Hotwork Accidents #6

This page was last updated on 05/06/2010

Blowtorch starts blaze in Batavia; No injuries as apartment fire leaves 29 residents displaced 
By Mike Cetera and Jack Komperda, STAFF WRITERS 
BATAVIA — A maintenance worker making plumbing repairs with a blowtorch inadvertently touched off a fire in a two-story apartment building Wednesday that left more than two dozen people homeless, authorities said. The fire caused extensive damage to the roof and second story of as many as 10 apartment townhomes at Lincoln Court Apartments. Nobody was injured.”This scared me. My heart raced,” said Gigi Tresnak, a resident in another building in the complex at Route 31 and Union Avenue in Batavia. She called 911 after complex employee Ron Payton yelled for someone to call the fire department about 3:30 p.m. She said she saw him run into the front courtyard, hunched over with a fire extinguisher in hand. “I didn’t know how quickly it would spread to the other apartments. So I figured I’d just get out,” Tresnak said. “There was nothing that was that important to stay for.” Some 100 firefighters from nine area departments battled the blaze for nearly an hour before gaining control. The fire moved quickly between uits, in part because the building was not constructed with fire walls, Batavia Fire Chief Bill Darin said. “It had a very good head start when we got here,” he said. Darin did not know the name of the worker who accidentally set the fire while using a blowtorch on copper pipes in a second-floor bathroom. Paper insulation ignited and burned through the plumbing wall, quickly racing into the building’s attic. Payton helped others get out of the burning building. “Everybody’s accounted for; we went through every apartment,” he said as flames reached high above the roof. Zafar Usubov, a Russian immigrant, said his son and wife were in unit 320 where the fire was found. He paced outside frantically as the flames raged on. A friend said the family was worried about losing passports and green cards to the blaze. Twenty-nine people live in the 10-unit building; one unit was vacant, Darin said. It was unclear on Wednesday when residents would be allowed to return to their homes. Much of the significant fire damage was contained to the attic and second floor, though many units suffered water damage throughout. The Fire Department set damage estimates at $750,000 for the building and $100,000 for its contents. While the fire raged on, dozens of onlookers lined the street to watch. Many were neighborhood residents who walked over after smelling smoke; others were people evacuated from nearby buildings in the complex. Gerrold Dentile, who lives in a different building in the complex, woke his wife, grabbed some file folders and walked across the street while flames consumed the townhouse rooftops. “I gotta learn how to diversify,” Dentile joked as he flipped through manila documents that contained his military records and other personal documents. “You should have two suitcases packed with things ready to go in case of this.” Bethany Ministry Center at the former McWayne School on Wilson Street later was opened as a disaster services center for both Red Cross and Salvation Army volunteers. The volunteer group was expecting man of the displaced residents to make their way to the center for help. The Salvation Army was stationed outside the gymnasium, providing hotdogs, potato chips, cake and drinks to the volunteers and residents most of the evening outside of its mobile canteen. Red Cross volunteer Rod Simon said the group took surveys of what the residents needed and will be providing help for the next couple of days. “We’re making sure they have places to stay, food and clothing,” Simon said. One of the families at the disaster center was just two apartments down from where the fire was discovered. Linda Ruiz and her boyfriend, Matt Anderson, discovered their home was involved in the fire just as they arrived at the scene. They had only been in the apartment for two weeks and had not yet bought renter’s insurance. “We haven’t had a chance to think about that,” Anderson said. “We just watched it all burn.” “We just saw flames coming out of the building,” Ashley Scott, Ruiz’s daughter, added. “But I didn’t gasp though because I ha my lucky bracelet on.” When 7-year-old Ashley noticed her pink bicycle sitting on the front porch of their complex, she didn’t hesitate to walk over to an officer so she could kindly ask him to retrieve the bike. “I think he got it for me because he liked my manners,” Ashley said while waiting for her mom outside the center. And when fire officials finally let residents retrieve belongings from their apartments, Ashley’s luck continued to pay off. Anderson and Ruiz were able to retrieve the family’s pet goldfish from the first floor. When the two went to check on the pet gerbils in Ashley’s second-floor room, where most of the damage took place, they also found the two alive and well. “I think they just had their mouths closed,” Ashley said. Fire last struck the complex in 1994, though in a different area. Lincoln Court is made up of several free-standing sets of apartments. Darin said Wednesday’s fire was the largest in Batavia in five years.

 

Two fires Sunday at Toledo mill
By Leslie O’Donnell, Of the News-Times
Two apparently unrelated fires broke out in equipment at the Georgia-Pacific pulp and paper mill in Toledo on Sunday. A fire in the Number 2 paper machine was reported at 6:51 a.m. but had been extinguished by the mill’s Plant Emergency Organization team prior to arrival of Toledo Fire Department equipment. A response by Newport Fire Department was canceled. Tom Picciano, communications manager for Toledo pulp and paper operations, said the cause of the fire was not known. He said the fire was smoldering, and resulted in a brief down time for the machine, but no damage. The fire was brought under control at 7 a.m. A fire broke out in the lower “rater” on the Number 1 paper machine at 9:36 p.m. That machinery lowers paper from the machine floor to the shipping floor via a type of unmanned elevator. Picciano said workers were performing maintenance on the rater when sparks from a welder dropped onto hydraulic oil and started a fire underneath it. Again, members of the Plant Emergency Organization extinguished the fire prior to the arrival of the Toledo Fire Department. A Newport fire response was again canceled. Picciano said this fire caused no damage or down time. Calling Toledo Fire whenever a fire occurs at the mill is standard procedure, he added. Noting that the fires were unrelated, he said, “it’s an anomaly to have two fires in one day in two separate areas.” Meanwhile, all three paper machines are operating at the Toledo mill. “We’re pleased with the uptick in business, and hope its a foreteller of the future,” Picciano said. “We even have a little backlog on the three machines.” The mill shut one of its machines in May 2001. The mill has one machine making corrugating medium, one making linerboard, and one that can be used to make either product. Picciano could not say how long the mill would continue operating all three machines at once, but concluded, “at least for the short term, it feels really good.”

 

Fire investigators called to Topsham 
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TOPSHAM — The State Fire Marshal’s Office will be contacted today to look into possible code violations at Grimmel Industries, where scores of firefighters fought a stubborn blaze all Saturday night and most of Sunday. “We’re looking into possible violations,” Topsham Fire Chief Robert Stiehler said this morning, “things like the amount of material piled in one space, the way materials are transferred into vehicles, things like that.” The fire that sent smoke rising so high into the night sky that it could be seen all the way to Lewiston apparently started by accident a few hours after welders stopped working at the metals recycling center Saturday afternoon, the chief said. A two-story pile of old cars, mattresses and other materials caught fire first, Stiehler said. The pile contained not only metal, but insulation from vehicles — vinyl, upholstery, plastics, wood and other substances. “When we arrived, there were flames shooting out. But because the pile was so high, we had trouble getting water below the pile where the fire was,” the chief said. That kind of fire, he said, emits thick black smoke that can contain toxins. “We also had explosions from torches, oxygen tanks and flammable gas stored in a shop by the pile,” the chief said. The shop stored heavy equipment and was lost in the fire, as were the contents — a forklift, loader, tools and machinery. Stiehler had no estimate of damages this morning. The Topsham department grounded out one of its trucks while trying to pull water from the nearby Androscoggin River, ripping out a heat shield and two oil lines. “There is a concrete ramp by the river for fire trucks to use for refilling,” the chief said. “But the ramp is washed out.” Workers from Harry Crooker & Sons Inc. of Topsham came to the scene at 3 a.m. Sunday and repaired the truck. But there were other problems. The fire pump located at the site was out of commission Saturday and Sunday after breaking down Friday afternoon, Stiehler said. Scores of units from as far away as Falmouth and Boothbay responded to the fire with pumpers. “It was quite impressive to see the caravan of tankers coming from Falmouth, Gardiner, Boothbay, Turner and all places in-between,” Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said Sunday. Grimmel is located at the former Pejepscot Paper Co. mill about one-half mile off Route 196 in Topsham, near the Lisbon Falls line. “It was a two-to-three-story pile of scrap metal,” McCausland said. “The place brings in all kinds of old cars, junk metal. It’s trucked in from different places, and to best of my knowledge, it’s recycled to other places.” McCausland said the old mill, where paper was manufactured in the Pejepscot section of town, was sold at auction several years ago and taken over by Grimmel. “That’s the second fire they’ve had up there in the past four years,” McCausland said. Stiehler said the center takes junk cars, mattresses and other metal items, then disassembles them for distribution. The metal scrap goes out of state for other use, he said, while the insulation, vinyl and foam rubber are converted to fuel, again outside Maine. “The cars and other metal are crushed and shredded and the other materials are removed,” the chief said. But, he said, there are questions today about fire hazards and other violations at the site. Firefighters were called to the metal center at 7 p.m. Flames were shooting into the air when firefighters arrived. But the incessant smoke was the real problem, the chief said, because of the vast amount of flammable components from junked cars. The smoke had no effect on nearby businesses or residents of Topsham, the chief said. “That kind of fire, and with the weather conditions, the smoke went straight up into the air,” he said. Firemen tapped down the fire by 2 p.m. Sunday, then went back around 7 p.m. to take care of a spot that flared up again.

Herrin’s bowling alley burns in blaze
By John H. Croessman, Managing Editor
The owners of the Herrin Bowl were enjoying the first day of a cruise near St. Thomas Island as their livelihood went up in flames and smoke Monday night. The Herrin Bowl–built 43 years ago–and the place where current owner Tim LaBotte proposed to his bride 19 years ago, was destroyed in the 7:30 p.m. blaze, seen for miles. The couple has owned the bowling alley for five years and was making a success of it. An Illinois Fire Marshal’s Office investigator was at the scene at 10 a.m. this morning trying to determine the exact cause. The fire started on the roof and workers who had been working on the building tried to put out the blaze themselves. The investigation seems to center on two things: Use of a blow torch to make some rooftop connections and air conditioning units. Energy Fire Chief Andy Barclay was with an investigator this morning and could not comment as their work was beginning, but workers who returned to the scene said it appeared that the fire began on the roof of a new game room addition to the popular recreation center. That new addition was still under construction. One of the workers was seen using a blow torch and investigators now theorize that the flame from the torch may have ignited tar and rubber on the roof. This morning, small fires continued to break out among the charred timbers inside the building. The roof system was completely burned and collapsed into the grand old bowling alley itself. The owners had gone on their cruise while the bowling alley was shut down for the remodeling. Firemen from Energy, Herrin, Marion, Carterville, Carbondale, Colp and Murphysboro all responded to the fire. No one was injured although one fireman was taken to Herrin Hospital for heat exhaustion. He was examined and released.

