THE STUTTGART FEUERWEHR IN GERMANY had a working fire in a Toyota auto dealership on Wednesday.

The event itself wasn’t anything that warrants international mention, but a local fire buff named Jorg Stuggi posted some pictures of it on Flickr (HERE) and I thought you would find them interesting.

The overhead shot illustrates their policy on positioning and hose layouts.  Notice too, in the foreground is what looks to be either a command post or a canteen (probably the former) that is a POD unit.  The transporter is still there.

It appears that Stuttgart has a high-quality fleet of modern fire apparatus.

A LIGHT PLANE CRASHED INTO A NORTH LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, house around 6:30 am local time Friday morning.

The crash started a fire in the house, burning out one end of the home.  The pilot and one resident died immediately and a second resident died later at the hospital.

Investigators examine the wreckage and fire damage
at the North Las Vegas house. 
(Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus photo)

The North Las Vegas Fire Department responded quickly and kept the fire contained to the area of impact and ignition.

An FAA spokesman says that the aircraft was a home-built Velocity 173RG experimental machine.  When it took off from the North Las Vegas airport, the traffic controller was in contact with the pilot after he radioed that he was having trouble gaining altitude and was going down.

The FAA spokesman described the rear-propeller aircraft as as “experimental,” and said it can be built from a kit. FAA records showed the aircraft was certified for flight in 2002, he said, and was owned by a Las Vegas resident.

A typical model of the Velocity 173RG

The Las Vegas Sun has the latest REPORT.

The Associated Press has some raw video of the fire:

KVVU Ch. 5 has the press conference held by NLVFD Fire Chief Kevin Brame:

A THIRD VICTIM OF THE RETIREMENT HOME fire in Vallejo, California, was found around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, buried under about four feet of uncleared debris from a collapsed penthouse floor, a fire official said.

The unidentified body is not believed to be one of the three that were reported to be unaccounted-for yesterday.  Two of those people have been located and they are well.

However, the resident of apt. 617 was reported missing by his family earlier.  Initially it was thought that he was among those who were accounted for on the day after the fire.

The Mercury News has the UPDATE.

A TWO-STORY, 8,000 to 10,000 SQ. FT. HOME UNDER CONSTRUCTION in Jupiter, Florida, burned Wednesday and was partially destroyed.

WPTV

The mansion sits on an acre in a luxury gated community called The Bear’s Club.  It is a golf club founded by former champion Jack Nicklaus.  His son Gary is one of the co-owners of the house that burned.  It was nearing completion when the fire started.

The TCPalm reports:

Firefighters battled the blaze for two hours before it was brought under control, said Capt. Don DeLucia, spokesman for Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. A section of the roof collapsed while fire crews pumped water onto the flames.

“Even with the wind and weather conditions, we were able to save two-thirds of this huge house,” DeLucia said.

“There’s smoke and water damage of course, but not all of it burned. Unlike most fires, where we can get inside to fight the flames, we had to pour water on the fire from the outside,” he said.

A newspaper carrier discovered the fire at 5 am and when the FD arrived the house was well involved in the fire.  There is not yet any indication of what caused it.  The fire inspector said that the home had a temporary electric supply for the construction and that will be looked at as well as any other possible sources.

The Florida Sun Sentinal has the STORY.

A CUSTOM RACECAR TRANSPORTER BELONGING TO PENSKE RACING caught fire Wednesday and was virtually destroyed.

The truck was carrying the Penske Indy Car team’s two cars and all the pit equipment to this weekend’s IRL (road course) race in Sonoma, California.  They were traveling on I-80 near Cheyenne, Wyoming when a wheel bearing on the trailer failed and started a fire.  The two transport drivers got the truck off the road but were unable to extinguish the fire.  They managed to separate the tractor and take it to safety while waiting the arrival of the local fire department.

The lower level of the 2-level trailer was completely destroyed.  It contained all the pit equipment, all the team’s and drivers’ uniforms, tools, dynamometer and other equipment.  The two racecars on the upper level were severely damaged, but it is not yet known if any part of them are salvagable.

They will race their two backup cars that were already in Sonoma for testing.

Penske Racing / Steve Swope image

Penske has already sent a backup truck carrying two additional cars, which are currently configured for an oval track, for spare parts along with a supply of tools and four crew members.  They will stop in Wyoming to pick up the two original truck drivers and leave two of the mechanics with the wreckage to salvage what they can.

