LAUGHLIN, Nev. — The Nevada Highway Patrol said an 18-wheel car hauler hit two cars before falling into the Colorado River.NHP Trooper Kevin Honea said the hauler lost its brakes at about 3 p.m. on State Route 163 at Casino Drive in Laughlin.
It was not known if the hauler was carrying any cars at the time.Honea said the two drivers of the cars the hauler hit were transported to the hospital in unknown conditions.He said the driver of the truck was fished out of the river and is doing fine.
Fuel from the truck leaked into the river, but the extent of the spill is not yet known.
The Laughlin bridge over the river has been closed until further notice. All travelers in and out of Laughlin from Bullhead City/Fort Mojave are advised to use the Avi Bridge as an alternate route.
West Coast 911 firefighting news info and photos by Larry Tunforss, Bullhead City Fire PIO
At 4:30 pm May 30, 2008, 7 units from San Bernardino City Fire Department as well as one unit from San Manuel Indian Reservation responded to a structure fire in a vacant building in the 1300 block of E. Highland Avenue. Due to the amount of fire involvement a second alarm was dispatched with an additional 6 units.
The fire also involved a pile of telephone poles to the rear of the structure which created a toxic environment for firefighters fighting the fire from the exterior. The majority of the fire was extinguished within a half an hour with mop up still occurring an hour after the fire started.
A city backhoe was used to separate piles of debris including a cork like substance and telephone poles so that firefighters could extinguish smoldering fire within that debris. The cause of the fire is still currently under investigation
A multi-million dollar home at the center of a bitter dispute between 50 Cent and the mother of his son was destroyed by a suspicious fire early Friday.Six people, including 50’s ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins and their 10-year-old son, Marquise, were taken to a hospital after suffering smoke inhalation and later released. A firefighter also suffered a minor eye injury, officials said.
50, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, doesn’t live in the home and wasn’t there at the time.
“Informed this morning while filming a new motion picture on location in Louisiana, Curtis Jackson expressed deep concern over this fire at his property,” a representative for 50 said in a statement. “He is extremely thankful that everyone including his son, Marquise, escaped the burning house safely. He is confident that authorities will be conducting a thorough investigation of the incident and is eager to review their findings.”
The home was essentially burned to the ground, with charred embers and wreckage littering the lot where the home once stood in the tree-lined neighborhood in Dix Hills.
Investigators from the Suffolk County arson squad were called to the scene after Dix Hills Fire Chief Larry Feld deemed the blaze suspicious. The fire was reported at 4:59 a.m. and was extinguished about 45 minutes later, Feld said. The arson squad had finished its work at the scene six hours after the blaze.
He referred the case to the arson squad “because of the intensity of the fire, and also being that who belongs to the house.”
Police said the victims included the rapper’s former girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins and two of her children, and Marquise. Three other adults in the home weren’t immediately identified.
A passing off-duty police officer helped rescue the six people off an elevated deck in the home’s backyard, Feld said.
The home has been the subject of an intense feud between 50 and Tompkins.
A single-engine two-seat plane crashed in a field near French Valley Airport in Murrieta this morning, killing the two people on board, fire officials said.
A farmer who lives nearby spotted the small white plane just before it crashed into a field next to Winchester Road north of Benton Road about 11:50 a.m.
“It looked like it was making an approach to the airport and then it just all of a sudden kind of rolled up and then nose-dived,” said David Borel, 44. Borel said he is not a pilot, but living near the airport, he has become accustomed to low-flying planes and can recognize an unsafe ascent or descent.
The plane seemed to be flying dangerously low, he said, and he figured the pilot was attempting a stunt.
“That’s too low to be doing a rollover at that altitude,” Borel said he thought. He then watched the plane hit the field, the impact of the crash turning it into “a big old pile of rubbish.”
“It’s hard to tell it’s even a plane,” Borel said as he stood at the crash site this afternoon, thinking of the two who died. “My heart goes out to the families.”
Investigators are still trying to identify the people killed in the crash, said Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Cheri Patterson.
Winchester Road is a busy thoroughfare between Murrieta, Hemet and Temecula, but no one on the ground was injured by the crash, Patterson said. Skid marks indicate the plane cleared a guardrail next to Winchester Road and touched down in the field before crashing, said Riverside County Fire Capt. Sean Dakin.
“The plane is just destroyed,” Dakin said. “There’s a piece of the tail left and that’s it.”
Local investigators notified Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board officials, who were en route to the crash scene this afternoon, Patterson said. The investigation will be handled by the Murrieta fire and police departments, Dakin said.
Investigators are questioning witnesses about what may have caused the crash, Dakin said. It was unclear whether the plane was taking off or landing, Patterson said. French Valley Airport does not have an air control tower, he said.
On Friday, May 30, 2008 at 9:04 PM, 4 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 2 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 EMS Battalion Captain, 1 Battalion Chief Officer Command Team, under the direction of Battalion Chief Millage Peaks responded to a Structure Fire at 3946 S. Bledsoe Ave. in the Mar Vista, Del Rey area.
Firefighters arrived to find a single-family home with smoke showing. An aggressive attack on the fire, combined with simultaneous vertical ventilation, confined the fire to the kitchen area. During a search of the structure, firefighters discovered three dogs inside and removed them from the house. Having been exposed to the thick smoke, all three dogs were having problems breathing.