 

Welder’s tanks catch fire in city
JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian August 06, 2002 
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A welder’s tanks of acetylene and oxygen caught fire Monday morning at the future site of a Jewish boarding school between Excelsior Avenue and Route 50. Firefighters were able to get the oxygen tank out but let the acetylene tank burn itself out over about half an hour. ”There is no danger of explosion,” Fire Capt. Robert Williams said as he watched a foot-high flame send a plume of smoke into the air. ”The pressure is down pretty far now. There was a danger when we first got here, though.” Williams said no one was injured. Firefighters kept Veterans Way closed for 45 minutes. Williams said he didn’t know exactly how the fire started, except that the valves on top of the tanks malfunctioned. The tanks were about 30 feet off the ground on a scissors-type hydraulic scaffolding lift.

 

Fire rages through Indian ship; at least one dead, 11 wounded 
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – At least one crew member of an Indian ship was killed and 11 others suffered severe burn injuries after the vessel caught fire at Colombo’s main port Tuesday, said port officials and a hospital director. The ship, M.V. Rajendra Prasad, belonging to India’s state-run Food Corporation of India and registered in the western port of Bombay, was docked for repair when it caught fire, said a port official speaking on condition of anonymity. There were a total of 16 crew members on board when the blaze started, but four were missing when a rescue team boarded the vessel. They managed to find 12 men who were all Indians. One of them later died, and rescue workers were searching for the four missing crew members. The wounded were admitted to Colombo National Hospital where three were in serious condition, said Hector Weerasinghe, the hospital director. The fire was caused by sparks from welding machines, the official said. Indian ships regularly stop at Colombo. It was not immediately known what merchandise the ship had carried before it was docked for repair but it is likely that it had carried wheat.

Downtown fire causes falling glass
By BILL TEETER, Star-Telegram Staff Writer 
FORT WORTH – A fire started by a worker’s blowtorch at the top of downtown’s 40-story Carter Burgess Plaza sent glass falling onto Main Street and created traffic backups Monday evening. No injuries were reported from the fire that burned mainly in a crawl space above the Petroleum Club, which occupies the top two floors, Lt. Kent Worley, a fire department spokesman, said. Smoke and water caused some damage to the club, which is closed on Mondays, he said. No damage estimate was available, he said. “A passer-by called the Fire Department after seeing glass falling and looking up and seeing smoke on the upper floors,” Worley said.

 

Homes Under Construction Burn To The Ground
Several new homes under construction were burned to the ground Tuesday, but firefighters are being credited with preventing the fire from spreading to more homes. The fire happened at a construction site on Harston Way and Don Julio Boulevard in Antelope. The two-alarm fire broke out just after 7 a.m. It quickly destroyed three homes in the framing stages. Several other homes suffered some fire damage. Firefighters arrived on the scene within minutes and were able to knock down the flames. Arson investigators said that it appears the fire was accidental, sparked by a plumber working in one of the houses. The damage is estimated at $900,000.

 

19 lives lost as fires rage through SA
A clothing shop in central Johannesburg caught fire on Tuesday but the blaze was extinguished shortly afterwards, emergency services spokesman Malcolm Midgley said. He said the shop in Jeppe Street caught fire while workers were welding a security gate. The sparks resulting from the welding apparently caused the blaze. The damage to the shop was minor and nobody was injured. Midgley said this was the third fire caused by welding in three weeks.

 

UPDATE, Fire chief: Welder’s spark caused mill feed blaze 
Van Ben Bosch president says business will continue despite temporary layoffs 
By NATE REENS and CYNTHIA J. DRAKE, Staff writers 
A spark from a welder installing a hand rail ignited the flames which ripped through and destroyed the John A. Van Den Bosch feed mill in Zeeland on Monday, Fire Chief Bill Gruppen said. The plant sustained $3.5 million in damages from the fire which started near a bird seed mixing machine, but despite the near total loss of the 509 E. Washington Ave. facility, company President Dave Van Den Bosch said business will continue. Van Den Bosch said the company is temporarily laying off seven of 34 full-time and four of five part-time workers until it can get back on its feet again. “It may be for a week, it may be for a year, it’s hard to tell,” Van Den Bosch said. “We may be able to bring them back faster than we thought because things are rolling pretty good.” Even so, it could take a year to rebuild the mill, he said. “There’s no question in the short term we’re going to be taking a little bit of a hit,” he said of the company’s losses. “We’re going to try to minimize that.” Although the fire leveled the feed mill’s on-site warehouse, manufacturing center and a trucking bay, trucks of pet food and supplies were being loaded at the company’s second warehouse by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Van Den Bosch has a second warehouse at 640 E. Washington Ave. Van Den Bosch uses the 40,000-square-foot warehouse for receiving products the company doesn’t make, like certain brands of pet food and pet accessories, some of which make up the company’s largest customer base. Two trucks of those products went out to customers Wednesday, with another four truck shipments planned for today. Five truck shipments per day are typical. “Some regular Tuesday customers only missed a day,” Van Den Bosch said. The bird food and other animal feed that Van Den Bosch makes will be produced off-site until the mill can be rebuilt, he said. Gruppen said Wednesday interviews with employees who discovered the fire and with those who helped battle the flames before firefighters arrived allowed him to arrive at the source of the fire. “It’s been determined that the fire was accidental and that sparks jumped and ignited the burnable materials which included dust and wood,” Gruppen said. “That happens when you’re welding around flammable materials.” Gruppen said smoke was pouring into the sky and flames were ripping through the feed mill’s roof when fire personnel arrived shortly after 3 p.m. Monday. Eight fire departments helped contain the fire, fanning flames by 6 p.m. that night, but Zeeland firefighters continued to battle smoke, lingering fires and hot spots through 9 p.m. Tuesday, Gruppen said. Gruppen said he did not enter the building to try determine the course of the fire spreading. He said demolition crews were tearing the structure down, making it a dangerous scene. “It is in such shambles that I don’t think anything can be pieced together exactly,” the fire chief said. “With the construction of the building and the dust, it went fast. It was unnoticed for a short while.” Gruppen said he couldn’t say how long the fire burned before it was discovered by an employee who saw smoke and followed it to the flames.

 

Workers may face new fire laws; Crew started blaze while cutting rebar, Garfield sheriff says
By Joe Garner, Rocky Mountain News
EL JEBEL – Workmen suspected of causing a blaze that destroyed homes in the Roaring Fork Valley may be the first to face charges under Colorado’s tough, new wildfire laws. Seven members of a crew employed by Mendoza Concrete in Carbondale are wanted for questioning in connection with Wedneday’s start of a wildfire that forced the evacuation of about 200 homes, Garfield County Sheriff Tom Dalessandri said Thursday.”We’re trying to locate and interview them,” the sheriff said. The company did not return calls for comment. The Panorama Fire, named for the Panorama Estates subdivision, was declared 95 percent contained about 5 p.m. Thursday. Evacuees were allowed to return to their homes, but authorities told them some would be without utilities or 911 emergency telephone services. “We’ve been really fortunate in fighting this fire,” said incident commander Barry Smith. “We’re winding everything down.” Full containment is expected today, he said. Dalessandri said the new laws, which the legislature passed last moth in a special session during this dangerous summer of fires, might come into play if one or more of the workmen are charged. The laws strengthen both civil and criminal penalties for people found guilty of starting wildfires. People who deliberately start fires could spend up to 16 years in prison and be fined $750,000. A civil lawsuit against anyone responsible for a wildfire could force the person to pay triple damages. Dalessandri said investigators believe workers set the fire while cutting rebar about three miles north of El Jebel. “It falls under the category of arson,” he said. “It’s deliberate indifference.” The concrete company has been “reasonably” cooperative, the sheriff said. “They haven’t refused to talk to us, but they haven’t been completely forthcoming, either.” The wildfire destroyed three homes, including a tepee, said Kim Andree, fire spokeswoman. Two outbuildings, a boat and a trailer also were destroyed and two other homes were damaged, she said. The fire started in Garfield County and burned into adjoining subdivisions in Eagle County. The evacuation order for all homeowners was lifted about 5 p.m. Thursday. “I stayed up all (Wednesday) night, and I flew back this morning. I can’t wait to get my dogs out,” said Cindy Denton. She had left her pets Jesse and Penny in the care of neighbors while visiting in Ohio. The sheriff said investigators are “trying to expedite this because of community interest in the situation.” Nevertheless, locating the workmen and interviewing them may require several days, he said. One or several of the workers could be charged with fourth-degree arson, a felony, he said. District Attorney Mac Myers said he had not been advised when to expect a report from investigators. “If they think someone is culpable, I’m sure they will send us a report soon,” Myers said. “I think this fire ban needs to be taken seriously. You just need to look out your front door to see what effect the fire has.”

 

Worthington: Three Killed In Accidents Wednesday 
Two teenage girls were killed and another seriously injured in an automobile accident near the town of Linsmore outside this southwest Minnesota city Wednesday afternoon, while a worker was killed in an accident on the job at about the same time not far away, the Worthington Daily Globe reported. The teens were killed in a rollover accident, and the worker was killed when he was apparently struck by a rim when a tire exploded while he was welding, the newspaper said.

 

Garage destroyed by fire
Pueblo firefighters work to cool hot spots on a garage at 27th and Arlington streets after a fire Friday afternoon destroyed the garage, several vehicles, a boat and scorched the rear of a nearby home . Assistant Fire Chief John Emory said the fire was started accidently when the resident was working with a cutting torch and caught a car’s upholstery on fire. Emory estimated the loss to be about $70,000.

Colo elevator fire contained to one bin
Cecilia Dutton, Staff writer July 18, 2002 
Safety precautions are second nature in agriculture operations, but accidents do happen. Such is the case in a fire at the Farmers Cooperative Exchange elevator in Colo last week. Hot slag from welding work fell into a full corn bin Monday, July 1, during mechanical maintenance work on the top of the concrete elevator. Larry Stayner, Farmers Co-op general manager, said all safety precautions were taken during the maintenance, but some material found its way into the corn. The fire smoldered until noticed the next afternoon, when smoke was noticed at the top of the elevator and coming out through an exit at ground level. Firefighters received the call at 1 p.m., but Chief Mark Farren said it was 5 p.m. before they were able to put water on the corn. Hoses had to be pulled to the 150-foot height. Farren said dousing the corn was not an effective option because the water would not reach the core area, but instead be diverted by impeding corn. The bin was gradually emptied; the 21,000 bushels of corn were taken to a ground storage site on the west side of town. The damaged corn was taken to another location. Stayner estimates 1,000-1,500 bushels had burnt material, but Farren said some may be salvaged for feed corn. The elevator sustained no structural damage. The fire was contained to one of the 20 bins in the elevator. “It turned out a lot better than it could have been,” said Farren, pondering the impact if it had not been detected before workers left that afternoon. Colo firefighters and Nevada firefighters stayed on scene until 8 p.m., but Co-op employees worked until early morning hours the next day cleaning up and securing the elevator. Stayner said the co-op was open to accept loads later the same day. The removed grain was restored in the elevator once personnel was assured it was free of smoldering kernels. “We don’t want to go through this twice,” Stayner said. “We’re very thankful we were able to contain it to such a small area this close to harvest,” Stayner said. Farmers Coop Exchange owns seven elevators throughout Marshall, Story, Marion and Jasper Counties. Stayner he’s hasn’t seen an incident like this in his 20-plus years with the Coop.

