THE MASSIVE FIRE IN YAKIMA, WASHINGTON, SATURDAY that consumed thousands of stacked logs was started by spontaneous combustion.  The fire began in a 25-ft.-high pile of chips and sawdust and was quickly spread into the log stacks by strong winds that had been blowing all day.  (see Firegeezer report HERE.)  The fire burned through a major electric supply line, cutting off power to the entire city including the ongoing Washington State Fair, for several hours.

The Yakima fire investigators are now saying that the probable cause was spontaneous combustion in the chip pile.  “At this point, that’s what we believe,” Deputy Fire Marshal Ron Melcher told the Yakima Herald-Republic Tuesday. The huge blaze that sent smoke billowing over central Yakima “was an extension from a bark sawdust pile fire.”

The Herald-Republic is also reporting HERE:

In the wake of Saturday’s fire, the third in the past 21/2 months at the former mill, city officials on Monday ordered the wood chipping operation at the site shut down.

Officials said the closure may be permanent unless Dunollie Enterprises, which has been running the wood chipping outfit, can satisfy fire safety requirements.

EVERY NOW AND THEN YOU GET THE “MYSTERY” SMOKE that you just can’t find out what started it or where.  Using patience and leaning on your experience, normally you’ll find it eventually and file it away in the memory databank for future recall in similar situations.

But here’s a new one for everybody that was discovered by the tenant of a Brooklyn apartment.  Andrei Melnikov has a Sony Erickson PDA and last Monday it was sitting next to his gas range when it rang.  After answering his phone, Melnikov heard a faint beeping sound but it didn’t register with him.  Minutes later his kitchen was filling up with smoke.

Investigation led him to look inside the oven where he found a plastic kitchen utensil melting under the heat of the oven’s temperature.  But he had never turned the oven on.  After calling in his landlord, between the two of them they worked out that the ringing phone had triggered the electronic chip that signals the gas oven to fire up.  They ran an experiement and did it again.

Then they let WINS video record the phenomena for this report:

The stove is a Maytag Magic Chef gas range.  A Maytag repairman showed up and ordered a replacement part that he thinks will correct the problem, but the company says they have never had this occur before.  They are looking into it.

For the details of this strange chain of events, read the entire STORY HERE.

A NEW FACTOR ENTERED INTO THE INVESTIGATION of the $30 million fire this past Thursday in Reno, Nevada.  Firegeezer REPORTED HERE later that morning on the massive blaze that destroyed 22 of the 36 10-unit apartment buildings that were under construction, some of them ready for occupancy this month.

Yesterday it was disclosed that some of the nearby fire hydrants had been turned off just prior to the fire.  All of the hydrants had been placed according to the fire marshal’s direction before construction began and inspectors constantly checked to see that they were operational during the construction phase.  But when the FD arrived to attack Thursdays fire, they found very low pressures and almost no flows from the hydrants, requiring them to lay out to more distant hydrants and delaying water by about five minutes.

The lack of hydrant functions is part of the overall investigation into the fire.

The developer, A. G. Spanos Construction is already beginning to prepare for rebuilding the destroyed structures.  The 14 buildings that survived the fire included the several that were finished and already had their occupance permits.

The Reno Gazette-Journal has the story on this latest development HERE.

CUDAHY, WISCONSIN, POLICE HAVE MADE TWO ARRESTS in connection with the 50-million-dollar fire that burned the city’s primary employer for three days last week.  The two men are brothers, Curtis and Josh Popp.  They and some friends were having a party in the backyard of their parents’ home and setting off  some fireworks when somebody discharged a military flare.

WTMJ-TV has the video report on the arrests:

On Wednesday Firegeezer reported HERE that the surveillance videos showed that the fire was started by a military flare that was lobbed up onto the roof of the packing plant.  WISN-TV is reporting this morning:

“A pyrotechnic expert reviewed the video and determined the flaming object observed in the video was not a consumer- or commercial-grade firework,” said Cudahy Police Chief Tom Poellot. “The video was then sent and analyzed by the ATF Explosive Technology branch. The flaming object was identified as a military illumination flare.”

“We don’t believe they targeted anyone malicioulsy or intentionally,” a deputy district attorney said. “There clearly is the potential here for criminal liability for conduct of either of a negligent or reckless nature.”

The men’s mother summed it up:  “(they) were having a party with friends and acting stupid.”

IT WAS DISCLOSED TUESDAY THAT THE MASSIVE FIRE at the Patrick Cudahy packing plant that burned for three days was caused by a “military flare” that landed on the roof of the building.  It is not known if the flare was launched onto the roof intentionally or accidentally.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting this morning:

Cudahy police Tuesday released surveillance video taken from a camera at the plant July 5 that shows what authorities said was the flare exploding above a building before landing on the roof with a much larger flash.

The flash then dies down, leaving behind what appears to be a small fire. Authorities declined to elaborate on the nature of the flare.  Police reported that the flare was fired from east of the plant the evening of July 5.

The Cudahy Police Department, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Wisconsin fire marshal announced a reward of up to $16,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the fire.

WTMJ-TV has this video report thatincludes the surveillance video that shows the flare landing on the roof and the fire starting:

The police are saying that they have more evidence than that, but it is not being disclosed while the investigation is ongoing.

Read the full article in the Journal Sentinel HERE.

Mexican prosecutors have arrested seven government officials and have warrants out for six more relating to the horrible fire at the daycare center in Hermosillo, Sonora, on June 5.  The death toll rose to 47 small children on Sunday when a 3-yr.-old died in the hospital.  Another 30 remain hospitalized with injuries and burns.  Firegeezer reported on the fire HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Sonora State Attorney General Abel Murrieta told a news conference Monday that the seven officials worked for the state’s finance department, which operated the warehouse in Hermosillo where the fire broke out.  It soon spread to the adjacent daycare center, and the seven are being investigated for negligent homicide.

Daniel Karam, Director General for the Mexican Social Security Agency (IMSS), said the storehouse run by the state government where the fire broke out, was operating without appropriate security measures.  “The storehouse was operating without the appropriate security measures — alarms, fire extinguishers and smoke detectors — and there was no guard stationed who could have spotted the fire and warned daycare center staff on time,” he said.

The Associated Press has more in this video report:

SHOPKEEPER PAUL SHERIFF, OF LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND, didn’t know what to make of it when a customer came running into his shop back in March yelling to get out.  Mr. Sheriff tells the DAILY MAIL:

I was serving in the shop when he ran in and told me I had to get out because the shop was on fire.

‘The roof had disappeared and the upstairs flat had gone. I’d only just decorated the flat and everything was fine up there.

‘The shop was a total mess. All the suspended ceilings came down, all the electrics were down, all the fridges were broken, it was horrendous.

BBC News

The fire brigade arrived, but by the time the fire was out there was over £225,000 in damages.  When it came to determine the cause, the firefighters were stumped.  They couldn’t figure out how it started.

So Sheriff’s insurance company sent out a specialized forensic investigator and he found 35 cigarette butts in various sparrows’ nests about the building.  They concluded that a sparrow must have picked up a smouldering cigarette butt and deposited it among the dry twigs of its nest under the eaves.  Mr Sheriff, 48, who is neither a sheriff nor a smoker, said, “It’s a pity really because I like seeing birds around the place but to think one of these pesky sparrows took a cigarette end onto the roof and caused all this damage is amazing.”