Like many of us located on the East Coast, I awoke Friday morning to the terrible, and still developing, news from Colorado. Probably also like many FR1 readers, while thinking about all the lives and families affected by this awful tragedy, my thoughts quickly turned to the "what if" scenarios. What if this happened in my jurisdiction? How would we respond? What would we do? How would we ...
The Colo. massacre: Terror really can strike anywhere
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More than 100 firefighters battle toxic plastic plant fire
By Judy Walton The Chattanooga Times Free Press SUMMERVILLE, Ga. — Firefighters were getting ahead of the enormous fire at a plastics recycling plant in Summerville, Ga., by late Saturday afternoon, but the environmental impacts were still to be measured. More than 100 firefighters from multiple agencies still were pouring water on the blaze Saturday, said Eddie Henderson, Chattooga Emergency ...
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Bomb squad robots prove their mettle by safeguarding lives
The Columbus Dispatch COLUMBUS, Ohio —The technicians on the Columbus Fire Division bomb squad still stick their necks out when the job calls for it. But more often these days, some of the risk on bomb runs and suspicious package calls is shouldered by squad members that don't have necks to stick out. The use of robots in hazardous law-enforcement operations was highlighted during the recent ...
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Tulsa refinery fire contained, no one hurt
The Associated Press TULSA, Okla. — Officials say crews have contained a large fire at a Tulsa oil refinery that caused a loud explosion overnight and that could be seen from miles away. Refinery owner HollyFrontier Corp. says all workers are accounted for and no one was injured in the early Thursday blaze. Neighbors told local news outlets they were woken by a loud explosion before 3 a.m. The ...
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Gas rupture around site of '10 blast in San Bruno
The Associated Press SAN BRUNO, Calif. — A 2-inch plastic gas pipe has ruptured in the same San Francisco suburb where a pipeline explosion killed eight people in 2010. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. spokesman David Eisenhauer says the line burst Thursday morning when someone dug into the pipe in the Crestmoor neighborhood of San Bruno, near the site of the previous blast. Eisenhauer says PG&E ...
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Large Calif oil refinery fire contained but still burning
By John S. Marshall The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — A fire at one of the nation's largest refineries spewed thick black smoke over cities in the San Francisco Bay area, sending scores of residents to hospitals complaining of breathing problems early Tuesday. Smoke and flames could be seen for miles. The blaze at Chevron's plant in Richmond, about 10 miles northeast of San Francisco ...
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Massive Calif. oil refinery fire sends hundreds to hospitals
By John S. Marshall The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A fire at one of the nation's largest refineries spewed thick black smoke over cities in the San Francisco Bay area, sending scores of residents to hospitals complaining of breathing problems early Tuesday. Smoke and flames could be seen for miles. The blaze at Chevron's plant in Richmond, about 10 miles northeast of San ...
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Critics say notification too slow for Calif. refinery fire
By Terry Collins and Jason Dearen The Associated Press RICHMOND, Calif. — Investigators were looking at how a small, seemingly insignificant leak at one of the country's biggest oil refineries quickly unraveled into an intense fire that sent acrid black smoke into the sky and hundreds of people to hospitals with health complaints. The leak started as a drip at about 4:15 p.m. Monday, officials ...
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Japan: Town prepares for reconstruction, volunteer firefighters keep up patrols
The Daily Yomiuri YOMIURI, Japan — The government lifted the no-entry zone designation in Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture, at midnight Thursday. Following the realignment of areas where evacuation had been ordered or recommended, the no-entry zone in Naraha has been reclassifed as a "zone being prepared for residents' return." Its no-entry designation had been in place since the onset ...
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3 growing fuel hazards for firefighters
The high cost of petroleum-based fuels and tax incentives to bring other fuel sources to market have driven demand and production of alternative vehicle fuels. And while this may be good for the country, it poses a new set of threats to firefighters. One effort to better train firefighters comes out of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. That group has put together training programs for dealing ...
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Calif. firefighters deal with electric hazard, shock victims at car crash
2 women were electrocuted and killed as they rushed to save a driver before firefighters arrived.
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La. fire dept. evacuates area to burn hazmat from tanker crash
The Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana authorities plan to evacuate an area near Interstate 10 where a tanker carrying flammable isobutane crashed in order to perform a controlled "vent and burn" of the chemical. The Advocate reports that the evacuation will begin after 10 p.m. CST Wednesday. Louisiana State Police Col. Mike Edmonson said authorities will attempt to blow two ...
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Fire dept. cautions Samaritans after electrocutions at vehicle crash
The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa paid tribute to eight good Samaritans who suffered electric shocks as they ran to the scene of a traffic accident, including two women who were killed when they stepped into a pool of electrified water. In a press conference Thursday, Villaraigosa and safety officials cautioned civilians who respond to accidents to assess ...
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Chicago firefighters respond to freight train derailment
The Associated Press CHICAGO — A freight train struck the rear of another freight train in southwest Chicago early Sunday, derailing several rail cars and damaging a third freight train on an adjacent track, authorities said. Local reports said power was briefly knocked out to more than 2,500 people in the neighborhood. There were no immediate reports of any injuries following the derailment shortly ...
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Firefighters dispatched to military base for unearthed substance that burned
By Theodore Decker The Columbus Dispatch COLUMBUS, Ohio — A construction crew working at the Defense Supply Center, Columbus dug up a mysterious substance yesterday that appeared to burn when it was exposed to air, but investigators there have released little other information. The discovery prompted officials to close a short section of Yearling Road north of E. Broad Street in Whitehall, but ...
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Officials: Mistakes made in warning public during massive refinery fire
By Jason Dearen The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Mistakes were made by air quality officials in notifying the public about potentially dangerous pollution created by a huge fire at a Chevron Corp. refinery last month, regulators said Monday. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District held a public meeting in San Francisco to discuss its response and the myriad investigations into the Aug ...
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Rail threat: Design flaw leaves 45K cars vulnerable to fire, explosion, rupture
The rail industry is fixing the design flaw in new cars, but resisting retrofitting the 45,000 still in use.
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NIOSH reports on fall from truck LODD
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health completed its report on a tragic February incident where a volunteer firefighter driving an apparatus inadvertently killed his son, also a firefighter. NIOSH is recommending a stricter, more refined apparatus operating protocol and stressing the importance of inter-department communication. Firefighter Zachary Whitacre, 21, of the Gore Volunteer ...
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Report: Utah officials could make pipelines safer
The Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — A new report finds authorities could do more to prevent massive oil spills in Utah like a pair in 2010 that contaminated a lake, but officials will have to decide if it's worth the cost. The report was commissioned by Salt Lake City and released this week by the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust. It comes after a Chevron pipeline failure in June 2010 released ...
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Shuttered factory catches fire, sparks evacuation
The Associated Press MISHAWAKA, Ind. — Hundreds of people in northern Indiana have been evacuated following a fire at a factory that left a chemical cloud in the air, a fire official said. Mishawaka Battalion Chief Jim Cocquyt said no injuries were reported after the fire Friday evening at the old Baycote facility. He said the Environmental Protection Agency took over the factory months ago and ...
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