Welding spark ignites fire
By Gretchen Fields, The Hawk Eye 
MOUNT PLEASANT — Two westside businesses were destroyed Wednesday after sparks from a welding torch ignited a parked truck. Mount Pleasant Fire Chief Stewart Kinney said a Boles Towing and Automotive employee was working on a truck parked in the shop when sparks from a welding torch ignited the interior of the truck. Before the fire could be extinguished, it spread to the ceiling and made its way into the attic. The building at 807 W. Washington St. also houses Schrader Used Cars. U.S. 34 becomes Washington Street inside the Mount Pleasant city limits. The building is owned by Kevin Schrader, who also runs the used car dealership. The building was insured. A Pizza Hut west of the dealership was not damaged by the fire. There are no other buildings adjacent to the business. Firefighters were called at 8:27 a.m. Kinney said the fire began to burn out of control once it worked its way into the building’s attic. “The ceiling and attic were constructed with wood trusses, so there was really no stopping it once it got up there,” he said. Kinney said firefighters were unable to extinguish the fire from the top of the building. “They’d just put a rubber roof on the building a couple years ago and there were about three layers of rubber roofing that melted and made it impossible to attack from above,” he said. “There were also several subceilings that more or less extended throughout the entire building.” Kinney said a large quantity of paint stored in the building helped fuel the fire. No injuries were reported, but the building and its contents, including at least two vehicles and two personal watercraft, were declared a total loss. Kay Schrader, Kevin Schra–der’s wife, said her husband was able to save all the vehicles parked on the business’s lot. “Everything inside was lost, though,” she said. “Everything you need to run a business — computers, tools, files — is just gone. Kevin’s been in business here for 20 years and that’s what hurt him.” Kay Schrader believed the assessed value of the building was about $150,000. “I guess now we just wait and see what the insurance will take care of,” she said. Nearly all of Mount Pleasant’s volunteer firefighting squad worked about four hours to squelch the blaze and ensuing hot spots. Traffic in front of the business was rerouted for 3 1/2 hours. By noon, Mount Pleasant police opened two lanes of traffic, and all four lanes were open by 12:30 p.m.

6 workers hospitalized after sewer blast; Men were conducting routine pipe inspection when gases were ignited 
By Julie Bykowicz, Sun Staff
Two Anne Arundel County public works employees were badly burned and four others were also hospitalized Tuesday afternoon when something triggered an underground sewer explosion in the northern part of the county. The men were working inside the system, near the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. facilities in the wooded area between Solley Road and Fort Smallwood Road, when a flash fire ignited about 1:30 p.m., said Capt. Robert Rose, a spokesman for the county Fire Department. Public works spokeswoman Pam Jordon said power tools may have ignited a normal buildup of gases in an underground “vault” that provides access to pipes. County and Maryland Occupational Safety and Health officials were investigating the accident, Jordon said. Frank Weilman Jr., 43, of Pasadena and Tom Lange, 42, of Glen Burnie sustained second-degree burns to the chest, face and arms, Rose said. They were airlifted to John Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where Weilman was listed in critical condition and Lange was in fair condition Tuesday night. Public works employees Steve Dary of Glen Burnie, Larry Kiessling of Severn, Mark Bois of Pasadena and Byron Belcher of the Eastern Shore were also transported to the hospital’s burn center by ambulance, Rose said. All four men, whose ages were unavailable, were listed in fair condition Tuesday night. One public works official called the blast “minor” because no one was killed and the sewer system did not appear to be structurally damaged. “I’ve worked here since 1977, and I’ve never seen this occur,” said Paul Lesher, a regional manager for the county public works department. “But I have heard of it happening in many other places.” About a dozen county public works employees were preparing a force main as part of a routine sewage pipeline inspection when something ignited a pocket of gases — including methane — normally produced by decomposing waste water, Lesher said. Employees described the incident as a flash fire, Lesher said. Seconds after the blast, one of the men working underground was able to pull himself out, and other employees helped the second man out, he said. Early reports indicated the explosion had occurred at a BGE facility, so numerous BGE employees were at the scene Tuesday. But none of the power lines that run parallel to the sewer lines was damaged, Lesher said. The blast did not affect the county’s sewer system, Lesher said, because that line had been closed off for the inspection. The sewage pipes in that area are 36 inches in diameter and about 10 years old, he said.

 

Painters ignite fire accidentally
Democrat and Chronicle, MAX SCHULTE 
Rochester firefighters work the roof at a fire on Sycamore Street. The fire was accidentally started. Painters using a torch to burn old paint off a Sycamore Street house accidentally ignited the exterior Tuesday, a Rochester fire official said. The result was significant fire and water damage to the home at 59 Sycamore St., but no one was injured, said Rochester Fire Battalion Chief Robert Vallone. The fire started about 4:40 p.m. The painters noticed a smoldering fire and tried to douse it with a garden hose. One of the painters was on scaffolding trying to extinguish the fire when firefighters arrived a short time later. “Don’t try to fight the fire yourself,” Vallone said. “Call us. Otherwise, it could add to the problem.” Firefighters had the fire under control in a few minutes. Two men who were home — a father and son — escaped uninjured. They had been renovating the home and recently installed new electrical wiring, Vallone said.

 

UPDATE, Construction company says it wasn’t involved in contract for hangar repair
By Carol Bryant
A Grand Island construction company says it wasn’t part of the contract for repair of an airport hangar destroyed in a May 14 fire that caused damages exceeding $10 million. Sentinel Construction, which is a subsidiary of Global Industries of Grand Island, has received claims from insurance companies regarding damages from the blaze. Because of that, Sentinel has filed a lawsuit in Hall County District Court requesting that the construction company not be included as a party in the hangar repair contract to install a new bi-fold door. Sparks from a construction worker’s cutting torch caused the three-alarm fire, which destroyed the hangar and two Great Lakes Aviation 19-passenger planes at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport. Great Lakes leased the hangar from the Hall County Airport Authority and used it as a maintenance center. The airport authority and Interstate Structures entered a contract in December 2001 for repair of the hangar. Although Sentinel Construction is mentioned in the contract, only the airport authority and Interstate Structures were involved in the contract, the lawsuit says. Global Industries and Interstate Structures did enter a contract in March 2001 that said Interstate Structures could represent itself as Sentinel Construction. But that relationship was only to apply to cases in which Interstate Structures was selling or constructing steel buildings manufactured by Global Industries or its Sentinel Building Systems division. That wasn’t the case in the hangar project, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says that Global Industries and Sentinel Construction had no participation in the project, received no economic benefit from it and had none of its manufactured structures involved in the project.

 

UPDATE, Refinery owner sued over blast
Federal suits accuse Motiva of negligence in a 2001 explosion in Del. that killed one and injured eight.
By Tom Avril, Inquirer Staff Writer
U.S. and Delaware officials filed federal lawsuits yesterday against refinery owner Motiva Enterprises L.L.C., accusing the company of gross negligence for its role in an explosion last year that killed a Bucks County man, injured eight people, and spilled 1.1 million gallons of sulfuric acid and petroleum products. Officials declined to specify the amount of damages they were seeking, saying that determination was ultimately up to the courts, but the statutory formulas cited in the lawsuit provide for maximum penalties of more than $70 million. The July 17, 2001, incident at the company’s Delaware City, Del., refinery has spawned a half-dozen investigations and a Delaware law governing the construction, maintenance and inspection of storage tanks. Jeffrey Davis, 50, a boilermaker and father of five from Fairless Hills, was killed in the explosion and collapse of a 31-foot acid-storage tank. His body was never found;all that remained were pieces of his boots. Davis was among several workers who had been dispatched by a contractor to repair a catwalk encircling the tank. Motiva said the accident was likely sparked by one of the torches the workers were using. Flammable gas that escaped from near the roof of the tank “flashed back” into the tank, causing the explosion, Motiva said. Nearly 100,000 gallons of petroleum products and sulfuric acid, which is used to refine gasoline, spilled into waterways including the Delaware River, according to the complaints. The spill killed at least 2,400 fish and 240 blue crabs, officials said. The lawsuits said Motiva was grossly negligent for failing to inspect and maintain its tanks. The tank that exploded had “a known history of problems including… corrosion, leaks [and] holes…,” the federal government’s suit said. The two federal complaints were filed in U.S. District Court in Wilmingtonby the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and by the Delaware Department of Justice on behalf of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. The agencies moved that the two suits be consolidated. An investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration blamed the accident on the company’s failure to inspect and maintain the tank that exploded, calling in January for the company to be fined $259,000. Motiva, a joint venture between Shell Oil Co. U.S. and Saudi Refining Inc., both of Houston, said in its own report last month that its inspections and maintenance played no role in the explosion. Company officials declined to discuss specific allegations yesterday, citing the litigation, but said they had been cooperating with the state and federal agencies since the accident. “We have been working with those agencies as late as last week to resolve the issues raised in today’s filing,” the company said in a statement, adding that it would continue to do so “in an effort to fairly and promptly settle this matter.” Lawyers representing the injured workers said their clients were suffering from a host of psychological and physical problems. Davis’ widow has filed a federal suit against Motiva, seeking unspecified damages. John Slowinski, a Philadelphia lawyer representing another worker, boilermaker Kenneth Creamer of Levittown, said Creamer was devastated by the accident. Creamer was within 15 to 20 feet of Davis when the accident occurred, the attorney said. “Even now he feels that he somehow could have tried to save Jeff,” Slowinski said. The attorney said Creamer was able to help save another coworker, Steven Spera of New Castle, Del., by carrying him from the site.

