated gas blew and destroyed part of the front wall and the porch in the area of the gas meter.

Four people, the two workers and two residents were shaken up by the blast and transported.  They were later released after being checked out.

WFMZ-TV filed this video report from the scene:

The Lehigh Valley Express-Times has the full STORY.

Review last February's gas explosion in Allentown the killed five people, destroyed 8 houses and damaged 47 others HERE and HERE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Small Farming Community

Updated:  Photo and additional information posted.

A POST-FIRE EXPLOSION RIPPED THROUGH an industrial building in Enderby, British Columbia, Thursday morning killing a volunteer firefighter and injuring another one.  The victim has been identified by the B.C. coroner as 29-year-old Daniel Botkin, one of 24 paid-on-call members of the Enderby and District Fire Department.  The Vancouver Sun reports:

At around 4 a.m. this morning, firefighters were called to Sperlich Log Construction — a log home building business on the north edge of the small community, situated about 30 kilometres north of Vernon.

Botkin was killed when an explosion ripped through a burning shed near where the original fire erupted in a building that was under construction, according to RCMP.

A recent photo of Daniel Botkin and his bride.

Up until the explosion, "everyone felt they had [the fire] pretty well under control,” said Vernon RCMP spokesman Gord Molendyk. He said police were on hand to deal with traffic in the area while firefighters fought the blaze, but “firefighters told [police] officers they could leave."

The blast blew the roof and walls off of the building.  CBC News photo.

The explosion occurred a little more than an hour after arrival and when the fire was knocked down.  The second victim was treated for his injuries on the scene and was not transported according to one report.  treated for non-life threatening injuries and transported to a local hospital in stable condition.

Investigation is just beginning into the cause of the initial fire and what brought on the subsequent explosion.

Update:  The Canadian Press is reporting:

Posts on social media websites say Mr. Botkin was married just two months ago and had recently been elected to the position of captain and training officer with the local volunteer fire department

"(He was) pretty well respected in the community," said Mr. Botkin's cousin, Glenn Botkin, who lives in Oliver, B.C. "He had just gotten a promotion in there. He was a very hard-working, clean-cut kid."

Dan Botkin was married in October, said his cousin.

 The Globe & Mail adds:

At the Enderby fire hall, a firefighter who identified himself as Shane was shaken by Mr. Botkin’s death. "He was a really good guy," the firefighter said in a phone interview.

Mr. Botkin had been volunteering with the Enderby Fire Department for around five years and had plans to go "up North" to pursue work as a firefighter, Shane said. While volunteering, Mr. Botkin had also worked at a number of local businesses in recent years, he added.

The Vancouver Sun has this REPORT.
Enderby and District Fire Department WEBPAGE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Several Compressed Gas Tanks Kept in Van

A MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, PLUMBER WAS KILLED in front of his own home Monday morning after he approached his work van and it exploded just before he got inside.

Joe Cosentino, 25, was leaving the house that he shares with his parents at 6:45 am and was close to the van when it blew, tossing him about 20 feet away with massive "blast type" injuries to his head, chest and abdomen, along with deep cuts from the flying debris and internal injuries from the force of the blast.

Cosentino primarily worked with refrigeration units and kept about seven tanks of gasses in his work truck.  Neighbors say that they heard a loud hissing sound just moments before the explosion which was heard up to 3 miles away.  The AAP reports:

Detective Senior Constable Mick Cashman from the arson and explosives squad praised passers-by who came to the young tradesman's aid. He was amazed no one else was killed.

"A number of people were out for their morning walk in the area and were very close to the explosion," he said. "The fact that a lot of those people tended to the victim in the immediate aftermath of the initial explosion is a credit to them and remarkably brave considering the vehicle was still experiencing a number of smaller explosions and eventually caught fire as well."

The explosion damaged windows and roofs on up to 20 nearby homes and was heard five kilometres away, Det Sen Const Cashman said. "The first fire brigade on scene actually heard the explosion from their shed," he said.

Cosentino went into cardiac arrest just after the ambulance arrived and they were able to restart him a few times, but he died in the hospital about 3 hours later.

The Age

The work safety agency and police are investigating the cause of the explosion.  They are assuming there was a leak, but don't know yet what triggered it.  They will also look into how the bottles were stored in the van.

TenNews posted this very good video report:

Read more details in the Sydney Morning Herald HERE.
The Age has MORE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Midnight Fire Destroys Eight Businesses

A FIRE IN A CATHEDRAL CITY, CALIFORNIA, STRIP MALL leveled half the shopping center early Tuesday morning after a presumed backdraft explosion blew out all the front windows and led to a roof collapse.

Desert Sun photo

A patrol car discovered the fire around midnight and turned in the alarm.  The first-arriving units found heavy smoke in the building that has a common attic.  It was shortly after the Cathedral City FD arrived that additional oxygen got into the smoke and triggered the blast that caused the structural damage.  Aside from the blast, the fire was relatively easy to put out and had been extinguished an hour later.

KESQ-TV adds:

While the investigation continues into what caused the fire, firefighters have pinned down where the blaze originated. They believe it began in the plaza's meat market. "Our original report was that it was at the carnaceria," said Cathedral City Fire Department Battalion Chief John Muhr. "A passerby which happened to be one our police officers drove by and saw the smoke, so we're pretty certain that we have a good idea of the origin."

It took firefighters about an hour to put out the fire. In the process four firefighters were in for a surprise. They were knocked off their feet by a back draft explosion that occurred in the strip malls' Chinese restaurant. "In the case of the fire last night, we had an attic that was filled of flammable smoke and it found an ignition source and the rest is history," said Muhr.

About 35 to 40 firefighters from Cathedral City, Palm Springs and CalFire fought the blaze.

KPSP-TV Ch. 2 posted some raw video from the scene:

The Desert Sun has the STORY plus an extensive photo gallery.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *