THE ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIP, INDIANA, VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT is being "sabotaged" by its Trustee Robert Uhrick. The coot has decided that it costs too much to run a fire department and wants to force its closure so that the Township will contract with a neighboring FD to cover their area, a suburb of Fort Wayne.
Chief Jerry Lencke (WANE-TV)
Earlier this year Uhrick arbitrarily laid off the four full-time paid firefighters and then padlocked the bunkroom prohibiting the volunteer live-ins from staying there. Yesterday (Saturday) Fire Chief Jerry Lencke called a press conference to announce that on Thursday he received an email from Uhrick's wife that the department's boat, motor, and trailer had been sold and were taken from the storage bay where it had been kept. Adding to the mess, Uhrick never notified the Allen County Dispatch Center that the boat had been removed from service.
Uhrick is claiming that the department is draining too much money from the township's budget, but Chief Lencke says that the budget has not only remained at the same level for the past three years, but they are under budget for the current fiscal year.
This video report from WANE-TV Ch. 15 goes farther into the story of what's going on:
Chief Lencke called the press conference in hopes that the citizens will become informed of what Uhrick is doing to their fire department. Despite repeated requests by Lencke to have a meeting to discuss ideas for saving money, Uhrick constantly gives him the brush-off and refuses to talk with him.
Trustee Uhrick (WANE-TV)
INC (Indiana News Center) is REPORTING that Uhrick admitted that he has put the fire engine and two other FD vehicles up for sale. Read the INC story for more details on the looney trustee's thoughts and plans.
Update, May 11:
Firegeezer updated report with more information has been posted HERE.
Suspended After Reporting Safety Violations and Poor Training
HONOLULU FIRE DEPARTMENT CAPTAIN GEORGE KAOPUIKI had no recourse but to file a lawsuit against his employers Friday following a series of harrasing investigations and a suspension. Following a fire late last year in which an elderly woman was saved by firefighters yet died later at the hospital, Capt. Kaopuiki attended a staff meeting in December and told the five captains and a battalion chief that several costly errors were made by the companies on the scene that could have been prevented with proper training and guidlines.
The mistakes include not hooking up to a fire hydrant to ensure an ample water supply, and not starting a rescue search sooner because a sufficient water supply had not been secured early on, Kaopuiki told five fire captains and an acting battalion chief during a December meeting.
Fire personnel did not call Emergency Medical Services for 19 minutes after Kaopuiki carried the woman out of the fire, alive and breathing, he said at the meeting. He blamed the department's lack of training for the errors.
"Acting Battalion Chief Mark Nakagawa cautioned everyone present, 'This is an internal meeting. This information stays in-house with lessons learned,'" the lawsuit said.
The suit alleges Kaopuiki was retaliated against when he was subjected to an investigation Jan. 16 for false allegations of mistreating a firefighter at the Kakaako station, which he was told was at the direction of (Fire Chief Kenneth) Silva. That firefighter told Kaopuiki he never made a complaint against him.
Kaopuiki alleges he was retaliated against by being subjected to investigations based on false allegations, being suspended and being transferred, which resulted in loss of pay.
Kaopuiki says that he reported the errors up through the chain of command and then the harrassing actions began. He is suing the City and County of Honolulu, the Honolulu Fire Department, and Fire Chief Kenneth Silva.
KHON-TV filed this video report Friday that includes a good interview with Capt. Kaopuiki:
He also said that he was reprimanded and warned for writing a 2008 memorandum to an assistant chief about a firefighter who created a safety hazard by taking an unreasonably long time to respond to emergency calls, being unable to drive the firetruck into a correct position to raise a ladder in an emergency situation and being unable to provide medical emergency care.
THE DRIVER OF A CAMPBELL COUNTY, VIRGINIA, AMBULANCE was charged today (Friday) with reckless driving following a crash in Lynchburg Thursday afternoon.
WSET-TV
The crash occurred at a controlled intersection when the ambulance drove through a red light and collided with a pickup truck, killing the truck's driver, Dean Anders, 69, a retired Lynchburg firefighter who died on the scene. The pickup had already entered the intersection when the ambulance came through and struck the truck on the passenger side causing it to flip over.
