Borough police initially arrived about 3:25 a.m. and observed heavy smoke and fire inside the home at 120 W. Berkley Ave., said police Chief Walter Senkow.
The father, identified as Thomas Pierce, and two older children were able to escape the blaze. The child’s mother was at work at the time, Senkow said.
Pierce and neighbors attempted to save the child, but were thwarted by heavy smoke. Firefighters gained entry and found the child in a crib in a second-floor bedroom, according to Senkow and borough fire Chief Jim Kneass.
"NORWALK, Iowa — A group of goats may have started a fire that destroyed a home in central Iowa, firefighters said.
The fire broke out early Tuesday near Norwalk. Three people in the house escaped unharmed.
John Hadley said his cat woke up him up, and he saw smoke coming from a ceiling. Hadley then woke up his ailing mother and her companion and got them out of the house.
The fire may have been started by some goats kept in a shed attached to the rear of the house, Assistant Northern Warren County Fire Chief Kevin Dingman said.
He said a space heater was kept in the shed to keep the goats warm, and the goats may have knocked it over, starting the fire.
The goats and a family dog were rescued, but a cat was missing."
The goats, started it, and the cat woke them up and the dog was saved....Despite the evil plot by the goats.
Fire deaths in New York City declined 10 percent and fire response times were quicker last year, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg acknowledged Monday that pending budget cuts will make keeping those numbers under control a challenge.
"The public doesn't have the income to generate the taxes to pay for more," he said at a new firehouse in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. "We're going to have to do a lot more with less."
In response to a $4 billion deficit through 2010, Bloomberg ordered a citywide slash in spending by 7 percent. He proposed cutting fire department training and reducing the night shift staff at four firehouses in each borough but Queens. Those reductions begin Saturday.
When Bloomberg came into office in 2002, six firehouses were shuttered to trim budget costs. Fire deaths spiked from 97 in 2002 to 125 in 2003, according to the city Fire Department's figures.
Response times during that same period were slower, growing from 4:13 to 4:20.
For 2008, fire deaths totaled 86, down from 95 in 2007, the figures show. Of the 2008 deaths, the leading cause was related to careless smoking.
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said unattended candles, overloaded circuits and careless smoking were the top-three causes in the city's fires.
In an effort to reduce fires and fire-related deaths, the city spent $1 million in U.S. grants to promote the use of smoke detectors and educated 600,000 New Yorkers through various programs on fire prevention and safety, Scoppetta said.
According to the figures, the fire response time to structural fires on average was clocked at 4:12 for 2008, 15 seconds faster than in 2007.
Scoppetta said a change in dispatch protocol sped up responses. Now when a blaze is reported, the dispatcher sends out firefighters to the fire's location while keeping the caller on the phone if more information is needed.
Before, firefighters didn't respond for at least a minute until dispatchers collected as much information as possible on the fire from a caller.
"They have all the information they would've had if we held them in quarters for a minute plus, instead they are on their way and they get there much faster and they still end up with all the information that's available," Scoppetta said.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — A St. Cloud woman is in jail after police say she tried to set her boyfriend on fire using a lighter and air freshener.
Investigators say the 49-year-old woman is accused of pouring fingernail polish remover on the victim and the blanket covering him, then trying to light him on fire.
The victim was able to take the air freshener from the woman. Police say she then hit him on the back of the head and bit him several times. As the man tried to call police, the woman allegedly ripped the phone cord out of the wall.
The woman is in the Stearns County Jail on suspicion of domestic assault and interfering with a 911 call.
Today's tip: Don't use a blowtorch to remove cobwebs from your house.
That advice comes from Coweta Fire Investigator James Gantt, who spoke with The Times-Herald after a Georgia man set his house on fire while using an open flame to clear spiders' webs from the exterior eaves.
"This was an unfortunate accident," Gantt tells the paper. "Nobody was hurt, but it could have been a lot worse."
Cobwebs, can, in fact, be beautiful. Check out the informative video below.
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Fire officials in New Bedford, Mass., say a man using a blowtorch to melt ice on his back porch ended up setting his house on fire, causing up to $30,000 in damage.
Fire Capt. Scott Kruger tells The Standard-Times of New Bedford that no on was injured during Monday's incident at the three-story home.
Kruger says the man was using a torch hooked up to a 20-pound propane cylinder. He got too close to the building's wood frame and ignited the vinyl siding. The fire quickly spread into the building's second- and third-floor apartments.
It took 25 firefighters to subdue the blaze that damaged bedrooms in the upstairs units, and caused damage to the structure and wiring.
California neglected to save for a fiery day Seems to me they are funding the wildland fires with the Reserve account. Un-freakin-believable. Click the link above to read the whole story and look at the difference between what they are funding and what they are actually using! For last two years the budget for firefighting was $82 million...costs however were $392 & $206 million, respecively. And those weren't unusual years! Seems to me the State has a case of "It's Not Going to Happen to Me"...even though it does happen to us, year after year!