 

UPDATE, Motiva fallout lingers a year later; Tragedy spurred a law, but is it too much or not enough?
By JEFF MONTGOMERY, Staff reporter
One year ago, a tank explosion at Motiva Enterprises killed one man, shattered dozens of lives and forced politicians and regulators to confront the problem of unsafe and unregulated storage tanks in Delaware. The July 17 accident triggered a still-growing list of lawsuits, and civil and criminal investigations. The accident that killed boilermaker Jeffrey Davis and spilled more than 1 million gallons of sulfuric acid also accelerated what had been a low-key effort spanning several years to bring state supervision to above-ground tanks holding oil or other hazardous materials. After months of debate and compromise, lawmakers on June 20 passed a bill that supporters said will eventually subject the state’s large hazardous chemical tanks to tight regulation. The law has been criticized on both sides. Some environmental groups said too many tanks, such as small oil and chemical tanks, were exempted from most of the regulations. And some industry leaders contend the law was not needed at all, because most companies take care of their tanks as they do not want an accident such as the kind that occurred at Motiva. “This is another example of what happens when you allow industry to write or influence the writing of laws and regulations. They haven’t gone far enough,” said John Kearney, Delaware director for the Clean Air Council, a national nonprofit group that focuses on pollution and environmental protection issues. Some in the industry said Delaware should have looked closer at existing safety programs. “The major companies aren’t flawless, but the regulations that are needed already are in place. It’s like selling cigarettes to kids. You don’t have to pass a new law to stop it,” said Kenneth S. Petro, business development manager for the New Castle office of Chicago Bridge & Iron, the world’s largest builder of storage tanks. After the accident at Motiva’s refinery near Delaware City, state officials said they lacked authority to question or check the condition of tanks near the refinery’s sulfuric acid plant. Sen. David McBride, D-Hawks Nest, prime sponsor of the above-ground tank bill, said he was troubled that the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control could not provide even a basic inventory of tanks in the state, much less information on their condition. The bill will require that many tanks be registered, and will give the state authority to check their condition. The Motiva explosion was not Delaware’s first exposure to above-ground tank hazards, or the first attempts at reform: • A neglected tank twice spilled caustic liquid at Motiva just months before the July acid tank explosion. State investigators said the refinery allowed a corroded and leaking valve to go unrepaired for more than a week, then failed to notice when a pump breakdown let spilled chemicals reach Red Lion Creek . • The nearby and now closed Metachem Products plant was forced to remove or empty leaking or dangerous tanks three times in the last three years, all after government intervention. Four other tanks spilled 569,000 gallons of toxic, molten chlorobenzene compounds after a collapse in 1986, leaving pollution that continues to contaminate nearby soil and groundwater. • An underground piping leak at the former Delmarva Power & Light Co. Indian River Power Plant released more than 500,000 gallons of fuel oil into surrounding soils and marsh during the 1990s before it was discovered. The leaking oil polluted more than two acres of soil and groundwater and killed all vegetation along a half-acre of Indian River shoreline. “We did not achieve what we wanted with any of the original drafts” of tank regulations, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner said just before signing the law last week. “However, after the fatal accident of July 17 of last year the whole idea of this bill galvanized, and we said we must sit down, we must work it out.” Lawmakers included leak-detection and inspection requirements in the new law to prevent incidents like those at Motiva, Metachem and Indian River, said Nicholas Di Pasquale, secretary of Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. “Hopefully, this program will keep companies on the ball,” Di Pasquale said. “In difficult economic times, obviously, companies look for ways to cuts costs, and one has to believe that delaying repairs or maintenance is one way to do that.” A first step for the state More than 20 states developed tank laws before Delaware acted. The federal government imposed separate controls exclusively for oil tanks in 1990. DNREC has up to two years to write the regulations that will spell out maintenance, inspection and reporting requirements for tank owners. Supporters said Delaware’s Jeffrey Davis Above Ground Storage Tank Act has the potential to be among the nation’s toughest. Before Minner signed the law, Delaware relied exclusively on federal regulations for direct tank oversight, and those rules covered only large petroleum or oil tanks. The state law extends oversight to smaller oil tanks and tanks holding hazardous chemicals, such as sulfuric acid, toxic and corrosive hydrogen fluoride and cancer-causing benzene. The law eventually will require the equivalent of seven to eight full-time workers for administration and enforcement. State industry fees collected from tank owners will support the program, and federal and industry standards will guide its rules. In addition to registration and inspection standards, the law requires tank owners to maintain detection systems to prevent hard-to-spot leaks that may last for years. And the law gave DNREC the right to make surprise inspections. Critics, including the Clean Air Council, Common Cause and Delaware Audubon Society, point out that the law’s detailed reporting, inspection and leak-detection standards will generally apply only to tanks larger than 12,499 gallons. All three groups pointed out that tanks smaller than 1,100 gallons that hold on-farm chemicals, heating oil or motor oil are exempt from the law but still pose environmental risks. Also exempt from detailed oversight are heating oil, kerosene and diesel fuel tanks of up to 40,000 gallons, the equivalent of a container 20 feet in diameter and 17 feet tall. McBride said the bill is a good first step. “There are other areas that certainly can be addressed,” he said, “but I’d like to give it a chance to get started and evaluate where we go from there.” Industry will watch In some respects, the law exceeds requirements in Pennsylvania, which enacted a comprehensive tank law in 1989. Pennsylvania acted after a 4 million gallon tank owned by Ashland Petroleum near Pittsburgh split its seams and burst open in 1988. More than 750,000 gallons of oil reached nearby rivers, disrupting drinking water systems serving 2.7 million people in three states. “We found you can’t just rely on people to follow industry standards. You have to spell out what you want,” said Raymond S. Powers, a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection storage tank specialist. “Without our law, we would certainly have had more tank bottoms that were leaking and impacting the environment and groundwater that we wouldn’t have known about until it was too late. There’s no question.” Industry leaders are watching efforts like Delaware’s, said Jerry M. Engelhardt, a regulatory and legislative issues consultant with Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, a Texas firm that ranks among the nation’s largest pipeline operators. “It’s a high priority with industry,” Englehardt said. “I think people understand that it really is the best economics to do periodic inspections. This is borne out when you look at the possible costs in good will and in public perceptions and actual dollars that a company can incur” for failure. Too much regulation, Englehardt said, can cause as much trouble as too little, forcing companies to spend money on extra reports and, in some cases, requiring added pollution and risks because of needless inspections. Oil and chemical tanks release vapors when they are drained and opened for visual inspections, Englehardt said. Some companies also may have to build tanks to maintain their storage capacity while complying with more frequent inspections. “You want to prioritize and inspect the most vulnerable tanks first,” Englehardt said. “If you just say ‘one size fits all,’ that can inappropriately divert funds from more needy tanks by siphoning them off for tanks that don’t need as frequent an inspection.” Problems at Motiva As long ago as May 2000, federal regulators reported finding evidence that Motiva was failing to meet even the most-basic safety requirements at its sprawling, 440 million gallon oil tank complex. An Environmental Protection Agency inspection under the 1990 Oil Pollution Control Act found potentially catastrophic deterioration in several federally regulated oil tanks in May 2000. The EPA ordered 18 tanks drained or repaired after inspectors reported that corrosion deterioration posed a “high” risk of catastrophic spills into the Delaware River. One of the tanks rated as an imminent hazard held more than 7 million gallons of oil. DNREC and EPA officials said that Motiva overhauled its refinery-wide tank maintenance budget after the EPA order, postponing work on tanks outside of federal oversight in order to meet the EPA’s petroleum tank requirements. One of the tanks chosen for delayed repairs, Tank 393, would eventually be ripped by an explosion and tear off its base, collapsing on its side in flames. Company officials later acknowledged that the tank was leaking, corroded and overdue for inspection. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration in January hinted that financial concerns led to the maintenance delay. A $259,000 OSHA penalty order against the company charged Motiva with willfully violating safety standards by putting off an inspection “due to the need for the tank to cover a high inventory of spent sulfuric acid.” On July 17, 2001, managers dispatched a five-man boilermaker crew to the refinery’s six-tank sulfuric acid storage area to remove and replace steel catwalks. Their permit for “hot work” lacked any warning about the unsafe tank. “I can’t imagine a situation where that sort of thing would happen without somebody knowing about it,” said Victor Singer, an engineer and chairman of New Castle County’s planning commission. Singer argued during debate over the tank bill that Delaware should expand its long-established boiler safety program to cover storage tanks, rather than create a new bureaucracy. The state’s Boiler Safety Office sets standards for and regulates tanks and systems under pressure, such as steam boilers. Private industry covers many of the agency’s duties under a program that allows state certification of private inspectors. “We don’t have a lot of boilers coming apart, so boiler inspectors must be doing something useful,” Singer said. Preventing disaster Leonard Friedman, who helped to design the acid complex at Motiva and who now heads Florida-based Acid Engineering International, said Delaware didn’t need the law. “They can pass a law and pat themselves on the back and feel good, and some people may be forced to inspect more frequently than they really need,” Friedman said. “But the ones that really need to be inspected more frequently, responsible people would have inspected anyway. Nobody wants a catastrophe like what happened at Motiva.” Robert L. Ferry, an expert on storage tank and environmental issues who works for a North Carolina consulting firm, cautioned that new state laws may only cloud the picture for industries that for the most part want to operate safely. “There are literally thousands of [regulatory] compliance tasks due each year, a handful of which might be hugely important for protecting life and safety or the environment and the majority of which have little benefit,” Ferry said. “At Motiva, it sounds like there were current mechanisms to safeguard against what happened, and they were ignored.” Still, state lawmakers and DNREC viewed the refinery as an example of why tank regulation was needed. The administration’s original proposal, S.B. 273, was criticized as needlessly broad and burdensome. Industry and farm-lobby groups won support for a more limited substitute they said would focus attention on tanks most likely to pollute. Minner said all sides made concessions to get the final version through the Legislature. “It’s our hope that nothing like this ever happens again, that we never have to worry about another dangerous situation like we had at Motiva,” Minner said.