A witness at the scene said she was on Campbell Avenue heading into the city, when the ambulance passed her.
Roseann Dickerson, of Lynchburg, said she saw the ambulance slow approaching the light, but continued through the intersection where it hit the pickup. At one point, the ambulance was sitting partially on top of the truck, she said.
Capt. Ryan Zuidema, of the Lynchburg Police Department, said the ambulance was transporting a patient to Lynchburg General Hospital.
That patient, a family member, Kidd and another Campbell County emergency worker staffing the ambulance were taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. None are believed to have life-threatening injuries.
WSET-TV reports in this video that Dean Anders was not wearing a seat belt:
A MASSIVE FIRE SWEPT THROUGH a vacant industrial complex in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Wednesday night.
Carlisle Sentinel
The general alarm fire was in a 25-acre former carpet plant that destroyed two buildings and damaged several others of the dozen in the complex that are all connected.
The fire Wednesday night at a building owned by Carlisle Events was a building being prepared for demolition. A local official told CBS 21 News that a salvage crew had been working inside using an acetylene torch to cut materials.
Carlisle Sentinel
The State Police Fire Marshal and an agent with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms spent much of Thursday sifting through rubble of a spectacular fire that heavily damaged a former carpet manufacturing plant in Carlisle. The investigators have not yet determined the cause of the blaze.
A security guard spotted the fire shortly after ten o'clock Wednesday night. He and a colleague fled the building and called for help.
At the height of the fire, more than 130 firefighters from 25 companies and five counties were working to extinguish the flames. Destroyed were 100,000 square feet of the 900,000 square foot facility. Small explosions erupted inside intermittently.
WHTM-TV filed this video report Friday morning showing some views of the damaged area:
The fire investigators expect to be on the scene for several days and the say that because of the extent of damage that they may not be able to pinpoint the cause.
Carlisle Sentinel
During the fire through the night into Thursday morning, all of the homes along Fairground Ave. were evacuated.
A FIRE IN A 5-STORY APARTMENT BUILDING in Toulouse, France, Tuesday burned through the stairwell and trapped several people inside the building. The fire started around 11:30 am while most residents were gone but stranded seven residents on the upper floors.
Canal TV
Five of the people went to the roof and waited, hoping that the firefighters would arrive in time to remove them. Two others, a man and a woman were unable to leave their 4th-floor apartment where the fire had started and blocked their exit. They were forced to climb out onto window ledges where they got ready to jump to certain injury or death, but the bystanders yelled encouragement to them to wait for the arrival of the fire brigade.
Canal TV
Sixty-five firefighters responded and were able to initiate quick rescues utilizing an aerial platform to make the saves. This citizen cellphone video captured the rescue of the two on the ledge:
The two people on the ledge suffered burns to their backs and arms, and two others were treated for smoke poisoning at the hospital. The fire destroyed the top two floors and the attic space with collateral damage to the lower floors and a restaurant/bar on the ground floor. The cause is still under investigation.
Blustery Boisterousness and Poor Phone Manners Can Do It
THE CINCINNATI, OHIO, SUBURB FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP's Trustees met Tuesday and voted to dismiss David Downie, their fire chief, three months after he had been placed on suspension. He had been with the fire department for 36 years, the past 25 as chief. His transgressions that warranted his dismissal after 3+ decades of service were, yelling at other city employees and being rude to another town worker on the telephone.
Chief Downie (Cincinnati Enquirer)
WKRC-TV described the insubbordinations:
The decision comes after a series of disciplinary hearings last week, where officials heard from the township's roads superintendent, Mike Bishop. Bishop testified about an argument he says he had on the phone with Downie after a winter storm. According to Bishop, Downie told him to "get off his butt" and do his job, and threatened to "throw him under the bus and stomp on it" if any of his men were hurt due to the road conditions. [Two FD vehicles had slid off the road during that time....ed.]
A second witness said she overheard Downie allegedly yelling at another employee.
A large number of local citizens and supporters of Downie became infuriated with yesterday's action because the Trustees had waited until Downie was out of town to fire him. Chief Downie was in Washington, D. C. with a charitable group Honor Flight that escorts WWII veterans to the various memorials.