California spent a record $392 million fighting fires across the state in the fiscal year that ended Monday, burning another hole in the state's already strained finances and forcing officials to dip into shrinking cash reserves to pay firefighting bills.
The amount is by far the highest in the past decade, and it will likely get worse with wildfires in 27 areas of the state already burning early in the fire season.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared emergencies in 11 counties, including Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara, a necessary move to free up more state funds to fight fires.
"We always will be in a position to aggressively respond to any disaster in California regardless of the cost," said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the governor.
In the past decade, however, the state has not budgeted enough funds to fight wildfires. In every year but one, the state has had to dip into cash reserves to pay firefighting costs.
"That's what reserves are for," said Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, who chairs the Assembly Budget Committee. "We always make sure that there's enough money for firefighting regardless of what's in the rest of the budget."
VANDALIA -- A Michigan State Police investigator who has probed three fatal house fires this year sparked by wood-burning stoves said residents should always have the devices installed and regularly maintained by a professional to ensure safety.
Two young brothers in Cass County who perished Monday in a fire Monday morning were the fourth and fifth person this year in southwestern Michigan to die in a fire that Sgt. Scott LeRoy has determined was caused by a wood stove. LeRoy said improper installation or maintenance is often a factor when wood stoves are to blame for a blaze.
I think one of the contributing factors with these (recent fires) is ... homeowners or friends are installing or reinstalling wood stoves and chimneys and, quite frankly, making errors," LeRoy said.
For example, the sergeant said a recently installed wood stove that sparked a Feb. 16 fire in Delton and killed 35-year-old Jason Hoffman had been improperly placed on a wood floor instead of a non-combustible surface such as bricks. A new stove was also blamed for a Feb. 10 fire that killed 84-year-old Grace Bower and her son, Donald Bower, 60, at their Burr Oak home.
In the fire Monday that killed 6-year-old Dale Baldwin and 13-year-old Scott Baldwin, LeRoy said a wood stove that was used as a primary heat source "most likely" was the cause.
He said the boys' father, Leonard Baldwin had recently performed some maintenance on the stove's chimney, but Tuesday police did not know if those improvements were a contributing factor in the wood stove igniting the blaze.
Brad Friedt, owner of Friedt Enterprises in Kalamazoo, which specializes in wood stove sales and maintenance, said homeowners should have the pipes of their wood stove and chimney checked monthly and cleaned yearly. Friedt said the most common issue his company finds during wood stove inspections is improper clearance around stove and chimney pipes.
In some instances, he said company officials have inspected stoves where chimney pipes traveling through a ceiling of a home butt up against wood in the attic area and present a potential fire hazard.
Friedt said pipe traveling from a stove up to a ceiling should have an 18-inch clearance all around and a two-inch clearance is needed from where pipe travels from the ceiling through a home's rooftop.
The fire Monday gutted most of the house at 60969 Storey Road. Penn Township firefighters responded to the blaze at about 12:25 a.m. and found Dale and Scott dead inside after extinguishing the flames.
Leonard Baldwin, his girlfriend Billie Jo Allen and six other children made it out of the house safely. Alyia Baldwin, 7, was flown to Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, where she was listed in good condition Tuesday morning.
LeRoy said the family slept in the single-story portion of the house where the wood stove was located. Dale and Scott were found by firefighters in the dining room of the house, which adjoined to the living room where they slept, he said.
By the time one of the Baldwin children spotted the fire early Monday, LeRoy said "the fire was already well involved" and family members who made their way to safety "barely got out."
LeRoy said police found one to two smoke detectors in the house, but none had batteries. He said police continue to investigate the blaze, but have no indications of anything suspicious and plan to close the investigation, pending the results of autopsies of Dale and Scott.
Five children who were asleep in the upstairs of a small Bentonville home died early Tuesday in a fire that swept through the home.
Fire Chief Dan White says the children's parents were in a downstairs bedroom and were awakened by a smoke alarm, but could not reach the children because of the smoke and flames.
The parents escaped from the blaze, which was reported at 1:22 a.m.
White says the fire appears to be accidental, but police served a search warrant on the home later today based on items officers saw during the initial call. Among the items seized were a space heater and a small amount of suspected methamphetamine. Officers say there was not enough meth on hand to indicate there was a lab in the home.
The children were identified as 13-year-old Kristan Frazier, 11-year-old Kimberly Frazier, 9-year-old Katelyn Mahmens, 8-year-old Kaila Frazier, and 5-year-old Kiya Frazier.
Authorities identified the father as 33-year-old Jamie Dale Frazier, and the mother as 27-year-old Kerry A. Mahmens Frazier.