 

Technicians escape fire at NLC

By ChennaiOnline News Service Cuddalore, July 9: Ten technicians, working atop a special mining equipment, ‘Spreader 421’, in Mine 1 of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), had a providential escape after it caught fire yesterday while they were undertaking welding. The technicians jumped to safety from a height of 30 ft onto a sandy bed, NLC works engineer R Kannan said. Kannan said the fire began after some sparks from the welding equipment fell on the cables of Spreader 421. The cable joints, switchboards and operating cabin were completely destroyed, he said. The damage was estimated to be between Rs 80 lakh and Rs 1 crore, he said. Later, the chief general manager (Mines) inspected the damaged equipment and ordered an enquiry, Kannan said. (Agencies)

 

UPDATE, General-alarm fire at Trenton Psychiatric

By TOM BALDWIN & JEAN LEVINE, Staff Writer

A welder’s torch sparked a general-alarm blaze that gutted offices and a chapel at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital yesterday as it burned out of control for more than two hours. Authorities said no TPH employees or patients were hurt in the morning blaze. But several of the 100 firemen who responded to the scene collapsed from heat exhaustion. Battalion Chief Graham Smith of the Trenton Fire Division said the blaze broke out in the Haines Building shortly before 8 a.m. In minutes, as the flames shot across the roof of the L-shaped, three-story structure, firemen were calling for more help from Trenton’s fire force as well as the volunteer firemen of Ewing, Hamilton and Lawrence. Before it was declared under control at 10:19 am., the blaze would go to three alarms, then general alarm status. Firemen initially charged into the building in the effort to beat down the flames. Fearful of a collapse, however, supervisors pulled firefighters back out to fight strictly from outside with aerial hoses. Officials said it was perhaps the worst fire in the 150-year history of the psychiatric facility, which lies between Stuyvesant Avenue and Sullivan Way and straddles the Trenton-Ewing border. “It was bad, real bad,” said 37-year-old Barney Ross, of Trenton, a TPH cook for 11 years who credited firemen with saving much of the structure. “It could have really gotten out of control.” The hospital cares for 450 of the state’s most mentally ill individuals. No patients at the landmark facility (circa 1848) suffered physical ailments from the blaze. But an undetermined number of employees had to be evacuated across Sullivan Way to wait the fire out on Trenton Country Club’s verdant, smoky meadows.  “We do not believe it was an arson,” said Deputy Mercer County Prosecutor Randolph Norris, who was at the scene supervising the investigation decked out in a khaki suit, T-shirt and biker boots. “Apparently a welder was up there working on a gutter. He tried putting water on it. But he still smelled more smoke,” said Norris. Norris added that the welder then lifted the shingles and saw the fire immediately go “poof” and flash across the old roof. “That was it,” Norris said, shrugging. The time — about 8 a.m. the patients had finished breakfast. The nearby roads were choked with commuters. The day’s heat had hit the high 70s. Terri Wilson, who is Gov. Jim McGreevey’s deputy commissioner of the Department of Human Services, was on her way to her Trenton office when she got the alert. “There were no residents in there at the time. It does not house residents. I know there is a chapel on the first floor, and store rooms,” she said as hulking, tired firemen trudged around her. Fire departments and more than 100 firefighters, some from as far away as East Windsor responded. “We’re going to get a statement from the guy,” Norris said of the unidentified welder. Investigators will also get a statement from the prosecutor’s office. Detective Lloyd Mathis said so many units had responded — for safekeeping–because neither Ewing nor Trenton is certain where on  the hospital grounds the border lies. “There is some confusion,” said Mathis. By 10 a.m., with fire equipment scattered among the tall maples, one truck with its ladder extended skyward played a jet of water down, at a 50-degree angle, onto the roof of the Haines Building, a stone structure of stern, Victorian lines.  “All the people just left the building,” said Wilson. “We don’t know at this time exactly how many people were evacuated,” said DHS spokesman Andy Williams. Ross, the cook, wondered if Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer might now think about closing fire houses, an economy move that is angering firefighters.  “This is a tragedy waiting to happen, thanks, maybe, to our mayor,” said Ross, who insisted he had no firefighter relatives. Workers and some patients stayed away from the smoldering roof, gathering in small groups or wandering the leafy grounds. Perhaps the institution’s most illustrious patient was Princeton University mathematics scholar John Nash, the troubled instructor about whom the film A Beautiful Mind was made. Another past patient was a Trenton mayor, Frank A. Magowan, who landed there in 1914 after an affair with a mistress turned him into an embezzler. Among other infamous patients at TPH now are mass killer Howard Unruh, a World War II Army marksman whogunned down a dozen people in his Camden neighborhood in 1949; and Jean Zelinsky, the wild woman of Ringoes, who razored off her 78-year-old mother’s head and tossed it onto the steps of the State House. One current patient is known by The Trentonian to possess one of McGreevey’s office telephone numbers. The man calls the governor’s office almost daily, asking for the state’s chief executive to come and get him. Said Jeffrey Gore, a battalion chief of the Trenton Fire Department, the blaze burned past noon but had been brought under control by mid-morning. With smoke fogging their manicured fairways, golfers over the country club seemed to ignore the near-tragedy just north of Cadwalader Park, on a knoll above Lower Ferry Road.

 

Welder’s Torch Blamed For Fire At New Jersey Psychiatric Hospital

A welder’s torch apparently sparked a multi-alarm fire that gutted a portion of a four-story administration building at the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital complex in New Jersey. The fire, which began around 8 a.m. yesterday in the Haines Building, is believed to be accidental. Sgt. Al Della Fave, a state police spokesman, said the fire apparently began when the unidentified worker ignited some shingles and underlying material while soldering a gutter. The fire quickly engulfed the roof of the four-story building, which contains administrative offices, a chapel and maintenance functions, and the few staffers who were there were quickly evacuated. The facility’s 450 patients were never in danger and no employees were injured, said Andy Williams, spokesman for the state Department of Human Services. The hospital serves adult patients with severe mental illnesses who need intensive inpatient care. More than 250 firefighters from Trenton and surrounding communities fought the blaze. Five firefighters were treated for minor injuries, such as heat exhaustion and twisted ankles, while Battalion Chief Mark Rosen was treated for chest pains.

 

UPDATE, Storage Tank Bill is Signed; Law Named After Man Killed in Last Year’s Motiva Accident

Gov. Ruth Ann Minner signed a bill Monday giving Delaware broad power to regulate above-ground storage tanks, days before the anniversary of a deadly tank accident near Delaware City. Lawmakers named the Jeffrey Davis Aboveground Storage Tank Act in memory of a Fairless Hills, Pa., man killed when a sulfuric acid tank exploded and collapsed in flames on July 17, 2001, at the Motiva Enterprises refinery. Davis’ widow and children attended the bill-signing in Delaware City. The law is expected to require registration of tanks at up to 2,500 facilities statewide. Detailed rules for inspection and maintenance of large tanks or those holding hazardous chemicals will follow within two years. “I hope this is the only bill in my term of office that I have to sign because of a tragic accident, but we all know that’s why this bill is being signed – to protect others after what happened,” Minner said. State and federal investigations into the accident, death, injuries and pollution are continuing. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration already has fined Motiva for safety violations that federal officials said led to the explosion. The bill requires owners to label and keep records on tanks covered by the law and to file inspection reports when tanks are emptied for maintenance, repair or removal from service. It also permits unannounced inspections by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. DNREC Secretary Nicholas A. Di Pasquale said 27 other states already have some form of tank law. Federal spill-prevention laws apply mainly to larger oil tanks. “Clearly, above-ground storage tanks in Delaware and throughout the country have been identified as a problem that needs further regulation,” Di Pasquale said. He added that Delaware’s law will assure that tank owners meet industry standards for construction and maintenance. Most tanks that hold more than 250 gallons must be registered. Generally, the law exempts propane, home-heating oil, farm tanks less than 1,100 gallons and motor-fuel tanks less than 1,100 gallons that are used for noncommercial purposes. The law requires a construction permit to build a tank with a capacity of 12,499 gallons and up. In addition, owners of those tanks will be required to pay an annual registration fee. “This will cover those tanks that represent the most significant threat to the health and environment of the state of Delaware,” Di Pasquale said. Sen. David B. McBride, D-Hawks Nest, the bill’s prime sponsor, said Delaware already was considering a tank-regulation law at the time of the Motiva accident.

 

Old Oakmont Plant Catches Fire

Flames broke out Monday morning at a former steel plant in Oakmont. A salvage crew was dismantling equipment in the empty Edgewater Steel Ltd. building when a cutting torch ignited some oil and debris, according to firefighters. The fire went to three alarms. It was under control by noon. No injuries were reported.

 

Propane fire levels home in Sheldon area

By Walter Mares, News Editor

A Sheldon-area man was injured when a wall of flame roared through his home, destroying it. The apparent cause was an explosion. Chris Hughes 43, suffered burns on his arms and upper body in the Friday night, June 24, fire that leveled the mobile home just south of Sheldon. Hughes’ wife, Carol, and a friend escaped injury. The Hugheses lost everything and escaped only with the clothes they were wearing. Fire fighters from Duncan and Virden responded to the call on Hale Road. The area is hidden in the hillocks and depressions in the desert. The homes there are not visible from Hwy. 75, the closest main thoroughfare. By the time firemen were able to arrive, the home was engulfed by flames and far beyond saving. It became a matter of extinguishing the fire and containing it to keep it from spreading to the surrounding desert. Greenlee County Sheriff’s Deputy Buddy Price, who was at the scene, said flames shot 20-25 feet high. Besides battling the inferno, fire fighters had to use extra caution as rounds of ammunition, including shot gun shells, started discharging in the intense heat. Greenlee County Sheriff Richard McCluskey, who lives in the immediate area, said Hughes is an avid hunter, so it was no surprise when the ammunition started going off. McCluskey, who arrived quickly at the scene, said Hughes had been apparently using a propane torch while replacing water lines in the trailer. He said propane was the likely cause of the explosion. His office and fire officials are investigating the exact cause of the fire. Hughes later confirmed he had been replacing old, galvanized plumbing with copper pipes and had been using a soldering tool and propane while working on the lines. Hughes, whose arms were heavily bandaged and face was blistered, told The Copper Era in a June 25 interview at the fire scene he had been working on the pipes and decided to stop for the evening. He said he, Carol and a friend had just watched a movie when Carol commented she smelled propane. He said he checked his equipment and used a solution and water and soap to check for any leaks and found none.

Hughes’s gaze was fixed on the ruined remains of his home. “That’s what I don’t understand. It was instantaneous,” he said. He grimaced from the pain in his arms and slowly shook his head.  Hughes said the three had just sat down to play a game of dominoes when a wall of fire erupted from the back of the trailer. “We were just able to get out the front door when it hit.” The Hughes’s dog, “Booger”, had been lying on a bed in rear bedroom and perished in the explosion.

UPDATE, Motiva Report Cites Two Causes for July, 2001 Fatal Tank Blast

Leaking flammable vapor and a failed safety system led to an explosion in an acid tank at a refinery near Delaware City last year, Motiva Enterprises reported Friday. The accident killed one man and injured eight others. The company ruled out structural failure as the cause of the July 17 accident, which eventually spilled more than 1 million gallons of sulfuric acid, according to a two-page summary of the investigation released by Motiva. The report said the vapor probably was leaking near where the roof joined the wall of the tank. A company spokesman said he could not elaborate on whether the vapor was leaking from a weld or whether the tank was corroded through. An earlier report by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the roof of the tank had a hole in it because of corrosion. The accident resulted in state and federal safety and pollution investigations. At least one of the investigations is examining possible criminal violations, state officials have confirmed. The Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control have yet to release the results of their investigation into pollution caused by the accident. Also pending are investigations by the Delaware State Police and Office of the State Fire Marshal. One federal agency, the Chemical Safety and Accident Investigation Board, said it plans to hold a public meeting on the Motiva accident this summer as part of its review. In the report released Friday, refinery investigators cited a company-approved welding operation as the most likely trigger for the accident at the company’s six-tank sulfuric acid storage complex. “There was a low-pressure type of explosion that was the result of the ignition of flammable vapors” inside one of the tanks, said Spiros Mantzavinos, the Motiva spokesman. “It was lifted into the air. The investigation determined that it didn’t collapse due to its own weight or the hydraulic force of the liquid inside.” Mantzavinos said the refinery would share its findings with state and federal regulators. He would not comment on findings by other agencies. DNREC Deputy Secretary David Small said state regulators received Motiva’s report late Friday and had not yet had a chance to review it thoroughly. Small said a state-supervised refinery overseer hired at Motiva’s expense began an on-site assessment last week and would return to the refinery in mid-July. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner demanded company acceptance of the oversight in August, citing chronic safety problems and environmental offenses at the plant. The accident last year killed boilermaker Jeff Davis, 50, of Fairless Hills, Pa. He died when he was caught atop the tank during the explosion. His body was never recovered. Eight workers were injured in the accident, which also spilled acid directly into the Delaware River and destroyed a small tributary of Red Lion Creek. Company officials last year acknowledged that the tank that exploded had a history of leaks and corrosion, including repairs needed along a band of deteriorated steel at its base. Refinery workers had raised safety concerns about the tank three weeks before the accident. “The previous repairs didn’t cause or contribute to the accident,” Mantzavinos said. Richard A. Zappa, a Wilmington attorney who represents one of the workers injured on July 17, dismissed Motiva’s findings as irrelevant. “There were so many things wrong with that tank and so many things wrong with conditions at the tank farm that it was an accident waiting to happen,” Zappa said. “By the time this case is over, we’ll find out exactly what happened.” Zappa represents John Beaver of New Castle, a truck driver who was pulled to safety by co-workers after he was caught in an expanding cloud of acid vapors immediately after the explosion. Motiva’s findings were similar in some respects to those released by OSHA earlier this year. OSHA recommended a $259,000 fine against Motiva for violations leading up to the accident. The federal safety agency found that Motiva failed to inspect the deteriorating steel tank, “knowing that it was long overdue,” and failed to equip the tank with devices needed to suppress explosive vapors and relieve excessive pressure. Motiva’s report found problems with a fire-suppression system used to control flammable vapors in the tank that exploded. But company workers were unaware of the problem on the day of the accident, Mantzavinos said, and the area was tested for vapors before welding began. The tank that exploded had leaks that allowed flammable vapor mixtures to escape, possibly reaching dangerous concentrations in an area where welders were working. The resulting flame then flashed back into Tank 393 and ignited the flammable gas mixture in its vapor space,” Motiva’s report said. Once the flames reached the inside of the tank, an explosion rocketed the tank off its base, “as would have been expected regardless of the presence of some corrosion at the time,” the report said. The EPA in 1997 issued a warning on similar dangers from catastrophic tank failures caused by explosions. “A properly designed and maintained storage tank will break along the shell-to-top seam,” the EPA said. “Then the fire would more likely be limited to the damaged tank and the contents would not be spilled.” Motiva uses sulfuric acid as part of its refining process. Before the accident destroyed its acid storage complex, the refinery recycled acid on-site. Used acid contains small amounts of hydrocarbons that can concentrate near the top of the tank. Industry experts have said that corrosion also can release explosive hydrogen gas in carbon steel tanks like those used at Motiva.

 

Work proceeds on Home Depot, Salmon’s

By Sentinel Staff

HANFORD — Work continues on the future site of the Home Depot store near the intersection of 12th Avenue and Lacey Boulevard. Home Depot has obtained its building permits and is doing site preparation, John Stowe, Hanford city planner, said Wednesday. Plans calls for a 96,234-square foot store with a 25,752-square foot garden center, making it one of the largest stores in Hanford. Home Depot officials have told the Hanford City Council previously that they hope to have the store open by January of next year. The store is expected to bring jobs to the city along with sales tax revenue. Work also continues on the rebuilding of Salmon’s Furniture Galleries on Seventh Street. The original store burned down one year ago after sparks from a saw set the roof on fire. Plans call for the new 34,000-square foot showroom to open Dec. 1.

 

UPDATE, Chimney fire deaths – two arrested
Two men have been arrested in connection with the double fatality at the Carnauld Metalbox Food UK plant. Greater Manchester Police say both men were later released on bail. Craig Whelan, 23, and Paul Wakefield, 40, died after fire broke out while they were engaged on the demolition of a 150-metre tall chimney in Bolton.

 

Car on hoist catches fire, damages business

By Lisa Medendorp, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

The owner of an Egelston Township business and two employees escaped injury Friday afternoon when a car on a hoist in a service bay burst into flames. “I think we’re real fortunate,” said Tim Linderman, owner of Exhaust Special-T’s, 7162 E. Apple. Fortunate no one was hurt, and fortunate that firefighters got the fire out before it did extensive damage to the building. The 3:49 p.m. blaze destroyed the car, partially gutted one service bay and resulted in smoke damage to a second bay and the office. “Heavy black smoke was coming out of both bays,” said Egelston Township Fire Capt. Bob Halston, first to arrive. Halston, who initially was by himself, said he was lucky enough to be able to line up the deck gun on the fire truck with the east bay, where most of the fire was. He said that knocked the fire down, and as other firefighters arrived, “we went in with a 2 1/2-inch line.” The blaze was quickly extinguished. Roy Krisatis, 24, a new employee, said he was about to weld a bracket on his wife’s car, which was up on the hoist, when the fire broke out. He said he glanced over and saw flames on the post that was holding the exhaust in place for welding. “All of a sudden, the car caught fire,” Linderman said. The men emptied a fire extinguisher and got out of the building. Krisatis said his wife, Lisa Ann, had a fuel leak on the car fixed about two months ago. Her 1989 Chevrolet Beretta was at the business having an exhaust system installed. Linderman said he had insurance. No damage estimate was available, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Assisting Egelston Township firefighters at the scene were fire personnel from Muskegon, Fruitport and Moorland townships and the Ravenna Area Fire Department.

 

Plumbing work blamed for fire

By STEVE RAMOS, Staff Writer

ELKO — A fire that caused substantial damage to a house at 544 Sage St. early this morning began accidentally, according to Elko Fire Chief Alan Kightlinger. The house, owned by Greg and JoAnne Powell, was in the final stages of renovation, Kightlinger said, and plumbers had been sweating pipe late Wednesday afternoon. “The area was checked at 9:30 that evening,” Kightlinger said, “and there was no indication of a problem.” The fire department received the call at 1:57 a.m., and 11 career firefighters and 14 volunteer firefighters responded. Kightlinger said the men encountered a full-blown fire when they arrived at the house. “There were 15 to 20 feet flames,” he said, “and it was a very difficult fire to chase. We had to keep ripping into the ceiling and sheetrock to get to the fire.” Reports indicate that a plumber’s torch used during the renovation work Wednesday afternoon accidently ignited the wall between the mechanical closet and the bathroom wall. The fire then crept underneath the space of the shower stall, burning a stud and getting into the attic area. “There is extensive damage to the utility closet, master bath, master bedroom and front outside bedroom,” Kightlinger said. “The entire roof and trusses will probably have to be replaced.” The chief said he returned to the structure this morning and spoke to the Powells. They told him the house was insured, and they were waiting for the adjusters. The house was not occupied, and there were no injuries.

 

Small Fire Breaks Out at La Scala

MILAN, Italy (AP) — A piece of wood caught fire Thursday during renovation work at La Scala, but it was quickly doused and the famed opera house was not damaged, officials said. Firefighters who were posted inside the opera house precisely to guard against any mishaps during the renovation put out the flames within seconds, La Scala spokeswoman Laura Valente said. Backup firefighters were, however, called in as a precaution. The flames were apparently sparked as construction workers cut a wood plank, the ANSA news agency quoted Milan’s vice mayor, Riccardo De Corato, as telling journalists at the site. Valente said the wood that caught fire _ about one square yard _ was part of the gear mechanism under the stage and as a result was somewhat oily. In a telephone interview, Valente stressed there was no damage to the theater or its stage, which has been dismantled as part of the 30-month restoration project that got under way earlier this year. Part of the renovation work includes improving fire safety in the theater, which was inaugurated in 1778. While La Scala’s doors have been closed to the public since December, performances have continued at the newly built Arcimboldi theater on Milan’s outskirts.

 

Firefighters Battle Exploding Chemical Tanks, Smoke and Heat in West County

WEST COUNTY (KSDK) – More than 125 firefighters struggled to control a warehouse fire in west St. Louis County this morning. The fire happened at the Goad Construction Company in Ellisville. When firefighters arrived, chemical tanks were exploding and thick smoke could be seen three miles away. Due to the extreme heat, the fire chief had to call in extra help. “It’s very, very warm. They did take a beating. After they got the fire knocked down then they had to go inside to overhaul, said James Silvernail of the Metro West Fire District. Seven firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion. Some emergency crews are still on the scene, putting out hotspots. The fire started as workers used cutting torches in a blast room. Sparks from the torches ignited some rubber foam. Nine employees inside got out safely. Nearby warehouses did not have to evacuate.

 

Welding starts fire at UPS; No packages damaged

By Sarah Schulz

Welders working on a conveyer belt line at the UPS distribution center accidentally started the unit on fire Thursday afternoon. Grand Island Fire Capt. Troy Miller said firefighters received the call at 3:35 p.m. Thursday about the fire at 1824 E. Seedling Mile Road. The welders had stopped their work, nothing was on the conveyer belt and it was not running when the fire started, he said. When firefighters arrived they had to use thermal imaging equipment to find the fire because the large building was filled with smoke. Once the fire was located, it was extinguished quickly, he said. Smoke was visible on the left side of the building before and after two of the large overhead doors were opened. There were a few people in the building, which also houses two other businesses, but no one was injured, he said. The other businesses were not damaged, he said. The plastic and nylon belt and some of the rollers on the conveyer belt will have to be replaced, Miller said. He estimated the damage at around $1,000. There were no UPS packages in the building when the fire occurred, he said.

 

Fire Destroys `Vintage’ Barn, Camper, Three Vehicles

By DAN UHLINGER, Courant Staff Writer

KILLINGLY — A fire accidentally ignited by a cutting torch destroyed a barn, its contents, three vehicles and a camper trailer Friday morning. Some emergency workers initially feared the blaze was the work of an arsonist blamed for setting at least eight fires since Dec. 1 in town and in nearby Pomfret. But Fire Marshal Joseph Roy said Friday that the blaze, reported about 10:30 a.m. at 323 Green Hollow Road, was an accident. No injuries were reported. Roy said the owner of the property, who was not immediately identified, was working on a vehicle with a blowtorch when the fire erupted. Numerous fire departments responded, but not in time to save what Roy described as a “vintage, two-story” wood-frame barn. In addition to the vehicles and camper parked next to the barn, its contents were destroyed, Roy said. The damage was estimated at more than $200,000, he said. State police said they are still trying to identify and arrest the arsonist blamed for setting sheds, garages, barns and a flea market on fire since Dec. 1. The old wood in many of the structures has caused the fires to spread quickly. Witnesses to an arson at a barn in early March said they saw a man in the area, and police were able to develop a composite drawing. The man was described as white, 17 to 19 years old, about 5-foot-10, 160 pounds, with short dark hair and a thin mustache. Anyone with any information is asked to call Troop D in Danielson at 860-779-4900.