WKRC-TV was at the public meeting Monday and filed this video report:
More details of the situation are found in: Cincinnati EnquirerHERE.
WLWT-TV Ch. 5 HERE.
A PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND, Fire Department ambulance was hit broadside Sunday evening while it was making a turn at an intersection. The ambulance was transporting a patient with lights and siren activated and was making a left turn when a tow truck approaching from the opposite direction struck the ambulance, knocking it into a third vehicle before it careened into a drainage ditch. The accident happened around 5 pm.
WTTG-TV
The two medics and the patient were all transported and treated for minor injuries along with the driver of the third vehicle. The tow-truck driver was uninjured but police say he is facing several charges for his action.
Fire Rescue Department spokesman Mark Brady said that there is about $25,000 damage to the older ambulance which may be a total loss.
WTTG-TV Ch. 5 filed this video report from the scene:
Update, 4 pm Eastern: Eight guests are currently unaccounted for and fire continues to burn. Scroll down for update.
Update 2, Tuesday: All "missing" guests found.
A 120-ROOM QUALITY HOTEL in Cornwall, England, has been burning since noon local time (7 am Eastern) today.
Metro News
The fire broke out in the Falmouth Beach Hoteljust as the lunch service was beginning. The building was rapidly involved with the fire filling the roof area and spreading through the entire structure. The roof collapsed less than two hours after the fire began. It is expected to be a total loss as it continues to burn out of control. Cornwall Fire and Rescue has ten engines and one aerial at the scene.
BBC News
All the guests and employees at the hotel were safely evacuated and the nearby St. Michael's Hotel was also evacuated as a precaution.
The modern hotel was opened in 1984 and is operated by Best Western.
Falmouth Packet
BBC News has an early REPORT HERE, but so far there is little to report as this incident is still in progress.
Falmouth Beach Hotel WEBSITE.
Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service WEBSITE.
Firegeezer will attempt to update this story when more information is available.
The following brief video clip catches a partial collapse:
UPDATE, 4 PM Eastern:
The Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is saying that eight guests remain unaccounted for. It is not known if they are victims or were already away from the hotel when the fire started and have not reported back.
Eight guests are unaccounted for as a fire at the Falmouth Beach Hotel continues to burn. Cornwall Fire and Rescue have released this statement:
Guests have been evacuated from the Falmouth Beach Hotel and neighbouring St Michael’s Hotel, although around 8 guests remain unaccounted for.
There is nothing at this stage to suggest these guests have come to any harm, and it is likely they have gone out on day trips, but police would like these individuals to make themselves known to officers at the scene or to call police on 101 to confirm they are safe and well.
– Cornwall Fire and Rescue
Cornwall Community News
The Cornwall Community News has additional information relating to the unfriendly weather conditions:
Storm-force gusts of up to fifty miles an hour made the 999 effort perilous and neighbouring St Michaels Hotel was emptied of guests.
Much of the facade of the Falmouth Beach fell to the ground at around 1:45pm and walls on either side followed suit shortly. By around 2:15 the fire looked to have completely gutted about half the well-known building on its south side. Along its gutted half the entire roof has fallen in.
There are no reports from 999 so far of any injuries. Supt John Green’s team worked to locate around a dozen day-trippers earlier unaccounted for. The senior officer said 999 never thought they were trapped as such but still wanted to make sure they were all okay.
Read the entire report for more details about the operations and additonal photos HERE.
Update #2, Tuesday morning:
All "missing" guests have been located and are safe.
A combined police and fire investigation team has begun work on identifying the cause but they say there is no reason now to consider the fire as suspicious.
BBC News is reporting today:
A Best Western spokesperson said fire crews managed to save the hotel's leisure club and 16 of its rooms, but the rest of the property had been destroyed. The company added that assessors were on scene and that it was contacting all guests to find alternative accommodation for them.
Staff from the hotel are meeting with the owners to discuss the future.
The mayor of Falmouth, Geoffrey Evans, said the fire was a disaster for the town and "couldn't have happened at a worse time". Next month Falmouth is due to host the Finn Cup sailing competition and is one of the towns to welcome the Olympic Torch on the first day of its relay throughout the UK.
The 1992 Los Angeles riots after the Rodney King verdict forever changed the perception that firefighters and paramedics were immune to violence during civil disorders.
This eight minute compilation of news video and LAFD radio traffic shows the chaos encountered by the crews. Crews were "losing windshields" and encountering bottles, bricks and gunfire … with no police assistance available.
At 2:30 into the video is the alert by Light Force 35 that they have a firefighter shot … followed by other companies reporting gunfire.
Jordan was riding directly behind Miller as Truck Company 35 navigated through the smoke and mayhem of Western Avenue. He saw the handgun, then the flash. "Geez, they're shooting at us," Jordan recalled thinking.
Craning his neck, Jordan saw Miller slumped on the wheel. The captain pulled an emergency brake and the 55-foot-long vehicle lumbered to a stop.
Blood was squirting from Miller's neck. Jordan, a wiry firefighter who had worked at some of the city's busiest stations, had seen his share of gunshot wounds. This one wasn't good. "I thought he was going to die," he said. Another firefighter pressed his hand against Miller's neck to stem the bleeding as the crew loaded him into the back of the truck.
Jordan jumped behind the wheel and took off for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Laying on the engine cover of the open cab Seagrave tiller truck, Miller, 33,had lost so much blood through his ripped carotid artery that he suffered a stroke.
THREE PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN A HOUSE FIRE near Toronto in Whitby, Ontario, Sunday morning. The fire started shortly after midnight in a 1-½ story house that had been divided into apartments. The three victims were all in the basement unit and one of them apparently was the caller who reported the fire saying that they were trapped in the basement and could not get out.
CBC News
The firefighters found the upper level of the house well involved on arrival and soon located the three victims, all of them already succumbed to the toxic atmosphere. They were transported to the hospital where they were later pronounced.
The three victims were residing in a basement apartment. Several other occupants, who lived on the main floor, were not home at the time.
"It was a single one and a half storey building made into apartments and it made things a little tight for the firefighters in terms of finding their way around,"Chief Michael Gerrard of the Whitby Fire Department told CP24 at the scene. "Things were a little slower than if it had of been a normal structure."
According to Durham Regional Police, the victims have been identified but their names are being witheld pending notification of next of kin.
The fire was knocked down in 30 minutes.
DurhamRegion.com
The investigators say that they expect to be on the scene until Tuesday working to determine the cause. They do not yet know if the house had working smoke detectors.
A SUDDEN WIND BURST IN ST. LOUIS, Missouri, Saturday evening tore down a large tent being used to host a beer party near the city's baseball stadium. There were between 150 and 200 patrons of Kilroy's Sports Bar inside the tent when the destructive winds of a thunder and lightning storm cell swept through the city center around 3:50 pm. The tent was set up as a beer garden behind Kilroy's at 720 South Seventh Street. The storm wrecked the tent and blew it onto a railroad trestle next door.
KMOV-TV
"I thought a train fell off the track," Art Randall, owner of Kilroy's told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We all ducked for cover. Everything was going sideways. I had metal chairs ripping across the beer garden." Witnesses said the incident lasted only seconds. They said a sudden gust lifted the tent up, sending metal poles flying. Patrons rushed to help each other, Randall said, including one man who administered CPR to another who had suffered a head wound.
"People were pushing and shoving," said Christy Eilermann, 42, of St. Louis. "The wind just picked up, and they started dragging people inside." The DJ operating the music machine was struck in the head by a flying woofer and was knocked unconscious.
The Associated Press prepared this video report that includes an informative interview with Art Randall, the bar's owner:
One man died immediately, possibly from a heart attack, and more than 100 people suffered injuries ranging from mild to at least five critically injured. Most of the people were treated on the scene by Fire & Rescue personnel with about 17 being transported.
Witnesses say more than two-hundred people, many who had attended the Cardinals baseball game at the nearby Busch Stadium, were packed into the large tent at Kilroy’s Sports Bar listening to music when the winds hit.
One witness told News 4's Mark Schnyder the music in the tent was so loud that no one heard the storm coming. When the tent ripped from its moorings tent poles were sent flying wildly through the crowd hitting many people in the head.
KMOV-TV
Several area fire departments assisted St. Louis FD, including Shrewsbury, Clayton and Richmond Heights, including 11 medic units.
