Driver Escapes Spectacular Blaze

A GASOLINE TANKER LITERALLY CRASHED AND BURNED in Anderson County, South Carolina, Tuesday morning.

Independent-Mail / Kelly

The truck was carrying 9,000 gals. of product when it drifted off the road around 10:20 am.  WYFF-TV tells what happened:

Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Bill Rhyne said the 2009 Kenworth tractor-trailer tanker driven by 46-year-old Jose Emilio Calderon of Easley. Calderon was wearing a seat belt, was injured and was taken to AnMed for treatment, Rhyne said.

Rhyne said the tanker truck was headed south on Shady Grove Road when for unknown reasons it ran off the left side of the road and then off the right side of the road, hitting a fence and a power pole.

The cab of the truck remained upright, while the tank turned on its side. Power lines came down on top of the tanker, igniting the fuel that was on board.

The driver was able to crawl out of the cab before it began burning and two neighbors ran over and dragged him to safety.

WSPA-TV provided some good raw video of the fire:

After the fire department had a foam supply on hand and set up, they had the fire knocked down in about 15 minutes.  About 4,000 gals. of gasoline was saved and it was later transferred to another truck.

Read more at WFYY-TV website HERE.
The Anderson Independent Mail has MORE.

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Reportedly Tank Cars Involved

Updated, scroll down:

THREE FREIGHT TRAINS ALL TRAVELING IN THE SAME DIRECTION, collided Friday afternoon in northern Indiana, setting off a fire in some cars that could be seen ten miles away, according to some reports.

The wreck occurred shortly after 1 pm when a westbound train that was at a standstill was rear-ended by another westbound freight.  As they were derailing and sending debris flying, the unfolding collision knocked into a third westbound train running on a parallel track.

Chicago Tribune

NBC News has filed this raw video taken from their helicopter after the main body of the fire burned out:

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

The train was hauling several tank cars of ethanol but firefighters did not know initially if they were involved in the fire.  The fire does not appear to have affected any tankers judging from the amount of fire in the wreckage.  Some reports has said that some chemical spill has occurred, but it is all unconfirmed as the fire is still burning in the train at the time of this posting.

The location of the wreck is in an isolated area of Porter County and there are no buildings nearby that could be endangered.  Two railroad workers were slightly injured and transported but are expected to be ok.

The Chicago Tribune is filing reports HERE.

ChicagoAreaFire has one of their ace photographers en route to the crash scene now.  Later on CHECK HERE to get the updates on the situation and view the photo gallery when it's posted.

The CSX locomotives appear to have been substantially burned.
(NBC News photo)

Update:
It has been determined that the ethanol tankers were empty, but there was an unidentified liquid leaking from a tank car in one of the three trains.

The two trainmen in the locomotive of the train that rear-ended the other one were the two injuries.  They are still in the hospital but have been classed as non-life threatening.  The four trainmen from the other two trains were uninjured.

The Chicago Sun-Times adds:

The first train had 77 cars and two engines; the second train contained 60 cars and two engines; and the third train had 48 cars and three engines.

Porter County Emergency Management responder Jim Sherrick said the fire was due to diesel fuel on the trains. Sherrick, who lives about a half mile from the collision, rushed to the scene after hearing it on his police scanner. He described the scene as a lot of mangled train cars, stacked upon each other.

Emergency personnel were hampered by their inability to reach the fire, which poured thick, black smoke and flames hundreds of feet into the air. The heart of the fire is between two large open fields with no ready access. Since the area doesn’t have hydrant access, tankers from every fire department in the county were regularly going in and out of the area.

Read the full updated report in the Sun-Times HERE.

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Why Do So Many of Them Burn Underneath Bridges?

A TANDEM-TRAILER TANKER CAUGHT FIRE on a California freeway in Montebello shortly after noon Wednesday and came to a stop just under a highway overpass.  The incident began just after noon Pacific and the rear trailer's tank burned completely and apparently caused significant damage to the bridge over the fire.

KABC-TV

The driver and passenger were first to realize the problem and called in the alarm reporting as a possible brake fire.  They both safely made it out of the tractor cab.

While the fire was intense, it was relatively isolated and easily contained by the 200 firefighters dispatched to the blaze.  An even bigger problem was the runoff and state Dept. of Fish and Game as well as flood control crews were brought in to help contain the petroleum spill.

KABC-TV

No other vehicles were involved in the incident, but the freeway and the highway crossing it will be closed for an extended time until the bridge can be made safe.

NBC posted some raw video taken from their helicopter:

View more videos at: http://nbcsandiego.com.

The Los Angeles Times has the STORY.

