Tag: fire
Entire California Town Destroyed; Tens of Thousands Flee in Los Angeles, Ventura Counties
At a Glance
- Evacuations were ordered for Paradise, Pulga and Concow in Northern California due to the Camp Fire.
- Authorities confirmed several injuries and hundreds of structures destroyed in Butte County.
- In Southern California, several fires burned in Ventura and LA counties, prompting thousands of evacuations.
Fast-moving wildfires prompted tens of thousands of evacuations in both Northern and Southern California, including the entire beachside city of Malibu, sending residents fleeing for their lives on short notice.
The largest inferno, sparked Thursday morning in Northern California, prompted numerous evacuations, including several entire towns.
By late Thursday, it became apparent that Paradise, a town of 27,000 people north of Sacremento, had been devastated by the fire.
“Pretty much the community of Paradise is destroyed, it’s that kind of devastation,” said Cal Fire Capt. Scott McLean late Thursday. “The wind that was predicted came and just wiped it out.”
At a Thursday evening news conference, Butte County Cal Fire Chief Darren Read said several hundred buildings, possibly as many as 1,000 or more, were destroyed in Paradise, though they won’t have a more exact number until they survey the damage. Another 15,000 remained threatened in the area, according to CalFire.
“The whole town’s on fire,” Paradise councilman Scott Lotter, who evacuated with his family, told the Sacramento Bee earlier Thursday. “It’s pretty grim.”
By Friday morning, the fire was encroaching on the nearby city of Chico, prompting new evacuations.
Capt. Scott McLean of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said flames from the blaze had reached the eastern side of Chico, a city of more than 90,000 residents.
The small communities of Stirling City and Inskip, north of Paradise, were also evacuatedm Friday.
It’s unclear how many casualties there have been as a result of the fire, but CalFire confirmed that three firefighters have been injured.
Officials confirmed to the AP that some Paradise residents who attempted to escape the fire in their vehicles Thursday were forced to flee on foot – some holding pets and even babies in their grasp – as the flames drew closer. With few options out of Paradise, roads quickly became gridlocked, and abandoned cars left in the middle of the road only made problems worse.
“It is pure chaos up here,” CHP public information officer Ryan Lambert told the Los Angeles Times.
Fueled by dry, windy conditions, the Camp Fire quickly spread to more than 31 square miles within about 12 hours and forced the closure of several roads, according to Cal Fire. The fire is 0 percent contained and it’s not yet known what sparked it.
“Right now, Mother Nature is in charge,” Cal Fire spokesman Bryce Bennett told the Sacramento Bee.
Other towns being evacuated include Centerville and Butte Creek, northwest of Paradise. Evacuations were also ordered in the nearby hamlets of Pulga and Concow.
“It’s bad,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told the Chico Enterprise-Record. “We’re trying to get as many people out as quickly as possible and save as many lives as we can.”
In Concow, some residents, like Colton Percifield, were forced to drive through the flames and thick smoke just to survive.
“The hardest part was there was no visibility … it was pitch black,” he told The Weather Channel in a phone interview Thursday night. He also said many of the homes in his neighborhood were destroyed by the fire, but he was able to safely escape.
Read more via Weather.com
Small child playing with stove started Bronx fire that killed 12
BELMONT, the Bronx — New York City’s deadliest fire in a quarter century was started by a small child playing with a stove, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Friday.
Twelve people, including five children, were killed and four others critically injured when a fire ripped through a five-story, walk-up apartment building at 2363 Prospect Ave. in Belmont Thursday night, Nigro said.
A 3-year-old boy with a history of playing with stove burners started the fire in a first-floor unit, according to Nigro.
The child’s mother heard him screaming, and was able to rush him and a 2-year-old out of the unit, but she left the door open, the fire commissioner said.
“This fire quickly spread up the stair,” Nigro said. “The stairway acted like a chimney. It took the fire so quickly up stairs, people had very little time to react. They couldn’t get back down the stairs. Those that tried, a few of them, perished.”