RadioMan 911 has the dispatch and radio traffic posted:
A 4-DECK, SPECIALTY CRUISE BOAT CAUGHT FIRE at the Fisherman's Terminal dock in Seattle, Washington, Friday morning and was completely destroyed with not much more than the aluminum hull left.
KIRO-TV
The Safari Spirit is one of American Safari Cruise's seven vessels and was being prepared for the upcoming Alaska cruise season. The Seattle Times reported:
Company owner Dan Blanchard was sleeping on board and was awakened at about 1 a.m. by popping noises. He called the fire department and got off the boat along with the engineer, Jacox said.
The 105-foot yacht was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, said Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore. They made sure no one else was on board, then had to pull back because of the heat.
Firefighters poured water into the yacht from two hoses on the dock and from a fire boat. There was so much water in the yacht it began to list. Firefighters had to pump out water so they could continue to fight the fire, Moore said.
The Safari Spirit has an aluminum hull and did not sink, but with accommodations for 12 passengers there was plenty of fuel for a stubborn fire.
KIRO-TV
The Seattle police harbor patrol boat moved about six other craft that were moored close by away from the immediate area.
NWCN included some fire footage in this good video report from the scene:
KIRO-TV has more details and 3 additional videos HERE.
Read the full story from the Seattle Times HERE.
Early Tank Failure Leads to Fire Instead of Ka-Boom
A GASOLINE TANKER TRAVELING ON a 4-lane highway in Cotes d'Armor, France, Tuesday afternoon collided with a highway department truck that was working at the side of the divided highway. The collision ripped open the forward compartment of the trailer and started a fire involving two of the six compartments.
Ouest-France
The crash killed both drivers of the two trucks and sent a flaming river of burning fuel along the roadside. This brief video shows what the fire department was greeted with as they arrived:
Sixty firefighters and 45 police officers eventually ended up at the scene and the fire was successfully controlled not long after the 2 pm dispatch.
This raw video shows some of the suppression activity:
A NEW HAMPSHIRE TEEN IS IN A HEAP O' TROUBLE after being charged with felony reckless conduct and criminal mischief. Nicholas Richer, 18, of Manchester instigated a "road rage" incident on I-93 Monday evening when he cut off another car during an illegal lane change near the Hooksett toll plaza.
The usual indecent gesturing and name calling ensued along with erratic driving and then Richer pulled out what looks like a pistol but was actually a flare gun. During the name-calling phase of the discussion he waved the gun around and aimed it through the right front window at the other driver before pulling it back. Just then the flare gun went off, sending the charge bounding around the inside of his own car.
About 20 minutes later the State Police found the car in a gas station parked along the side of the lot. They noticed that the windshield was smashed out (from the discharge) and some heavy fire damage to the passenger seat which had been occupied by a younger boy during the escapade. A look around the area turned up a shell casing and shortly after the discovery of Richer himself, hiding in some bushes with his gun.
WMUR-TV describes the story with a Trooper in this video report:
He was arrested and then released with a court appearance scheduled for June 4.
A NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, AMBULANCE DRIVER WAS CHASED down by Philadelphia police Tuesday morning and arrested after the NovoCare Ambulance firm advised them that their unit was being operated by a rogue driver.
KYW-TV
Several police agencies began getting phone calls from the attendent in the ambulance complaining that he was being held "against his will" while the driver was meandering around two counties instead of reporting to a hospital for an appointed transfer. The police called the ambulance company who tracked the unit via its GPS signal and guided to police to the location where it was stopped after a brief chase and the driver taken into custody.
KYW-TV filed this video report with more details from the scene of capture this morning:
Charges are pending, but no action against the driver has been taken yet.
Update, 1:30 pm:
It is now being reported that when the man began wandering and refused to report to the hospital for his assignment, he was told to return to the barn and then he refused. NBC Ch. 10 continues:
The chase started near Germantown and Stenton Avenue after police officers saw the ambulance parked in a "suspicious" spot. Police say they called the manager of NovoCare to report what they saw. The manager says he called the driver, who lied about where he was at the time, police said. The manager told police the ambulance has a GPS tracker so he knew the driver wasn't where he was supposed to be.