The early estimate of damage is “over $2 million.”

The Indianapolis Star has the STORY.
Penske Racing has a press release about the fire HERE.

 Update:  Death toll currently reported at 45 150 153.

A SPANAIR PLANE CRASHED WHILE TAKING OFF on the main runway at the Madrid, Spain, airport at 2:45 pm local time (8:45 am Eastern).

Smoke rises from the scene where a Spanair plane
crashed after skidding off the runway at the
Barajas Airport in Madrid.  (Reuters/Hanna photo)

The aircraft was an MD-80 and had about 166 174 people on board (164 passengers, 10 crew).  There are both survivors and casualties, but exact numbers are not yet known.

Early reports say that the plane was not yet airborne and had swerved off of the runway, possibly after a violent engine mishap, and skidded down a slope into a vegetated area.  There are several early accounts about what happened, but most of them seem to agree that there was an initial problem with an engine.

Spanair is one of three private air carriers operating out of Spain and is a subsidiary of SAS Scandinavian Airlines.  The flight was en route to the Canary Islands.

BBC News has an early video of fire and rescue units responding onto the scene HERE.

The Red Cross has set up a field hospital to treat the injured on-scene.  Spanish media report that at least 11 fire engines were sent to control the blaze.  A forestry helicopter was making water drops on grass fires ignited by the crash.

The AP has this video report:

THE KOREA TIMES IS REPORTING:

Fire swept through a Seoul nightclub in the predawn hours Wednesday, causing the building’s roof to collapse and killing three firefighters, Yonhap News reported quoting police sources.

The victims were buried under the collapsed roof on the third floor while attempting to put out the blaze. They were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were later pronounced dead.

No patrons were inside the three-story building at the time of the fire, Kim Seok-ho, a police officer at the Eunpyeong Police Station, was quoted as saying.

“The door was shut. After checking that no one was inside, the firefighters went into the building to put out the fire,” Kim said.

The fire was reported by a witness at 5:25 a.m. and was put under control about an hour and a half later. The Eunpyeong district fire station in southern Seoul identified the victims as Cho Gi-hyun, 45, Kim Gyu-jae, 41, and Byeon Jae-woo, 35.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

This story will be updated as more information is released.

A GRASS FIRE IN NORTH RENO, NEVADA, MONDAY AFTERNOON raced up a steep hillside and destroyed six homes.  Ironically, it was on the same street where four homes were lost in a similar fire in 2004.

Reno Gazette-Journal photo

The fire started at the bottom of the slope right behind the homes where investigators have uncovered evidence of the fire being set.  They have been questioning neighbors about children that witnesses say were seen running from the area about the time the fire started.

For more, read KTVN Ch. 2 story HERE.
The Associated Press has this video report:

 Update:  3rd victim found.  Click HERE

THE DISASTROUS NIGHT FIRE that destroyed Vallejo, California’s, largest building last Friday claimed its second victim when it was disclosed yesterday that John Argente, 74, died on Sunday.

The 4-alarm fire that swept through the retirement home also took the life of a still-unidentified man who was found in the apartment where the fire is believed to have started.  Argente lived in the adjoining unit.

Fire officials told tv station KTVU Tuesday night that three of the residents remain unaccounted for. They are identified as Harold Fortune, George Long and Darlene Long. George and Darlene Long are not related.  They don’t yet know if the three people are still undiscovered in the rubble of if they had happened to be away from the building when it happened.  They are asking if anybody knows of their whereabouts.

The AP report is HERE.
KTVU story HERE.

A SPEEDING CAR IN SOUTH SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, clipped another car and then went careening into a Family Dollar store where it caught fire.

Ch. 4

The highly exciting sequence of events was noted for its amazing lack of injuries.  The crash took place during rush hour when the out-of-control car went over the curb, grazing the tricycle of a disabled woman on the sidewalk, then plowing into the store right at the checkout register that is normally busy at that time of day.  But this time the line wasn’t there.

KSL

The car came to rest well into the store and started burning.  The South Salt Lake Fire Department responded and put the fire out quickly.  People are still shaking their heads at the good fortune of everybody who was around the accident.

KSL-TV Ch. 5 has a good video report: