A 2-ALARM FIRE IN DOWNTOWN LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY on Thursday morning destroyed a pair of pyrotechnic-related businesses.  One of them, Star Light & Magic is a theater and stage special-effects store that mainly caters to stage magicians.  The other business housed there is The Orlando Project, which sells products for strategic training and “realistic battleground scenarios.”

Herald-Leader photo

The alarm was sent at 9:45 am and was contained around 1 pm.  As the FD was fighting the fire, there was a series of explosions emanating from the building.  The Lexington Herald-Leader reports:

Sales lists on the Web sites for Star Light & Magic Inc., www.starlight.com, and The Orlando Project, www.theorlandoproject.com, include strobe flares, ground mortars, pyro gel, flame projectors and something called “The Volcano,” which can shoot color flames up to 6 feet high and runs on containers with “enough fluid to make approximately 100 flames,” the Web site says. Extensive purchasing regulations and safety procedures are also posted. Other items for sale or rent include fog machines, confetti, lights and a foam machine once used for the Girls of Summer Aerosmith video.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Lexington Fire Chief Robert Hendricks couldn’t say for sure what caused the explosions. Along with the pyrotechnic equipment, there also could have been compressed gas of various types inside the building, which is found in many typical house fires, he said.

Wendy Wheeler Mullins, a part-time bookkeeper for the business, said pyrotechnics were not kept at the site, but sent from the manufacturer directly to the customer. But she said there were some flammable objects in the store.

Herald-Leader 

Fire officials have not yet determined the cause of the fire.  However, there is still an open investigation for a suspicious fire that occurred in a storage shed on the property on July 8.

The Associated Press has this video report:

THE NORTHBOUND TRAFFIC LANES OF I-465 in Indianapolis, Indiana, are still closed this morning while crews clean up following a fiery multi-truck accident at 2:30 am.

WRTV

It all began when a tractor-trailer jackknifed after rear-ending a pickup truck.  The jacknife ruptured the fuel tank and started a fuel fire.The big rig then collided with a second tractor-trailer and both of the trailers caught on fire.  The collision ultimately included a third trailer truck.  Both of the burning trailers were carrying food products.  Aside from the diesel fuel, there were no hazardous materials involved.

The Wayne Township Fire Dept. was on the scene and it required 90 minutes to bring the situation under control.  Two of the three truck drivers and the wife of one of them were transported, but only suffered minor injuries.

WRTV

The highway is expected to be closed until this afternoon.

The Indianapolis Star has the full STORY.

WRTV has this video report with some fire footage:

MORE AND MORE FIRE & RESCUE stations are installing treadmill exercise machines to help maintain fitness.

They are an effective tool to retain muscle strength and achieve a good aerobic capacity.

In our constant quest to help you in all facets of the job, Firegeezer is presenting this Treadmill Safety Video to point out important tips to remember while you use the machine.

TRINITY UNIVERSITY OF SAN ANTONIO is 2 points behind.  There are only 2 seconds left on the clock.  So this will be the last play, their only chance to win the game and go into a tie for 1st place in the league.

They’re on their own 39-yard line, so it’s way to far out to kick a field goal.  That just leaves three choices:

1. A long pass
2. A running play
3. Make up a new play

Watch the video and see how it turned out:

Firegeezer says:  How many did you count?  I saw 13, but the news reports say 15.

“ROAD RAGE” HAS JUST TAKEN ANOTHER STEP UP.  Dillon Aero of Arizona has just introduced a security car built from a GMC Yukon.  Popular Mechanics checked it out and tells us:

From the street, the GMC Yukons customized by Dillon Aero look like standard-issue SUVs. But behind the tinted windows lurks a fire-spitting dragon: a Dillon Aero M134D Gatling minigun. Designed for VIP escort, the Yukons are outfitted with a roll cage, steel-plate armor and puncture-proof fuel cells and tires. And though weighing around 9000 pounds, the vehicles can exceed speeds of 100 mph (forthcoming supercharged models should be able to go even faster).

At the first sign of trouble, the gunner can pop through roof panels mounted on spring-loaded gas shocks, swivel up to 360 degrees, and unleash a withering, 3000-rounds-per-minute barrage. That’s 50 different 7.62-mm bullets every second.

The two half-moon roof panels act as a shield, and the gun operates off its own 28-volt electrical system, which feeds the ammo from 3400-round linked belts. “The vehicle lays down so much firepower so fast,” says a Dillon Aero spokesman (who asked to remain anonymous), “if you’re a bad guy, all you’re going to want to do is keep your head down.”

Dillon is secretive about who their customers are, but they do admit that some governments friendly to the U.S. have purchased some. 

A MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED 500 miles away from his parent’s home that burned out a week ago.  The man, Darko Tomic, also lived in the house and at first investigators feared he had perished in the fire.

His parents barely escaped the blaze which presented a challenge to the firefighters because of the roll-up shutters closed over all the windows.  When their son was unaccounted for after the fire, it was thought that he had died in the house.  But when cadaver dogs were brought in to try and locate the body they found no trace of him and a police lookout was issued.

He was arrested yesterday in Sydney and will be charged with attempted murder after he is returned to Melbourne.

Read The Age HERE.

TROPICAL STORM FELIX IS NOW ENTERING the southern Caribbean Sea and is expected to reach hurricane status by 2 am Sunday.  It is not expected to threaten any of the United States or the Gulf of Mexico oil fields.

Also, there is a growing system in the eastern Atlantic midway between the coast of Africa and the Lesser Antilles.  It is expected to grow in intensity during the next two days.

Be sure to click on the Firegeezer Hurricane Watch page regularly to keep up with these active systems.

*  The driver of the ambulance involved in the head-0n crash near Palm Springs, California Monday night (reported HERE) remains in critical condition.  Kohl Hetrick, 20, suffered a broken and shattered vertebrae, a deflated lung and multiple other broken bones.

*  In the face of today’s rally and beginnig of job actions (reported HERE), the New South Wales government has come to agreement with the ambulance workers on one of their points.  They will now be included with the other emergency services in the death and disability benefits program.

*  In Turner, Maine the Androscoggin County Sheriff has determined that the driver who pulled out in front of an ambulance on July 5 was intoxicated.  The collision killed the paramedic who was in the back treating a patient.  The ambulance driver will be bedridden for at least a year.

*  London’s sole air ambulance has been facing shutdown because of a lack of funding (HERE).  So they have decided to spend their money on designing a new Logo.

AS THOSE OLD TV COMMERCIALS USED TO TELL US, “Wait!!! There’s more!”  Channel 9’s newshound Dave Statter has been covering the latest expose of the city’s fire hydrant problem.  This evening he disclosed that on the grounds of the headquartes and the sewage treatment plant of the Water and Sewer Authority, 29% of their own hydrants are out of service.

Read his latest chapter to the tale HERE.

Firegeezer wonders if the Water Authority is still operating out of the Marion Barry Procedural Manual.