Police say the manager told the employee he was fired and to bring the ambulance back, but the driver made threats and drove by the agency without dropping off the other employee inside. He also told them he was taking the van (sic) home, police said.
That's when the NovoCare employee in the passenger seat called police and told them the driver wouldn't let him out of the ambulance, according to officers on the scene.
The police started their pursuit of the ambulance and the chase lasted less than an hour. When it ended near 2nd and Cheltenham, there were about 10 police cars surrounding the ambulance.
A TAMPA, FLORIDA, TEEN (who is 6-ft. tall and weighs 275 lbs.) got into an argument with his mother Saturday over a cell phone that he claimed she had broken. In a rage, he grabbed her by the wrists and head-butted her on her forehead twice. She managed to run out of the house and drove away in her car before reporting the assault to the police. Shortly after, the officers arrived and arrested Aldwin Chyrstian Caceres, 18, charging him with domestic violence.
After posting bail early Sunday, he returned home and found his mother was not there. A witness told the police that he saw Caceres pour gasoline on his mother's bed and two couches in the living room before lighting them on fire. The resulting blaze gutted the modest home and the cops went looking for him once again.
WTVT Ch. 13 filed this video report:
According to the police, Caceres admitted to setting the fire before he was charged with 1st-degree arson and placed in jail without bond. "He's going to get help, too, because he is sick. Something is wrong with him, but I don't know what," his mother told BayNews9.
BayNews9 has the story HERE.
The Tampa Tribune has more DETAILS HERE.
UPDATE: A citizen videographer caught the explosion – Scroll down
A COACHELLA, CALIFORNIA, MAN LEARNED AN EXPENSIVE LESSON on LPG tanks Saturday afternoon at 1:45 Pacific when his pickup truck blew up while waiting in a McDonald's drive-thru window line.
KESQ-TV / Jimenez
The man was driving around in 100-degree heat and the desert sun beating on two propane tanks, one 5-gal. tank and a 50-gal. tank, that he was carrying in his truck bed. While waiting in line at the drive-thru, he heard a hissing sound coming from the tanks. He got out of his truck and thought that the valve on the smaller tank had loosened open, so he tried to tighten it. At that moment the leaking vapors ignitied explosively, setting the truck on fire.
As everybody in the area fled the scene and the restaurant was being evacuated, the smaller tank exploded sending debris and truck parts in all directions including the tailgate into another vehicle. The large 50-gallon tank was propelled 75 ft. away but miraculously survived the blast and didn't fail. Two young boys riding in the pickup cab were grabbed and carried away by passers-by before the explosion.
A CalFire spokesman explained that the excessive heat had caused the gas to expand and the pressure relief valve opened causing the sound that the driver mistook for an open valve. When he slid out of the driver's seat he generated a static charge and as he grabbed the valve he sparked the leaking vapors. The explosive-ignition set the truck on fire and burned the man's hands.
UPDATE 11:30 am:
A citizen videographer caught the moment of the explosion in this video:
KESQ-TV Ch. 13 has more photos included in this video report:
Someone at the scene took the man and his family to a local hospital before firefighters arrived …. Their lives are not in danger, according to the sheriff's department.
Indio police evacuated the restaurant while firefighters put out the fire, which was contained at 2:01 p.m.
There were no injuries among restaurant employees or customers, according to CalFire.
The fire destroyed the drive-through structure, but damage to the restaurant was minmal and they were back to flipping burgers later that afternoon.
AN EARLY-MORNING FIRE DESTROYED four businesses in Los Angeles, California, Sunday. The fire was reported around 2 am and when the first units arrived they found heavy smoke coming from a 50' x 100' building that was divided into four occupancies. It is located in the area known for housing many clothing factories and wholesalers.
KABC-TV
The incident commander immediately called for additional companies bringing 120 firefighters to the scene. After 45 minutes, the roof was becoming "spongey" and the evacuation was ordered and defensive operations began.
KCLA-TV
The fire was out after 1hr.-40 minutes. Two of the units were heavily damaged while a firewall kept the loss at the other two units lower.
The LAFD News blog reports that a fire captain suffered a "significant avulsion" to his arm and has been hospitalized.