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Lightning Storm in Area

A TANDEM-TANKER WAS DROPPING GASOLINE at a Melbourne, Australia, convenience store Sunday night when it suddenly ka-boomed and started burning.  The truck's driver was in the cab and he immediately bailed out, dashed away from the flaming fuel and did the stop-drop-roll maneuver putting out his burning clothing.  The store's security cameras caught the unexplained ignition and the river of burning fuel that followed the event:

The fuel started running down the street toward a nearby hotel, setting two parked cars afire as it traveled.  About 100 firefighters from the Country Fire Authority responded and found what one described as "a wall of fire" in the area.  They successfully contained the fire and safely controlled the unburnt fuel that was running down the street.

CFA provided photo

The driver stood in the heavy rain cooling off his burns until the ambulance arrived and transported him. He is in critical but stable condition with burns to his legs, hands and arms.  Approximately 500 guests were evacuated from the hotel and adjoining night club as a precaution, but they were later allowed back inside after the emergency was mitigated.

Two parked cars were burned and a third was damaged
when the panicky driver crashed into a tree while trying
to drive away from the fire.  (CFA photo)

After the fire was out they found a large hole in the side of the lead trailer that caused the fuel to run out.  It is being considered that it may have been a lightning strike that caused it because there was an electrical storm in the area at the time, but it has not been determined if that is what happened.  The remaining gasoline was safely transferred from the damaged truck to a replacment trailer.

Herald Sun photo

The Knox Leader has the STORY.

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No Ka-Boom – Everybody Goes Back Home

Update, video interview added.  Scroll down.

THE 2-TON BRITISH BOMB LAYING ON THE RHEIN RIVERBED in Koblenz, Germany, was successfully mitigated today and all 45,000 nearby residents have been given the all-clear to return to their homes, hospital wards and jail cells.

A member of the Rheinland-Palatinate bomb disposal team
inspects the 2-ton bomb Sunday morning while preparing
to begin the defusing procedure.  (AFP)

Defusing operations began at 3 pm local time (9 am Eastern) on the large bomb, followed next by mitigating a 275-lb American bomb that was near it.  During the de-watering yesterday a smokescreen bomb was also uncovered and, following the defusing of the two bombs, it was blown up on site.  By 4:30 pm the All-Clear was sounded and the repopulating of the area was begun.

The Local.de described the scene Sunday morning:

Despite the rain which stymied plans some had to spend the day outside, officials said that the evacuation of around 45,000 people by 9 a.m. was successful. It was the biggest such evacuation in Germany since the war.

Some 2,500 fire, police, medical and technical personnel as well as city officials were involved in organising the evacuation. Around 1,000 people spent Sunday morning checking to make sure everyone had left the 1.8 kilometre exclusion zone by 9 a.m. local time.

Bomb disposal experts were able to begin their work on the massive British bomb earlier than expected – and once they had defused that one, then worked on a smaller but more unstable American bomb nearby. After they were successfully defused, a smoke bomb also found in the area was blown up in a controlled explosion, marking the end of the dangerous operation.

Seven shelters were set up in schools in the city and the surrounding area, with space for 12,000 people.

Early in the morning ambulances evacuate 200 elderly residents of retirement homes. A prison and two hospitals had already been cleared over the last few days. All rail connections to Koblenz were suspended from 7 a.m. and roads leading to the city were closed.

Koblenz city center was a ghost town Sunday morning.  (DPA)

 Even after 66 years, finding unexploded Allied bombs is still common in Germany. Authorities believe there are still some 3,000 bombs buried beneath Berlin alone, and World War II devices are regularly discovered in the capital during construction work.  In June 2010 Firegeezer REPORTED HERE on the early explosion of a 500 kg bomb that killed three disposal team members before they began their operation in Gottingen.

Earlier Firegeezer reports on the Koblenz evacuation and disposal operation are HERE and HERE.

Update, 2:15 Eastern:
This video interview with the bomb disposal technician who defused the bomb has English sub-titles:

Special thanks to Christian Lewalter of FWNetz for his assistance.

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Bombs Are Exposed, Evacuation Has Begun

Firegeezer note:  This is a continuation of a story begun Friday about the defusing of more than 20 bombs and mines that were exposed in the River Rhein during a record-dry month in Germany.  Preparations have been made to evacuate 45,000 residents, half the population of Koblenz while two vary dangerous mitigations take place on Sunday.  If you haven't read it, we urge you to read Part 1 from yesterday HERE before you continue.

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THE TWO-TON BOMB WAS surrounded by a sandbag cofferdam on Friday so that the water around it could be pumped out.  The bomb must be out of the water in order to be defused.