The lessons learned from the deadly incident are that children cannot be left unattended, and when fleeing a fire, people should always close doors behind them, Nigro said.
Fire crews arrived at the building a little more than three minutes after the blaze started, but it was too late.
Five people were later found dead inside, Nigro said.
Four people from a single family are among the dead, family members said.
A 1-year-old girl and 63-year-old woman who are related also died, police sources said.
The fire has been called the worst fire tragedy the “city has seen in at least a quarter century,” by Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Four people in critical condition continue to fight for their lives Friday, and 10 other civilians also suffered injuries.
About six firefighters and one EMT suffered minor injuries, officials said.
Because of the number of lives lost, Nigro called the fire, “historic in its magnitude.”
The investigation into the fire, including whether or not the building had working smoke detectors, continues.
NYPD tweeted out the number to call for anyone looking to contact a loved one who may have been affected by the blaze: “If you’re unable to reach someone who may have been impacted by the five-alarm fire at East 185th Street and Prospect Avenue in the Bronx, call 311 or 212-639-9675 from outside NYC.”
Cincinnati woman burns down house trying to kill bedbugs
A woman set her Cincinnati home on fire when she used rubbing alcohol to get rid of her bedbug problem.
The late Friday fire sent three people to the hospital with non-threatening injuries and left another 10 homeless, local Fox affiliate WXIX reported.
The blaze broke out on the first floor, where the alcohol was ignited by either burning incense or a candle, local fire chief Randy Freel told the news channel.
First responders at about midnight found flames gushing out of the first floor.
Fire officials noted it was the second time in as many weeks a fire broke out in Cincinnati by someone trying to kill bedbugs.
The late evening blaze caused $250,000 in damage to the five-unit structure, WXIX reported. The American Red Cross is trying to find new homes for the seven adults and three children.
“It’s like a dream….everything is burnt,” said resident Kamaron Lyshe, who rushed home after someone told him about the fire. “I’ll start fresh. It’s all we can do now.”Freel told the channel Cincinnati residents shouldn’t combat the biting pests on their own.
“Get a professional,” he said.
Less than two weeks ago, an apartment building went ablaze in The Queen City for the same reason.
A 13-year-old boy’s mattress went ablaze when he tried to eradicate a bedbug by setting it on fire.
The flames soon engulfed nearly the entire building, displacing eight people who lived there.
West Virginia Mom Allegedly Killed Kids by Setting Their Beds on Fire and Locking Trailer Doors
A West Virginia woman allegedly killed her young sons intentionally by setting fire to their beds and locking the door of their trailer home, PEOPLE confirms.
A statement issued by the West Virginia State Fire Marshals confirms Wednesday’s arrest of Molly Joe Delgado, 28, of Falling Waters, for the Jan. 24 fire deaths of her boys Delmer, 3, and Justin, 5.
Delgado faces murder and arson charges.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE, Delgado allegedly set fire to her sons’ beds as they slept.
She exited her family’s trailer, allegedly locking both boys and her husband inside.
Smoke awoke Delgado’s husband, who tried to save their sons but was unable to do so because of the flames. Delgado’s husband survived the fire.
Delgado’s father, Drew McCombs, who lives across the street, heard his son-in-law crying for help from a kitchen window and opened the trailer door, which had been secured from the outside, the criminal complaint alleges.
According to reports, McCombs tried to save his grandsons, but the heavy smoke made it impossible for him to find the boys.
“I got in there and I couldn’t see, I couldn’t see nothing — at all,” McCombs told the Associated Press. “I couldn’t find them.”
Delmer and Justin Delgado were pronounced dead at the scene.
Wednesday’s arrest follows a six-week investigation that involved personnel from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, the Loudoun County Fire Marshal, the West Virginia State Police and the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department.
Delgado is being held without bail and has yet to enter a plea to the three charges she is facing.
Court records do not indicate if she has a lawyer and efforts to reach her relatives Friday were unsuccessful.
https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/west-virginia-mom-allegedly-killed-201013717.html