This video report from KCBS-TV has good fire footage:
THREE TRIPLE-DECKERS IN LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, were destroyed in a late-aftenoon fire Friday that went undiscovered until it was spotted by a passing ambulance crew. When the first fire units arrived on the scene, the three multi-family dwellings were already well involved. Extra alarms were dispatched to contain and control the fire successfully, but more than 40 people were left homeless.
WHDH-TV
The fire authorities say that the fire started around 3:30 pm on the outside of one of the homes when a group of young children were playing with a propane lighter and accidentally set the siding of one of the homes ablaze. The fire spread into the walls and up to the attics and from building to building without anyone inside aware of what was going on.
"I noticed the roof was heavy smoke showing and fire alarms hadn’t even gone off yet, so we just went into the house. My partner banged on some doors, I banged on some doors. Got everybody out, made sure they were all accounted for," said Gregory Worsman, a paramedic.
WHDH-TV
WCVB-TV has more details in this video report:
WHDH-TV has some good fire footage in their video report:
The Sentinel and Enterprise has more DETAILS HERE.
We had the displeasure of witnessing this crash at Yas Marina late last season and had that immediate sinking feeling.
The amazing thing though, is that sinking feeling was all but instantly rectified as Mr Yusif Bassil, grew wings (do some digging and you’ll get that) shot out of his horrifically mangled and by now on fire, Renault Clio.
Notice how quickly the flames run up the inside of the windshield.
Video was also found in videobash, uploaded by Alfonsoqtp with this observation:
Good thing he didn't get stuck inside and need that fire suppression system because it looks like it broke loose from the passenger floor right at 0:32 !!
Apparently the driver's door was jammed.
That HANS device makes it a little difficult to move!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Last day at Indianapolis, normally I am on the first morning flight. This year I am working the exhibit hall one more time!
A 2-STORY APARTMENT BUILDING IN DALLAS, TEXAS, was burned out early Thursday morning, but all the residents were able to escape safely.
KDFW-TV
The fire began shortly before midnight, but fortunately some neighbors were still awake and went through the building banging on doors and alerting the others as the fire was spreading through the building. The residents only had time to flee, leaving everything behind.
KDFW-TV reports: Rescuers [sic] responded to 911 calls about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night and found fire shooting through the roof of the two-story complex.
"It spread very quickly to the next apartment and then spread down. And then there was an explosion," said resident Selena Zavaleta. "The flames were probably 20 feet above the roofline before the fire department got here."
The fire department struck a 2nd-alarm and had the fire out in about 45 minutes. The early reports say that eight dwelling units were destroyed or heavily damaged by the fire.
WFAA-TV posted this video report from the scene:
The fire began in an upstairs unit, but the cause will not be determined until later today at the earliest.
A MAJOR FIRE IN ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, TUESDAY night was contained to three homes thanks to quick, upgraded responses. Fire departments from two counties were dispatched to assist on the fire that began around 8:30 pm.
When the first units arrived they found two wood-frame row houses well-involved. The buildings were all covered with old asphalt siding that was igniting easily and spreading rapidly from the point of origin in the rear of one of the homes. Elizabeth Fire Chief Thomas McNamara said, "We call it ‘gasoline siding. Once it ignites, it just takes off."
By 11 pm the fire was largely knocked down but prior to that at 10:30 the firefighter evacuation signal was sounded as one of the building threatened collapse. Around midnight two of the homes did collapse on themselves.
Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries and at least 5 residents were transported for smoke inhalation. All the residents were able to escape safely, however. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
AN ARCHER COUNTY, TEXAS, AMBULANCE was involved in a collision Monday afternoon in Wichita Falls that left the medical patient dead and four other people with minor injuries.
Times Record News image
The ambulance had picked up a 58-yr.-old man who had been found in a field in Archer City suffering from a swarm of bee stings. It is not yet known how long he had been there when the medics began transporting him to United Regional Hospital in Wichita Falls. While entering an intersection, the ambulance was struck in the side by an automobile and the impact knocked the ambulance on its side.
The Times Record News filed this raw video from the scene:
The two medics and the two passengers in the car were all transported for minor injuries. It won't be known until an autopsy is held whether the patient died as a result of the crash or from his bee stings.
The Wichita Falls Times Record News has the STORY.
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