The bodies of the children were being sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for autopsy. Police say the items seized during the search will also be sent to the lab to be analyzed.
Fire officials described the house as 11/2 stories, with a very narrow stairway leading to the upstairs. White says he had to turn sideways to get through to the second floor.
PROVIDENCE - Gina Russo’s head was seared down to the skull, her body pocked by third-degree burns, her future consumed by painful skin grafts and guilt over having survived The Station nightclub fire when her fiance had not.
“I remember people would come to visit, and then when everybody was gone, thinking, ‘How am I going to do this? Why was I kept alive?’ ” Russo said.
Five years ago tomorrow, fire tore through the club in West Warwick, killing 100 people and injuring more than twice that many. The blaze began when pyrotechnics used by the band Great White ignited flammable soundproofing foam that covered the walls and ceilings.
Survivors live with disfigurement, depression and steep medical bills, and victims’ relatives endure flashes of bitter anger and loneliness.
However, they also have found ways to cope.
James Gahan has set up scholarships for youth sports programs in the name of his son, Jimmy, one of those who died, and has worked for stricter fire codes.
Bonnie Hoisington still tears up when she hears “One Particular Harbour,” a Jimmy Buffett song that reminds her of her daughter, Abbie, but she finds comfort in her new grandchild, born to another daughter after Abbie died.
Russo says she is determined not to let the memory of that night and the loss of her fiance, Alfred Crisostomi, dominate her thoughts.
Russo was placed in a medically induced coma because she had third-degree burns on 40 percent of her body, and she didn’t wake up until 11 weeks after the fire. She remembers the pyrotechnics and seeing the ceiling melting, smoke, heads on fire. Crisostomi put his hand on her back and pushed her forward, yelling “Go!” and she never saw him again. He died from inhaling toxic fumes.
After she woke up, she needed help standing, bathing and tying her shoes. She has scars up and down her arms and wears an auburn-colored wig in public.
During her arduous rehabilitation, Russo drew motivation from the need to care for her young sons, and from her faith that Crisostomi would have prodded her to recover. Even so, as each anniversary awakens painful memories, her normally bright demeanor turns somber and her family knows that’s the time to give her space.
She and others feel let down by the justice system.
A grand jury indicted club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian and former Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele, though many victims believed members of the band and the local fire inspector also were culpable. All three reached plea deals, and Biechele and Michael Derderian were sent to prison in 2006.
Biechele is scheduled to be released on parole next month, and Derderian in 2009. Jeffrey Derderian was spared jail time and ordered to perform community service.
PROVIDENCE, R.I., Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- VH1 Classic and VH1 will air "VH1 Classic Presents: AFTERMATH: The Station Fire Five Years Later" a one- hour special of concert highlights on Sunday, March 23, 2008 10:00 p.m.* from the upcoming Phoenix Rising! Musicians United to Benefit the Victims of the Station Nightclub Fire. John Rich (Big & Rich), Alabama's Randy Owen, Dierks Bentley, Kellie Pickler and Gretchen Wilson will be joining Aaron Lewis (Staind), Tesla, Twisted Sister, Kevin Max and Stryper featuring Tom Scholz and Gary Pihl of Boston and the just added, Winger among others.
For the rest of the article click the link "VH1".
For more info or to make a donation, check out http://www.stationfamilyfund.org/
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A fire started by a candle swept through a two-story house, killing a woman and three children, fire officials said.
The woman's body was found on the lower level. The children, two girls and a younger boy, were found together in an upstairs hallway, according to fire officials.
"They may have become disoriented and tried to huddle together and tried to get out," said Deputy Fire Chief Luis Santiago.
The fire started around 10 p.m. on Wednesday and was contained within an hour, according to fire officials. Authorities said it appeared there were no smoke detectors in the house.
Neighbor Mike Matzinger, 49, said he was doing dishes when he saw flames shooting out the home's first-floor living room window and ran outside. He tried to break through a steel back door but it was locked and wouldn't budge, so he called to the children, who he thought were upstairs.
Matzinger said he yelled for them to come to the back window so he could catch them, but they never came.
He then ran to the front of the house, where a man who lives there was outside without shoes, screaming, "My kids, my kids, they're in the house." Matzinger told him, "We can't get them out."
The man ran toward the home, where flames and smoke were pouring out the windows, and collapsed as if in shock, Matzinger said. The man was taken away by ambulance, but his condition was not known.
The fire blackened the walls and ceilings of the home, melted its plastic siding and charred its wood frame. It also melted the siding of Matzinger's home a driveway away.
Two children left home alone were rescued from a burning Joliet apartment Wednesday night by a neighbor who kicked in their door, officials said this morning.
A 6-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl were treated for smoke inhalation in Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet and released, police said.
Twenty five people, including eight children, living on the fourth and fifth floors were displaced by the fire, which started on a bedroom mattress.
