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Fatal Ambulance Crash in Pennsylvania

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A COALDALE, PENNSYLVANIA, WOMAN DIED MONDAY after her minivan T-boned an ambulance at a controlled intersection.

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Morning Call / Neff photo

The 62-yr.-old driver died on the scene after driving into the side of the ambulance which was not on an emergency call.  The traffic signal had just been installed 12 days previously, replacing a 4-way flashing signal that had been operating at the crossing for more than 20 years before.  Police believe that an umfamiliarity with the new signal may have been a factor in the wreck, but it has not yet been determined which vehicle was traveling on the green signal.  WNEP-TV has video coverage from the crash scene:

 

WNEP-TV has the details in their story  HERE.

Posted by on December 29, 2009 • Filed under: ambulances, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Tanker Ka-Boom in Germany

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TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON THE A-21 highway near Hockenheim, Germany, Thursday afternoon caught a petroleum tanker driver by surprise.  Unable to stop in time for the backup, he plowed into the rear of another tractor-trailer rig, driving it into a third truck, a double-trailer rig, in the chain collision.

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The tanker burst into flames immediately, killing the driver.  The driver of the second truck, which was from Portugal, died later from his injuries.  The third truck driver was slightly injured, but will survive.

The fire spread to both of the other trucks, consuming all three of them.  The freeway was shut down until early Friday morning.

Pfalz-TV has a good video report on the fire:

Source:  Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger (here).
Hat tip:  Christian L.

View the full photo-gallery HERE.

ksta.de

Posted by on December 18, 2009 • Filed under: fire, HazMat, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Fire on 36th Floor Kills One, Brings 5 Alarms

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chicago c suntimes johnwhiteA FIRE OVERNIGHT IN THE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, “GOLD COAST” section of high-dollar high-rises has left one civilian dead and 11 injured, including two FF’s.

The fire broke out shortly after midnight this morning on the 36th floor of the 44-story condominium apartment building on E. Chestnut.  Dispatch started receiving a flurry of phone calls from residents on the upper floors of the condo reporting heavy smoke conditions on their floors.  Many people were unable to evacuate down the fire towers because the smoke trapped them in their apartments.  Some fled upwards to the roof and outside into 7-degree temperature.

The FD immediately upgraded the response to handle the immediate life hazard and brought more than 300 firefighters to the scene.  Among the dozens of residents that were brought out by the FF’s was a woman who is 105-years-old.  She, along with ten others, was transported to the hospital for observation.  The CFD reported that 1/3 of the city’s fire equipment had been dispatched to the scene along with 18 ambulances.

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Sun-Times / John White photo

The sole fatality was a woman who was found in the unit where the fire started on the 36th floor.  The FD contained the fire to the location of origin and the fire was knocked down before 3 am.  Several hours were then occupied with a massive secondary search through the entire building.

WGN-TV has just filed this early video report:
 

There is an early report from the Chicago Sun-Times HERE.
Also from WGN-TV and the Chicago Tribune HERE.

Check back later for any updates to this incident.

Posted by on December 10, 2009 • Filed under: fire, Major Incidents, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Vancouver Mystery Mansion Murder/Arson

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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, FIREFIGHTERS WERE CALLED OUT Monday night to a fire in a “heritage home” mansion that was built 98 years ago in a wealthy neighborhood.  The fire was seated in the basement, but was spreading through the large home and the response was escalated eventually to three alarms.  Vancouver FD officials say that it is “rare” for a house fire to extend to 3 alarms.

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The Province

The fire officers on the scene were immediately suspicious of the blaze because there were more than one fires ongoing in the house.  After the fire was extinguished, the FF’s began overhauling in the basement and came across a charred body of what appeared to be an adult male.  It won’t be known how the man died until the autopsy is completed later this week, so it is also unknown if he was a murder victim or the fire setter who became a victim of circumstance.