Firefighters provided supplemental oxygen in an effort to revive the animals. Two of the dogs survived and were transferred to the custody of Animal Control Officers. Regretfully, one of the dogs did perish.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation and the dollar loss is still being tabulated.
Written by Ron Myers, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department
West Coast 911 firefighter news source - LAFD Media Release
A construction crane has collapsed on New York’s Upper East Side, damaging the top floor of a nearby high-rise apartment building at 91st and 1st. The Fire Department says it has pulled people out of the wreckage.
Grand Rapids, Mich. - A helicopter practicing approaches crashed on the roof of a hospital Thursday, catching fire moments after the two people on board escaped with minor injuries, a fire official said.
The crash around 11 a.m. at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital sent thick, black smoke over downtown and forced the evacuation of patients.
The two people aboard were in stable condition, said Richard Breon, president and CEO of Spectrum Health.
No patients were aboard the chopper, which crashed around 11 a.m. on a helipad atop the hospital. It landed on its side and the two people got out before it caught fire, Fire Chief John VanSolkema said.
“There’s not a whole lot left, but you can tell it was a helicopter,” VanSolkema said.
Elizabeth Isham Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Chicago, said the helicopter was practicing approaches at the time of the crash.
PEABODY, Mass. — A massive fire destroyed the roof of the four-story apartment building Thursday and the thick black smoke that poured from the fire could be seen from Boston, about 12 miles south.
Fire Chief Steven Pasdon said officials were investigating whether the fire was caused by a gas leak. No injuries were reported.
The building that caught fire had 26 units, but officials ordered all the buildings evacuated for the night, displacing up to 1,000 people.
Officials said a building at Salem State College would be used as a temporary shelter.
In March 2007, another fire at the complex destroyed two apartments.
Sean Michael McCarthy, one of five brothers who followed their father into the New York City Fire Department, died Tuesday of complications related to cancer. He was 35 years old and a lifelong resident of Bellmore.
One of McCarthy’s 11 siblings, FDNY Lt. James McCarthy, remembered his brother yesterday as a natural teacher in his passions: cooking and fishing.
“He loved to be in the kitchen and be able to provide a great meal for his fellow firefighters,” he said. “He didn’t ask for a lot, but he gave a lot.”
McCarthy and two of his brothers, also FDNY members, were among those who responded to the 9/11 attacks. One of his brothers said McCarthy developed asthma and an enlarged gland after working at the site on and off for several weeks.
McCarthy graduated from Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville in 1990 and attended Farmingdale State College. He joined the FDNY in 1996, where he was initially assigned to Engine Co. 221 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 2001, he was transferred to Engine Co. 280 in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, where he remained for the rest of his career.
The job was a natural fit for McCarthy, who became a junior member of the Bellmore Fire Department when he was 14 years old and a full member at 18, friends and family said.
McCarthy’s father, Lt. James McCarthy, a career city firefighter, was decorated for his role in a daring rescue at a burning YMCA building in Manhattan in 1972, and four of Sean’s brothers eventually joined the department.
POMONA - A fire that caused $500,000 worth of damage to an industrial building Wednesday evening was determined to not have been arson despite initial reports, authorities said.
“It’s an undetermined cause,” said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Sam Padilla on Thursday.
Los Angeles County firefighters responded to the fire at an abandoned building at 7:15 p.m. and found the building at 2003 S. San Antonio Ave. fully engulfed in flames.
A second alarm was called and more firefighters sent to the blaze, authorities said.
On Thursday, Pomona police Lt. Ron McDonald said a man who was near the building when the fire started was arrested on a parole violation, not for arson.
Area resident Maria Medina was on her way to the store when she noticed smoke coming from the building, she explained in Spanish.
Shortly after seeing smoke, she saw flames coming from inside the structure. At one point, she said the flames were more than 30 feet high.
“The smoke was very dark,” Medina said. “You could feel the heat all the way over here,” she said in reference to standing across the street from the building.
Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Darryl Jacobs said the fire was contained by 9:19p.m. The roof was composed of heavy timbers which provided fuel for the blaze, he said. In addition, there were pieces of old furniture inside the building which also burned.
Initial reports said the cause of the fire may have been arson, which is often a difficult thing to prove.
Frank Huddleston, Ontario Fire Department arson investigator since 1991, said statistically there is a higher instance of accidental fires than other types.
The fire, Huddleston said, must be investigated before an arson investigation begins.
“We know there’s certain items in a room or structure that cause a fire,” Huddleston said of his arson investigations. “If we don’t find those things, then we expand our view.”
Sometimes investigations are “real apparent,” Huddleston said.
“Let’s say there is a five-gallon gas can in a bedroom on its side with a label that says made to burn. Most people don’t put a five gallon gasoline can in their bedroom. But then we explore if there was an accident or an innocent explanation for the gas can being there - maybe it’s empty and was bought to use. There’s all sorts of things to consider.”
To determine if a fire is arson, an elimination process, deductive reasoning and interviewing witnesses is key, he said.
Padilla said there were no injuries that resulted from the fire.
West Coast 911 firefighter news source - San Gabriel Valley Tribune
