Sunday, November 25, 2007
CA winds settling down; Detroit rescue; Major PA fire; FDNY & Con Ed face questions; Videos, old and new, from China, France, KS, NJ, MD, CA
(Updated 11:42 AM, Sunday)
No one injured in a derailment near M & T Bank Stadium, the home of the Baltimore Ravens. Photo above from The Baltimore Sun. Read the paper's coverage here. Raw helicopter and ground video from WJZ-TV is here. See WJZ-TV's story, here.
Deja vu all over again
KCBS-TV image
Above, raw helicopter video the latest round of Southern California fire. Malibu is the center of the activity. Weather forecasters said Sunday would be a better day. Here is some of the latest from the LA Times:
The most destructive fire in Malibu in nearly 15 years raced through parched canyons Saturday, consuming 49 homes and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.
The so-called Corral fire burned 4,700 acres before the fierce Santa Ana winds died down, allowing firefighters to make a stand. By evening, the blaze, which investigators said was started by "human activity," was 25% contained. Six firefighters sustained minor injuries, authorities said.
Meteorologists said the winds were subsiding and not expected to return today. A red flag warning, issued when the humidity level drops below 8%, would remain in effect in Los Angeles and Ventura counties until this evening.
Last month's wildfires ignited in multiple areas throughout Southern California and stretched limited firefighting resources thin. This time, only Malibu was ablaze. As a result, two dozen firefighting aircraft and hundreds of ground crews were able to concentrate their attacks.
"It helped that nothing else is going on," said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Jim Wilkins. "We have a lot of assets put in place."
Knowing that Santa Ana winds and low humidity were in the forecast, fire officials started preparing days ago.
More than 600 firefighters from around California and the Western United States had gathered at the National Orange Show grounds in San Bernardino before Thanksgiving, officials said.
About 1,750 firefighters, at least 45 fire engines, numerous hand crews, 23 water-dropping helicopters and two fixed-wing planes battled the blaze.
"This was remarkable. In my 35 years of doing this, it was an unprecedented mobilization," Wilkins said. "We've been doing this type of thing for many years. I just don't remember it on this type of scale."
LA Times coverage.
KABC-TV KNBC-TV KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV KTTV-TV
Firegeezer is also on top of it.
Detroit rescue
A Detroit firefighter pulls two children out of a burning home under some pretty adverse conditions. Click the image above to see WJBK-TV's story. Here are excerpts from the story on DetroitNews.com:
With mere minutes to spare, three Detroit firefighters rushed into a blazing home Friday morning, searching wildly for two young children trapped inside.
The fire began in a back bedroom around 11:30 a.m. and quickly spread down a hallway, closing in on a second room where two boys, ages 1 and 3, were lying unconscious on the floor, said Lt. Robert Distelrath.
"The fire was right there in the hallway behind me. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to come back out that door or have to go out the window," said Distelrath, who closed the door behind him when he found the two youngsters.
With neighbors and family members crowding around the front of the house in the 3700 block of Van Dyke on the city's east side, Distelrath and firefighters Michael Risher and Brendan Milewski split up and crawled on their hands and knees to get the two children out in less than two minutes.
"You always have to be ready," Distelrath said. "You come to work every day and don't know what's going to happen. I'm very proud of the work we've done over there and thankful."
Block burns in PA
A major fire in Schuylkill County Friday night. It destroyed businesses on Main Street in Shenandoah. Above is a picture from RepublicHerald.com and click here to read the story. WithTheCommand.com is also on top of this story.
FDNY, Con Ed gas leak response questioned
A deadly explosion after FDNY cleared a gas leak in Sunnyside, Queens on Wednesday. The New York Times has the story. Here are excerpts:
The Fire Department said it did the right thing when it left the scene after checking a report of a gas odor because Con Edison had taken control of the situation. Con Edison, meanwhile, said it acted appropriately because it did not have information suggesting that any of the homes on the block were in danger.
But yesterday, one day after a 69-year-old resident of the home died from her injuries, the utility and the department both promised to review their protocols to see if changes could prevent future fatalities. “It seems that we acted in accordance with our protocol,” said Mary Jane McCartney, Con Ed’s senior vice president for operations. “We are going to look at all of our procedures and benchmark other utilities to make sure that we are using best practices.”
Bus fire in France
A photographer gets to this burning bus fire before the fire department.
Another bus fire, that kills 12
In central Indonesia a bus burst into flames killing 12 people. Three children are among the dead.
More from Beijing
Old Illinois warehouse destroyed
In Murphysboro, Illinois, a warehouse that survived the 1925 tornado didn't make it through the 2007 fire. Details here.
Granary fire
Grainy video
The domestic version from April, 1990 as a grain elevator burns in Ellis, Kansas
Beach front homes burn
This fire was from a week ago in Sea Isle, NJ. Six condos, three separate buildings. Details and photos here.
Middle River rescue
From Baltimore County, MD, click the image above to see the extrication after a dump truck and car collide on Eastern Blvd.
Good video and audio from 2006 double fatal apartment fire
Two people died in this evening apartment fire in Long Beach California on December 8, 2006. Raw video with good view of fireground operations. Details on the fire, here.
San Francisco 4th alarm from 2006
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