 

UPDATE, Waco federal courthouse fire ruled accidental

By MIKE ANDERSON Tribune-Herald staff writer

A fire that badly damaged Waco’s federal courthouse last year was started accidentally by sparks from a torch used to cut pipes, according to federal investigators’ final report. The Oct. 25, 2001 fire in the attic of the courthouse at 800 Franklin Ave. burned away half the roof along the building’s south side before firefighters put it out eight hours after it was first noticed. Although flames were limited to the attic, the rest of the building suffered moderate to heavy water damage, Waco fire officials said. At the time of the fire the 65-year-old courthouse was undergoing an extensive refurbishment, and crews were using torches to dismantle parts of the building. In a report released to the Tribune-Herald , investigators with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms said the fire started in the southeast corner of the building’s attic, near where crews had been using cutting torches earlier in the day. According to the report, a construction worker told investigators he had put out a small fire earlier that day. He said workers finished in the attic and left around 2 p.m. When he left the attic, the worker told investigators, he did not smell any smoke. Another worker told investigators the crew was “supposed to remove the insulation from the pipes before using the cutting torch,” the report said. “However they did not always do this so that they could work at a faster pace. Small fires have started in the past at this site from cutting torch sparks landing on insulation.” Dan Dirschert, vice president of Keating Building Corp., the project coordinator, called the report’s description of a cause “speculative.” “It was ruled an accident and I am going to leave it at that,” he said. Waco Fire Marshal Jerry Hawk has said both the October 2001 fire and a second more minor fire in March 2002 were caused by sparks from cutting torches. The ATF report does not address the second fire. The $25 million project, which began in August 2001, was initially expected to be completed this September, said Lisa Wideman, a spokeswoman with the U.S. General Services Administration, which oversees federal construction projects. Wideman said the fire pushed the completion date back at least three months. Employees scheduled in the building’s new annex are expected to occupy their offices in December. The rest of the building, with the exception of U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr.’s courtroom, should be completed by January, she said. Smith, whose court has temporarily moved to the old TXU Electric and Gas Co. building at 901 Washington Ave., said he is anxious to get back into his court room. Wideman said that could be as late as February or March. Smith said much of the courtroom’s furnishings had been put into storage before the fire and was not damaged. In addition to replacing some of the damaged woodwork, crews will install a high-tech network of monitors that will allow jurors to see video images up close. Smith said he will also have control over what the jurors see, so he can look at disputed images first. “I’m going to have to wait, but it’ll be worth it,” he said.

 

Laurens County Mill Fire Quickly Contained

A fire in Laurens County sent crews rushing to an old mill mid-morning on Tuesday. Fire officials got the call around 10:30 that flame had broken out at the old Greenwood Mills plant in Joanna. The plant is located southeast of Highway 76 and Interstate 395. Pictures from Sky 4 showed no external damage to the facility. Joanna Fire Department officials blamed the fire on crews removing ductwork from the building. Firefighters said a worker was cutting a piece of metal with a blowtorch when a spark ignited a particle in the dust filter house. Flames caused minimal damage that was confined to a small area of the mill, according to fire officials.

 

Goshen fire guts house

BLAINE M. SERVEN SR, Register Citizen Staff

GOSHEN — A residential fire at 157 North Street in Goshen early Monday morning caused an approximate $150,000 in damage to the home of Edward and Theresa Schultz. Luckily, no one was home at the time, and no injuries were reported. Goshen Volunteer Firefighters arrived on the scene within minutes of the call, but the residence was already consumed. Firefighters from Cornwall responded with three trucks, and the Litchfield Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the three-alarm blaze. “I didn’t even realize the house was on fire at first. Then, by the time I went to call the fire department, I already heard the sirens coming down the street,” said neighbor Kristen Wheeler. “It’s amazing how the volunteers, who must work nearby, got here so quickly.” She and her three children were home when the fire started at the residence to the south of their home. “The smoke drifted in the other direction, away from our home,” said Wheeler. The two homes, close to one another, each now has had a tragic fire loss. “We had a fire here a few years ago. It’s devastating and I feel for them,” said Wheeler. The two-story brick and wood structure was significantly damaged by fire before firefighters had the time to get the blaze under control. The attached two-car garage did not appear to be damaged, but the rest of the building was lost in the blaze. Broken windows and fire burns through the roof each released the smoke that beset the internal fire. The Schultz’s were not home at the time of the fire, said Goshen Fire Marshall, Steven Kelsey.Kelsey said the fire was accidental, and likely caused by a plumber’s torch.  “We feel badly for their loss, fortunately no one was injured,” said First Selectman and Goshen volunteer fireman, Jim O’Leary. Three Goshen Volunteer Fire Trucks with over 10 firefighters arrived to fight the fire just after arriving to work at their regular jobs.  “The guys did an exceptional job (fighting the fire),” added Kelsey. “It was really an aggressive stop. It could have been much worse.”

 

WORKMEN IGNITE FELT ROOF

12:00 – 13 June 2002

Twenty firefighters fought a blaze at a house in Stafford after a roof caught fire. The fire at Richard and Pat Pepper’s home in Greenfield Road, Hillcroft Park, started as workmen felted a flat roof at the side of the house. Fire crews who came from stations at Stone, Eccleshall and Stafford used a 30-metre ladder platform to strip tiles off the roof of the house to ventilate the building before they could tackle the fire. Four firemen wearing breathing apparatus went into the house at around 9.15am yesterday. Station officer Alan Staples, of Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said it took firefighters about 20 minutes to get the fire under control. He said: “The workmen were replacing a felt roof using hot equipment. This ignited the pitched roof and spread into the roof of the house.” Richard Pepper, aged 73, said his 73-year-old wife, who was alone in the house when the fire started, had telephoned him to tell him to come home. A workman was given first aid treatment by the fire service at the scene for a burnt hand.

 

Blowtorch blamed in house fire

A fire ignited by a homeowner making repairs with a blowtorch raced through a westside house June 5, leaving the upper story gutted. According to Petaluma Fire Marshal Michael Ginn, a call came in at 1:10 p.m. sending two engine companies rushing to a three-story house on Webster and West streets in Petaluma’s historic Oak Hill neighborhood. Ginn said the homeowner was using a torch to reseal a broken water line and accidentally ignited an area inside the house. “Then he heard a whoosh and saw the flames shoot up into the attic,” Ginn said. According to Ginn, older homes were built without fire breaks between the joists so there was nothing to stop the flames. Before they could enter the home, firefighters had to cut a hole in the roof and several smaller holes on the side of the house to allow the heat and smoke to escape.  Once inside they used hoses to douse the flames. By 2 p.m. the flames were extinguished and firefighters were just putting out the hot spots. Ginn said the fire demolished the attic area, which included two bedrooms. The rest of the house escaped with water and smoke damage. He estimated damages at approximately $150,000. A firefighter was taken to the hospital because of smoke inhalation. Ginn said last Wednesday’s hot weather made work more difficult for firefighters, but did not contribute to the fire.

 

Fire forces evacuation of Geneva factory

By Marie-Anne Hogarth, STAFF WRITER

GENEVA — Employees at Burgess-Norton Manufacturing Co. evacuated the building Tuesday afternoon after a furnace caught fire.  Within less than two hours, however, everybody at the plant at 737 Peyton St. had returned to work. The fire started at 3:34 p.m. when the furnace, which is used to treat metal parts, was being repaired, said Geneva Deputy Fire Chief Gerald Koster. The furnace was not in operation at the time. Sparks from a welder’s torch ignited oil from a pit beneath the furnace, which is about 10 feet wide and 20 feet long, Koster said. The flames, which were confined to the furnace area, created thick black smoke.  That smoke could be seen coming from the east side of the building when crews arrived on the scene.  Steve Kelm, director of human resources at the plant, said that the welding work was done by employees from a different company.  Somewhere between 15 and 20 people were working in the part of the factory where the fire occurred, Kelm said, but all 150 people working in the plant at the time were evacuated.  Nobody was hurt.  Koster said it took about 30 minutes to extinguish the fire although firefighters stayed longer as a precaution. Some 86 firefighters responded from nine departments — Geneva, Batavia, St. Charles, North Aurora, Elburn, West Chicago, Winfield, Wheaton and Fermilab. Eleven firefighters fought the fire from inside and eight firefighters worked the roof, which, in the end, was not damaged.  Because firefighters did not initially know that the furnace was not functioning, they did not want to extinguish the flames with water, Koster said. Instead they used dry chemicals and carbon-dioxide extinguishers.  The roof’s skylights were broken during the course of extinguishing the fire Koster said, but he did not think damage would be extensive.  Even the furnace might work, Koster said.  “It’s a furnace,” Koster said. “It can take a lot of heat.”  Burgess-Norton Manufacturing Co. was founded in 1903. The company became a member of the AMSTED Industries Inc. family of companies in 1968.  Burgess-Norton is a major supplier of piston pins, an important part of an engine. The company sells to clients including Ford, Daimler/Chrysler, John Deere and Honda. The company is also a big maker of powder metal gears.  The Geneva company employs about 670 people at two Geneva facilities. Burgess-Norton also has plants in DeKalb; Muskegon, Mich.; Claremore, Okla., and Saltillo, Mexico.  The company’s biggest markets include internal combustion engines for heavy-duty trucks, agricultural and construction equipment, automotive equipment, lawn and garden equipment and outdoor power equipment.

 

Ames man suffers burns in explosion

By: Jason Kristufek, Staff Writer

An Ames man is in critical condition at a Des Moines hospital today after suffering burns to his legs and arms in an explosion and fire in the garage of his home. Scott Thacker, 25, of 1325 Nixon Circle, was transported by air ambulance to Iowa Methodist Medical Center Monday evening. He suffered third degree burns, Ames Fire Chief Clint Petersen said. Fire officials said Thacker was soldering a gas tank of an old truck he was refurbishing when sparks ignited fumes inside the tank and it exploded. “He thought the gas tank was empty,” Petersen said. “The sparks overheated, and the tank exploded. The explosion was large enough to catch the garage on fire, but it didn’t move the structure off its foundation.”  Petersen said a retired Ames firefighter controlled the fire with a garden hose until the fire department arrived on scene and finished extinguishing the small blaze.  Darrell Lingelbach, who retired three years ago after a 26-year career with the Ames Fire Department, said Tuesday he heard a loud explosion shortly after 5 p.m. Monday, looked out his window and saw smoke and fire.  He said he ran to where the explosion came from and saw Thacker lay down on the grass. Lingelbach said Thacker was breathing well and wasn’t screaming when he got there.  Lingelbach then got his garden hose, turned it on and put most of the fire out before firefighters arrived. The estimated damage to the garage is between $5,000 and $10,000, fire officials said.  “Wouldn’t you do that for anybody?” said Lingelbach, who lives at 1330 Nixon Circle. “Most people would do anything to help someone else. I didn’t get it all put out, but the heart of the fire was gone before they got there.”  Lingelbach said Thacker and his wife, Jami, moved into the north-side home about three years ago. He said he didn’t know the family well.  “I know that truck was something he wanted to restore,” Lingelbach said. “I hope he is OK. I haven’t heard anything this morning about how he is doing.”