But officials this morning could not say how the fire started. The flames were contained within the apartment.
A reminder...cooking is one of the leading causes of residential fires...and the leading cause of fire injuries....
"Hell's Kitchen" host Gordon Ramsay apparently got his twig and berries a little too close to an open flame and burned his nether region, several British tabs are reporting.
Gordon was quoted by The Sun as explaining, "The other day I was standing too close to the stove when I was cooking. I was wearing these cotton trousers and underneath I was going commando, suddenly, I felt this searing heat. I went, 'F**k me, bollocks to that.'" Bollocks, indeed. Ramsay painted an even clearer horrible mental picture by saying, "I burnt my right bollock and I'm in absolute agony ... You wouldn't believe how much this hurts." Not hard to imagine it, really.
Ramsay's rep confirmed that the chef did in fact burn himself, but wouldn't confirm where on his body the burn occurred.
Ouch....I wonder if he remembered to stop, drop and roll? or put cool water on his burns??? A horrid visual...but wise advice....
Ok, on the same note...this video is sick....adults only...PLEASE DON'T watch it if you are easily offended! This is a music video from South Park "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" ...which of course ...catch on fire.
Some of lyrics of this song...in case you may want to sing along...go like this...
sniff, sniff, sniff] Hey, wait a minute. What's that smell. Smell like something burning. Well that don't confront me none. Long as I get my rent paid on Friday. Baby you better get back in the kitchen. Cause I got a sneak'n suspicion. Oh man baby, baby! You just burned my balls! Help me, my balls on fire ????? baby my balls are burning give me some water! Pour some water on me! my balls are burning oh my goodness, I'm blow'n I'm blow'n do somethin
REMEMBER: UNATTENDED COOKING IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF KITCHEN FIRES!! And cool a burn with lots of COOL WATER (not saliva!)!! ...The More You Know....
Check out these pictures of disasters found by home inspectors. They will surprise you!!
The top photo shows some extreme whittling of a floor joist to accommodate a bathtub drain, along with telephone wire supporting drain pipes. The other picture is of a window in an addition...built against a brick wall...makes it kind of hard to escape! The rest of the photos are just as interesting!
Remember....these were all found in homes....where most fires occur! There are safety issues here for both the occupants AND the responders! What's in YOUR home?
11-year-old KeKe Wilson says this to other kids,""Don't, don't mess with fire ever again." Wilson speaks the truth even when it has cost her so much. Her Suffolk home on Lake Kennedy Drive went up in flames about 4:30 this morning. And the girl admits her actions ignited this accidental fire. Wilson says, "I was like had matches and I had lit the candles. I had two candles. I had lit 'em and that's, that's the cause of the fire."
But her mistake is the kind any grownup could have made and what she did after has more than made up for her slipup. Suffolk firefighters say Wilson told them she did light the candle hanging on a wall that was the source of the flames. Hours later in the motel where she and her grandmother are now living, Wilson further explains she thought she had extinguished the candle flame,"I thought I had blew the candle out I thought I had blewn the candle it, it wasn't, it wasn't out so."
Wilson says she fell asleep and then woke up to a fire burning her bed by her feet, "I just ran, I ran to my grandma's room and I said, I said to my grandmom, I said mom there's a fire, there's a fire, there's a fire in my bed."
Wilson's 60 year old grandmother, Dorothy Mae Cross, says, "So I jumped up ran and looked into her room and saw the fire at the foot of the bed started hollering calling my brother telling him the house is on fire and get up, get up, got to get up and get out."
Now Suffolk firefighters credit the girl for saving herself, her grandmother, and her 30 year old grand-uncle Tyrone Ralph-- who jumped out a window to escape after hearing Wilson's grandmother's warnings.
Suffolk Fire Captain Jim Judkins points out, "This could have been a very tragic story here today."
Cross adds, "I'm very proud of her cause my baby could have been gone. She could have got burned up... I thank God we're here, God woke her up to wake us up."
The outcome of this story is tragic...yet much more expected then the first story (about a babysitter that fled the scene). Children (under the age of 5) that die in fires, often die in fires set by other children...and the leading factor in child fire play...is children that are left unattended (not monitored...)Unfortunently this story illustrates all too clearly the statistics that make up our nations fire problem.
PITTSBURGH — Police investigating a row house fire that killed five small children earlier this week have determined that the youngsters had been left home alone and started the blaze when they were playing with matches.
There was no 17-year-old baby sitter looking after them, as authorities had originally been told.
Seven children ages 3 to 8 were left home by themselves, according to authorities. Five died and two 8-year-old boys escaped uninjured.
The fire, first reported at about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday, began when children playing with matches ignited furnishings in the living room on the second floor, officials said. The five children, who were found in an adjoining bedroom, died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning.
