At least 15 killed in Russia's building fire

NDTV.com: At least 15 killed in Russia's building fire

At least 15 people were killed and seven others injured when a fire ripped through a wooden residential building in the Astrakhan Region in southern Russia, emergency officials said on Sunday.

"The bodies of 15 victims had been recovered and seven people are still in hospital. The efforts to clear the debris are still on," prosecutor-general's spokesman Vladimir Markin was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

The fire in a three-storey residential building in the village of Molodyozhny broke out last evening and was brought under control two hours later. Fire-fighters evacuated 59 tenants to safety.

Markin said in 1997 the wooden building was found as unsafe and its tenants were to be given new housing. Vesti TV said the fire was probably caused by short-circuit in the old wiring of the building.

Fires are not uncommon in the Soviet-era wooden buildings with several residents. Last week, 23 people died in a fire that destroyed a care home for elderly in the Republic of Komi in northwest Russia.

German Firefighters Burn Own Firehouse Down for Second Time

FOXNews.com - German Firefighters Burn Own Firehouse Down for Second Time - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News
German firefighters lost all their engines for a second time after their station burned to the ground in a fire they are believed to have set themselves, the Austrian Times reported.

The weekend blaze in Syke, northern Germany, was reportedly set by the firefighters themselves in a training exercise accident. However, faulty wiring could have been to blame.

It took 250 firefighters from the surrounding areas to bring the flames under control, the Austrian Times reported. All six fire engines were lost in the inferno.

This was not the first time the bumbling fire brigade lost its headquarters. The station was rebuilt in 1994 after another blaze gutted the structure, according to the Austrian Times.

Drunk worker starts fire in museum - Yahoo! News

Drunk worker starts fire in museum - Yahoo! News

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A drunk electrician started a fire at a world-famous Moscow art museum after he fell asleep while smoking a cigarette, a police source told RIA news agency Sunday.

The blaze at Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery started in an engineering building next to the main gallery Saturday and damaged technical equipment but not any of the museum's valuable art works.

A police source told RIA that a 49-year-old workman had caused the fire, but a spokeswoman for the Moscow museum said it was too early to say what started the blaze.

"According to preliminary reports, the man fell asleep with a lit cigarette when he was drunk," RIA quoted the source as saying.

"He is now in a hospital intensive care unit and it is not yet possible to take a testimony on the accident."

The gallery houses some of the best-known Russian art, from 9th century Orthodox icons to 19th century impressionism and portraits of famous Russian writers.

One of its most famous paintings, by the 19th century painter Ilya Repin, depicts a tortured Ivan the Terrible after he killed his son in a violent rage.

(Writing by James Kilner; Editing by Sophie Hares)

More adults causing fires, Jamaican officials say - JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM

More adults causing fires, officials say - JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM
Kimmo Matthews
Thursday, January 01, 2009

FIRE officials say they continue to face major hurdles in spreading the message about fire prevention across the island as more adults - and not children, as expected - are failing to follow fire safety measures.

"It may come as a surprise but in many of the reported cases of fires it is the adults and not the children who are failing to follow safety measures," said Emeleo Ebanks, public relations officer from the Jamaica Fire Brigade Fire Prevention headquarters.

Ebanks also explained that recent assessments showed that children were not only quick learners but were often following what they were taught, hence making fewer mistakes when it came to fire prevention practices.

Fire officials said this was in contrast to adults who - despite what they were taught - were consistently failing to change their habits and kept making the same mistakes over and over.

According to representatives of the Jamaica Fire Brigade Fire Prevention, since the start of the year there have been 1,510 reported cases of structural fires and 5,667 cases of bush fires across the island.

To stem this problem the officials said they were going into the schools and communities to inform and to educate persons about how to prevent fires.

"We have been in the schools and into the communities. It may sound strange but our biggest target now is the adults and not so much the children.

"What we are seeing is that adults are making the same mistakes over and over. On the other hand children, when they are taught about the precautions, are following these guidelines and making fewer mistakes," the officials said.

Message of Fire Prevention will continue into new year in St. Kitts,

SKNVibes.com News: Message of Fire Prevention will continue into new yearBy VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THROUGHOUT the last year, the St. Kitts-Nevis Fire and Rescue Services has made great strides in educating the general public in fire prevention and safety tips, an initiative it intends on strengthening for the new year.

In a December 30 interview with SKNVibes, Fire Sub-station Officer at the St. Kitts Fire Prevention Office Clarence Hendrickson stressed the importance of understanding and observing fire safety tips.

He said once aware of the dangers involved in overlooking fire safety tips, individuals can be fully able to prevent fires, safeguard their property and know how to respond in case of fire-related casualty.

Hendrickson noted that especially during the Christmas season, persons must pay particular attention to the proper use of power strips. He urged the general public not to overload power strips and stated that Christmas trees and decorative lights should be unplugged when no one is at home.

“A common mistake people make is passing electrical cords under their rugs. Rugs are made from oil-based materials which generate heat. Applying additional heat to these cords over a period of time, the insulators will get overheated and damaged causing the live and neutral wires to touch, resulting in a fire.

“Also, in the case of lighting and extinguishing matches, many persons fail to follow fire safety tips. People have a tendency to turn on the gas before they light the match. Sometimes, excess gas vapour is emitted and igniting the match after may cause an explosion. So people must be cautious to light the match first.

Also, after using a match, it is advised that you extinguish the lighted match with water to ensure that the match does not automatically re-ignite. Some persons may also put the used match right back into the box with the other matches which is not wise at all as it too can cause fire.”

He further stated that individuals should ensure that all appliances not in use are unplugged. Hendrickson also discouraged the public from cooking when feeling tired or sleepy and said individuals should not go to bed smoking.

“We are pleased to announce that there has been a significant reduction in the cases of fires which may suggest that persons are observing the fire safety tips more.

We intend to start the Fire Awareness programmes in which we will be going around to schools, hotels and business places to have lectures on fire prevention and safety tips.”

Hendrickson said the Department has made a concerted effort to educate and sensitize people to the causes of fires and equip them with the knowledge of how to respond in the case of a fire. He said that through the Fire Summer Safety Programme, “each one is reaching one to get the message around”.

He thanked the general public for its full cooperation this year and said he is looking forward to its continued support in the upcoming year.

Some women threaten no sex if men shoot fireworks - Yahoo! News

Some women threaten no sex if men shoot fireworks - Yahoo! News

ROME – Some women in Naples said they won't make love if their men shoot off dangerous fireworks on New Year's Eve. "Se Spari, Niente Sesso" (If you shoot, no sex), as the reported group calls itself, claims to have signed up hundreds of women in the Naples area to combat celebrations that injure or maim hundreds each year.

Carolina Staiano, a mother of two, was quoted in La Stampa daily on Wednesday as saying she was inspired to create the group because her father was partially paralyzed in a fireworks accident.

Setting off fireworks, often homemade or illegally imported, remains popular in Italy and especially in Naples, even though accidents are frequent and sometimes deadly.

Staiano said that "there are other ways to celebrate." And if men don't get the message, women should "send them to sleep on the couch."

Now here is a PubEd campaign I hadn't thought of! I am sure it is much more effective then issuing citations! lol