 

Welders sparked Saugus blaze

By Amy Raisin and Greg Botonis, Staff Writers

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST – Sparks from a construction crew’s welding operation ignited the San Francisquito Canyon brush fire that has blackened more than 23,000 acres, the area’s biggest fire in decades, authorities said Friday. The crew was working Wednesday for the Newhall County Water District atop a massive water tank north of the Saugus intersection of McBean Parkway and San Francisquito Canyon Road. Strong winds carried sparks into parched vegetation. They were doing a welding operation on top of a water tank so they were already up high,” said Martin Esparza, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. “It was entirely accidental. They took all the precautions, but the wind was probably a direct factor. “Our investigators went to the site and contacted the people there. There likely won’t be any criminal charges, but there may be some cost recovery issues.” To the west in Ventura County, Southern California’s other huge blaze had burned 19,788 acres in Los Padres National Forest north of Ojai. It was 15-percent contained Friday. The San Francisquito Canyon blaze has destroyed seven homes, more than a dozen outbuildings and has split off in three directions heading toward Green Valley, Lake Hughes and Leona Valley fanned by winds as high as 25 mph. About 2,000 firefighters, helicopters and tankers were fighting it. About 1,200 people were evacuated Thursday night from Green Valley in the Angeles National Forest between Saugus and Palmdale. Sheriff’s deputies in patrol cars began driving through the nearby towns of Leona Valley, Lake Elizabeth and Lake Hughes just before 10 a.m. Friday, using loudspeakers to warn people to be prepared to evacuate. Leona Valley residents canceled their annual cherry festival and parade, scheduled for today, because of the fire. In Lake Hughes, Department of Water and Power employee Steve Blucher, his wife and 13-year-old daughter were preparing Friday for their second evacuation in two days. They fled their Green Valley home Thursday to friends’ home in Lake Hughes, then were packing up Friday to go stay with relatives in Quartz Hill. They packed family photographs, their dog, cat and two parakeets, plus a rocking horse made for the daughter when she was a baby and their truck, Honda Civic and Blucher’s 1966 Plymouth Barracuda. “We just grabbed things you really couldn’t replace,” Blucher said. “We moved once, so I guess we’ll just move again.” In Leona Valley, retiree Betty Merthser had packed her Saturn compact with photo albums, a bird cage, boxes of documents and other belongings, including a lacquered table sticking out of the trunk. “I just don’t know what to do,” said Merthser, who was near tears as she stood on the front lawn of the small house she has lived in for six years. “I’m scared to death. How do I decide what to take when I’ve got a lifetime of stuff here? “Why can’t they just stop it just put it out so we don’t have to decide?” she said. Green Valley evacuee Allison Connett arrived Thursday night at a temporary Red Cross shelter set up at Highland High School with her son, Cody, a fifth-grader. She didn’t know the condition of her home or her dog and two cats. “I feel nervous, scared. It’s scary to watch the news,” Connett said. Connett’s husband, Mitch, works as a truck driver and is also a volunteer firefighter in Green Valley and was helping Thursday to battle the fire, she said. “He’s up there fighting the fire. I talked to him a little bit. He’s OK,” Connett said. Overnight, firefighters, bulldozers and prison and jail camp crews dug a fire line 3 or 4 miles long between the fire advancing over Jupiter Mountain and Green Valley. Firefighters set “back fires” to try to burn the fuel in front of the advancing flames. Air tankers and helicopters were sent in Friday morning to pinch in the sides of the fire, trying to narrow the head the fire’s leading point, of which the San Francisquito Canyon fire had three by Friday. It’s too dangerous to attack the head directly, fire officials said. Firefighters were able to stop the advancing flames deep in the canyon at about noon Friday with fire-retardant foam, which was sprayed around homes in Green Valley. “They were able to turn the corner on that, which is good news,” Forest Service spokeswoman Kathy Peterson said. The fire was still only about 10-percent contained, but that number keeps changing as the fire burns, said Dennis Cross, public information officer for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “The two good things (Friday) are than temperatures are cooler and humidity is higher. But unfortunately the winds are stronger” than on Thursday, Cross said. Animal control officers picked up more than 70 farm animals in Green Valley, including 48 horses, a mule and four potbellied pigs. Horses and other large animals were being taken to the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. “We are working closely with the Fire Department trying to determine where to go so we can stay ahead of the fire,” Animal Control spokeswoman Kaye Michelson said at a Lake Elizabeth staging area, surrounded by a dozen animal control trucks. About a half-dozen firefighters have suffered injuries. The injured included Antelope Valley Battalion Chief James Jeffies, who inhaled smoke and superheated air on the fire line Friday morning. He was flown by helicopter to a hospital. County probation officials evacuated Camps Munz and Mendenhall outside Lake Hughes, trucking 200 teen-age camp inmates, staff, medical records, files and supplies to Challenger Memorial Youth Center in Lancaster. The department set up a 24-hour hot line at (661) 940-4122 for worried parents and legal guardians to call. “We’ll just wait until the Fire Department tells us it’s safe,” probation department spokesman Ken Kondo said. — Staff Writer Karen Maeshiro contributed to this story. Amy Raisin can be reached at (661) 257-5254; Greg Botonis can be reached at (661) 267-7813.

 

Rooftop blaze on Moravian building

By NICK FALSONE, The Express-Times

BETHLEHEM — Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion after battling a blaze that broke out on the roof of an academic building under construction at Moravian College, fire officials said. Shortly after 10:30 a.m. Thursday, the firefighters were called to the academic building at 1130 Monocacy St. Insulation beneath the building’s rooftop air conditioning system caught fire while construction crews were welding, officials said. The construction crews tried to extinguish the blaze themselves, but it didn’t work, officials said. Workers fled from the roof and called for help, fire officials said. Firefighters arrived and cut through a metal sheet to get to the smoldering insulation, Bethlehem fire Capt. Robert Novatnack said. They doused the insulation with water and were able get the blaze under control quickly, he said. Several firefighters remained at the scene throughout the afternoon to keep an eye on the insulation in case it flared up again, Novatnack said. The fire is an accident, he said. The two firefighters treated for heat exhaustion were sent home for the day after being checked out by emergency medical services at the scene, he said. A welder with the construction crew was also checked out by EMS, he said. Moravian spokesman Mark Flemming said the fire did not affect any classes or the operation of the college. He said the damage to the building appears to be very minimal. He commended the fire department for its quick response and handling of the fire. Construction crews were able to return to work by early afternoon. The $10 million, three-story, academic building is scheduled to open by spring 2003. Flemming said the fire won’t cause any delays.

Welders spark grain elevator fire

By Mike Lee, Herald staff writer

A welding operation in the basement of the Cenex Harvest States grain elevator in Kennewick sparked a potentially dangerous fire in the massive structure Thursday night. As darkness enveloped the concrete riverside building, Kennewick Fire Marshal Mark Yaden still didn’t have a good idea about how far the fire had spread through the grain. “It’s just kind of a stubborn fire,” he said at 9 p.m. “It’s just difficult to assess because (crews) are going down into a hole that is full of smoke.” But, he added, firefighters were keeping it in check and applying foam to hot spots. Foam was expected to penetrate farther into the grain than water. An hour before Yaden arrived, black smoke spewed from at least five spots on the building, including the roof of the main tower and what appeared to be basement vents on the east side. “That’s what we saw coming down the bridge — black smoke just barreling out the top,” said Derek Ginter of Kennewick as he stood on the Columbia River levee next to the building at 901 E. Columbia Drive. Yaden said the fire apparently started when two men welding in the basement accidentally sparked an explosion. They were not injured, he said. About 50 firefighters from Kennewick and Benton County District 1 responded, but the situation was complicated by conditions inside. For starters, Yaden said there was the possibility that some chemicals could be in danger of catching fire. He could not be more specific, but police created a wide perimeter around the building and kept back a handful of onlookers from what was initially reported as potentially noxious fumes. Dangerous conditions were expected to remain well into the night, given the amount of flammable material in the silos and the extensive network of conveyor belts where the fire could spread quickly. “You are always concerned about another dust explosion, a much bigger explosion in the actual elevators,” Yaden said. “It doesn’t take much to give an explosive environment.”

 

UPDATE, Fire Death Probe Ends, DFD Asks For New Equipment

OAK CLIFF, Texas, 9:31 a.m. CDT June 4, 2002 – The Dallas Fire Department is asking for new high-tech safety equipment after the death of a veteran firefighter. Now, a final report in the tragedy is out. Dallas fire-rescue veteran Vincent Davis died when the wall of a burning apartment complex collapsed, crushing him in an instant. Fire administrators said they want thermal imagers for every firefighter to help them see no matter how thick the smoke. The four-month internal investigation also shows Dallas fire and rescue officials are tightening certain procedures including personal alert safety systems that sound an alarm when a firefighter is still for 20 seconds or longer. Dep. Chief Larry Anderson said, “We are not trying to do a cover up, we are not trying to put a spin on it. We are trying to make a statement of exactly what happened.” The investigation revealed that the 6 Alarm blaze at a dilapidated Oak Cliff apartment complex was accidentally caused by the careless operation of a cutting or welding torch. Anderson said, “With sheetrock being gone, all the wood structural members of the building were exposed. Basically, what we had was a freestanding lumber yard with a nice air flow in between.” Vincent Davis, a 10-year veteran, was instantly killed when a double brick wall collapsed on top of him. Anderson said, “Had the collapse taken place 10 seconds later it would have been a close call. As it was, we lost a firefighter – had it been 5 seconds later we would have lost four firefighters instead of one.” Davis was not wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus, which wouldn’t have saved his life but would have let rescue crews know sooner where to look. The tragedy was a hard lesson to learn for a department that hadn’t lost an on duty firefighter in 15 years. Anderson said, “In the blink of an eye, something unforeseen can happen. It doesn’t mean we are more timid in doing our job. We know our job is dangerous, that’s the reason the citizens of Dallas keep us on the payroll.” No criminal charges will be filed. The contractor renovating the complex has been cited and fined $200,000.