On Saturday the water was pumped out, exposing the bomb in preparation for the mitigation operation on Sunday. The bomb has the explosive potential to create a crater 60 feet wide and 16 feet deep and demolish a city block, authorities said.

The evacuation of the city areas affected, a 1.6 km radius, was begun on Friday with a target time of Sunday 9 am for completion.  About 2,500 fire, police and volunteers are guiding the evacuation.   The Local.de reports:

The city has already started getting its people to safety. That includes around 700 people in two hospitals – including some very ill people in intensive care.

The hospital evacuations took place on Saturday  (dpa)

 "This has already started, as it takes a lot of time, but it should be completed on time – most people will be on their way to other hospitals on Friday," (A fire dept. spokesman) said. "The old people’s homes, where we have around 520 people to move, will be evacuated on Sunday itself – we will have around 300 vehicles including ambulances to move them."

Around 200 prisoners will also have to be moved from the jail, which houses people accused and convicted of crimes from theft to murder, spokeswoman Andrea Kästner told The Local.

"We mostly house people in investigative custody, so they have not been convicted, but they are accused of a very broad range of crimes, from theft to murder. Of course some of them could be considered dangerous," she said. "We are gathering information from other prisons in the state about how many spaces they have. It will be a huge operation. We have people working here who have been here since the 1970s and there has certainly not been anything like this in that time."

She said normal prison buses would be used to take the prisoners to other jails where they would spend the night, but then be returned on Monday.

The regular citizens have already begun their self-evacuations and will be gone from the danger zone by morning.  For those without their own transportation there will be buses running from 6:30 am until 9 am on Sunday morning to take them to the designated shelters.

There is a live webcam aimed at the site (not visible until daybreak around 1 am Eastern time) but it will be deactivated during the most crucial time of the defusing operation.  CLICK HERE to watch it.

Updated postings will continue.  Check back on Firegeezer Sunday morning.
If you follow updates on Twitter, the hashtag is #bombeKO

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Low Water Exposes Old Bombs

AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS OF LITTLE RAIN, an extended drought in Germany has led to extremely low water levels in the rivers.  This has generated new problems in one of the main waterways, the River Rhein.  As the water level dropped, at least 20 bombs and mines of all sizes from World War II that had ended up in the river have been exposed.

Firegeezer German correspondent Christian Lewalter is reporting to us:

During the past week the military and police bomb squads have been busy and successfully defused all the found armaments safely.

Munitions expert Horst Lenz mitigates
one of the WW-II bombs.  (DPA)

But there are two remaining that will be a challenge for everyone.  The two largest and most dangerous bombs are lying in the water within the city limits of Koblenz.

On Sunday December 4th, 45,000 residents will have to be evacuated while the defusing takes place. This will include a prison, the main train station, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and so on. At least 2,500 rescue workers from all kind of departments, police, fire, rescue will be there to evacuate the people.

Then 2 teams will start defusing 1 "casual" 250kg bomb and a 1,800kg "Air Mine". The 250kg is in a very bad condition and will be a huge problem to the bomb squad.

The "Air" mine can be seen through the water
resting on the riverbed.  (DPA)

Over the weekend Firegeezer will be posting updates and other related news items about this unique haz-mat operation and mass evacuation.

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Updated Report

SEVERAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS ARE on the scene of a major fire at a security munitions plant in Jamestown, Pennsylvania.   The Erie Times-News is reporting:

The fire at Combined Tactical Systems, 388 Kinsman Road, near Jamestown, was dispatched at 7:23 a.m., according to Mercer County emergency dispatchers. Responding departments included four from Crawford County, which were dispatched shortly before 7:30 a.m.

Products sold by Combined Tactical Systems include chemical munitions, impact munitions and flash-bang devices, according to information on the company's website.

Additional stock includes tear gas devices and door breaching charges.

The third alarm was struck just before 8 am.  The facility is safely isolated in a rural area.  No further information has been released yet.

Google Satellite View of the complex

Update, 4 pm Eastern:
A total of 14 fire departments were dispatched to the fire that was located in a building at the rear of the complex where smoke products are made.  According to the company CEO Don Smith, there were no injuries to the seven employees that were working in the building at the time, nor to any of the 170 other employees at the complex.

North Shenango FD photo (used with permission)

Read the smoke on this one….
North Shenango FD photo

The building, known as the "gas house," has a sprinkler system, but it did not extinguish the fire, according to the Jamestown FD spokesman.  The fire department had the blaze extinguished in about an hour, he said. 