But the mystery only deepened when the investigators started delving into the ownership records that led them to discover:

  • The owner is a woman, Gail Hewitt who bought the house in 2007 for $1.56 million, but did not live in it.
  • It was heavily mortgaged and the 3rd mortgage  is held by a local character named Robert Luigi Poloni.
  • Hewitt was in default on the mortgage owing nearly $615,000 with interest debt accumulating at the rate of $245 a day.
  • Poloni intiated foreclosure proceedings in November of 2008.
  • The final order of foreclosure was granted on October 2 of this year.
  • On October 3 Poloni listed the house for sale for $2.5 million.
  • Poloni and an associate, Robert Della Penna, a former boxer, were both charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence relating to a 2004 undercover cocaine-trafficking investigation, but the charges were later stayed.
  • During the foreclosure hearings, Hewitt told the court that had threatened her and also threatened to burn the house down.
  • Hewitt has recently lost two other properties in Vancouver to foreclosure.
  • Poloni’s lawyer, Andrew Bury says that Poloni is “vacationing in Thailand for weeks and recovering from surgery.”

Nobody yet has any idea who the body in the basement is.

Global News has this video report (click on box to play):

The Province tries to sort it out HERE.
The Globe & Mail has more on the fire HERE.

Posted by on December 3, 2009 • Filed under: arson, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Florida Ambulance in Fatal Crash

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AN 18-YR.-OLD WOMAN WAS KILLED SUNDAY AND three other people seriously injured in Jacksonville, Florida, when an ambulance collided with a pickup truck.  WJXT-TV is reporting:

The Florida Highway Patrol said a (Liberty Ambulance) turned left into the path of a northbound pickup truck about 8:30 p.m. on Philips Highway just south of the intersection with Interstate 95.

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First Coast News

Megan Bunn, of St. Augustine, was a passenger in the Chevrolet Silverado and died at the scene. The driver of the pickup, Michael Linder, was transported to Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center in critical condition.  Troopers said neither was wearing seat belts. The Florida Highway Patrol said a private ambulance turned left into the path of a northbound pickup truck about 8:30 p.m. on Philips Highway just south of the intersection with Interstate 95.

The two EMT’s were also hospitalized with serious injuries.  The Florida Highway Patrol has not yet disclosed whether the ambulance had its emergency lights and siren activated.  There was no patient in the ambulance.

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WJXT-TV

 

Posted by on November 30, 2009 • Filed under: ambulances, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances • Tagged: , , ,

Fatal Fire at Indiana Hotel

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A FIRE THIS MORNING AT A VINCENNES, INDIANA, HOTEL has left one person dead and three others injured.  The 2-alarm fire broke out shortly after 2 am Monday morning at the Quality Inn and burned out one room completely, leaving extensive smoke and heat damage in the associated wing of the hotel.

The first-arriving units found a working fire showing at the rear of the hotel along with an immediate rescue situation as several hotel guests were calling 9-1-1 to report where they were trapped.  The primary search located the fatality in an undisclosed location.  Two other guests suffered severe smoke inhalation and were flown to Indianapolis for treatement.  A police officer that was assisting in the rescue effort had a cut wrist that needed medical attention.

Fire marshals will be starting their investigation this morning.

WTHI-TV Terre Haute has this video report from the scene:

The Evansville Courier & Press has the STORY.

Posted by on November 23, 2009 • Filed under: Fires, Rescues • Tagged: , , ,

Gas Pump Fire Update

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YESTERDAY WE REPORTED ON THE FIRE at a self-service gas station in Frederick, Maryland, (see Firegeezer video report HERE) that severely burned the man who was pumping gasoline into either his car or a portable gas container.

It was disclosed yesterday that the victim died shortly after he was flown to the Washington Hospital Center burn unit.  The state fire marshal also gave a statement to Baltimore tv station WBAL Ch. 11 updating the ongoing investigation:

He confirms that there was a portable container found next to the car and that they are studying security videos that possibly show the sequence of events that led to the costly blaze.

Posted by on November 5, 2009 • Filed under: Fires, investigations, News, Videos • Tagged: , , ,