The fire was extinguished in about an hour.  Fourteen
FD's responded to the call.  (Erie Times-News photo)

 Sources:
Meadville Tribune.
Erie Times-News.

Combined Tactical Systems WEBSITE.

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Ethanol Explosions Lead to Evacuations

Updated:  Scroll down.

A FREIGHT TRAIN CONTAINING TANK CARS OF ETHANOL derailed around 1:45 am Central near the small town of Tiskilwa, Illinois.  The wreck resulted in a major fire breaking out followed by explosions as the tank cars became involved.

WGN-TV

The entire village of 800 in Bureau County has been evacuated as the fire continues to burn out of control at the time of this posting.  NBC News has posted this raw video of the burning railroad cars:

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

The Associated Press is reporting early:

The train had 126 cars and more than 60 carried ethanol, said Aaron Whittington, a dispatcher for Oglesby's police and fire departments. The railroad company planned to bring another engine to the scene to move some of the cars and open up some of the railroad crossings so fire trucks could pass, he said.

Capt. Steve Haywood of the Ottawa Fire Department said the train's tanker cars were shipping ethanol for Decatur-based corn processor Archer Daniels Midland, and possibly other materials and chemicals. At least six tanker cars are burning, Haywood said.

The train was operated by Iowa Interstate Railroad. A dispatcher with the railroad said company officials were headed to the scene Friday.

Several fire departments have been dispatched to the scene, but since water cannot be used on the ethanol they are not making any attempt to extinguish the flames.

Update, 7:45 am Central:
All residents have been evacuate safely and there are no reports of any injuries so far.  A local high school is being used as the evacuation center and the Red Cross is providing cots and meals for the evacuees.

WGN-TV

Residents nearby say that they have heard at least three tank cars explode so far.
The fire department has decided to allow the fire to burn itself out.  It is still burning out of control at this hour.

Firegeezer will  be updating this report as more information is made available.

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Continuous updates.  Scroll down.
Tower-ladder overrun by fire….scroll down for video.
Update, 4:40 pm Central:  Fire 80% contained.  Scroll down.

Live Streaming Video

A MASSIVE FIRE AT A CUSTOM CHEMICAL BLENDING plant in Waxahachie, Texas, is now being allowed to burn out after being contained.

(all live streaming has been discontinued)

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE STREAMING VIDEO from KDFW-TV

KTVT is also Live Streaming HERE.

KXAS-TV is Live Streaming HERE.

WFAA-TV is Live Streaming HERE.

The fire started just before 11 am Central and brought a series of explosions that are continuing.  The fire quickly engulfed the entire plant of four buildings and multiple storage tanks and cannisters.  The fire became so intense and spreading so rapidly that the FD was immediately overwhelmed and have pulled back for now while the fire burns out of control.

Several other fire departments are responding to assist once an effective attack can be organized.

A railroad siding holding a locomotive and at least 10 tank cars has also been enveloped by the flames.

WFAA-TV

The plant is located in an industrial area and there are no homes nearby that could be threatened.  An elementary school that is a half-mile from the fire has been evacuated and all the students transported to another school.

There are six fire departments on the scene at 12:30 pm Central attempting to establish a containment line.  Several more FD's have been called to respond to the fire.

Tower Ladder Overrun, Lost

Watch the Video below:

2:15 pm Central:  Ellis County has declared a Civil Emergency.

WFAA

WFAA-TV has more updated information and an extensive photo gallery HERE.

Update, 4:30 pm Central:
KTXA-TV  is reporting that at 2:30 pm Central:

Waxahachie Fire Chief David Hudgins said despite not being able to reach parts of the fire and having lost one ladder truck, fire crews were still making progress battling the blaze.

"We believe that the fire, right now, is about 80 percent contained. We just got a small area right there where you see the flames coming up that we’re not able to get lines in there because weren’t able to get apparatus over there,"

When CBS 11′s Jack Fink asked the chief when the fire would be extinguished he responded, "We think within a couple hours we’ll be able to. We’ll be letting people back into neighborhoods before 5 o’clock."

Flames and fumes from the blaze were so intense that fire crews ultimately decided to let the fire burn itself out. "All firefighters have been pulled back because of the severity of the situation," explained Amy Hollywood, a spokeswoman for the City of Waxahachie.

During the afternoon press conference Chief Hudgins gave some indication how the blaze got out of control. "We had a [chemical] reaction and a fast-moving fire. The building was sprinkled. We do believe that the fire overran the sprinkler system, and before we [fire crews] could get hooked up to it, it had already spread throughout the whole back of the building," explained Hudgins.

KTXA-TV also posted some impressive video of the fire taken earlier as it was still spreading:

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