Fires and Firefighters

Subterms

    More stories

    • 163 Shares159 Views

      in Elections

      Power Shut Off to 55,000 Colorado Customers to Prevent Wildfires Amid High Winds

      by

      Xcel Energy said the outage would affect parts of six counties and last until at least noon on Sunday. Winds could reach 100 miles per hour.A power company in Colorado announced on Saturday that it was cutting power to roughly 55,000 customers over wildfire concerns as powerful winds, some as high as 100 miles per hour, battered the state.The company, Xcel Energy, said in a statement that it “made the decision to proactively de-energize lines,” which would affect customers primarily in Boulder County and small parts of Broomfield, Douglas, Gilpin, Jefferson and Larimer counties.The shut-off was expected to start at 3 p.m. local time and last until at least noon on Sunday. The company said that “outages are likely to persist beyond that time frame because crews must physically inspect the power lines.”“Temporarily shutting power off is intended to prevent our electric system from becoming the source of a wildfire ignition,” the company said.The National Weather Service in Boulder, Colo., said on social media that winds are expected to increase through the afternoon and evening, with the strongest winds coming between 6 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. on Sunday.Areas in and near the foothills are expected to experience gusts from 80 to 100 m.p.h. Other areas could experience gusts of 55 to 70 m.p.h.The Storm Prediction Center warned that the “potential for rapid spread of any new fires that develop” was high, and that “extremely critical fire weather is expected across portions of southeast Colorado into the Oklahoma Panhandle and southwestern Kansas.”Parts of five states, including Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas, were under fire danger alerts, the center said.More than 77,000 people were in an area deemed “extreme,” the highest fire risk, while more than 2.9 million people were in areas deemed “critical.”A part of Interstate 70 was shut down in Kansas because of high winds, low visibility and crashes that were blocking the highway, the state’s Department of Transportation said on social media.Power failures, broken tree limbs and blowing dust are all expected because of the winds, forecasters said.People in areas affected by the high winds should “avoid any activity that may produce a spark,” and they should remain indoors if possible, the National Weather Service said.Xcel Energy said that “turning off customers’ power is not something we take lightly,” noting that it is “a last-resort step that can prove to be a lifesaving measure.”“Customers who use medical equipment that relies on electrical service should take steps to prepare for extended outages,” the company said.The South Metro Fire Rescue, which serves approximately 300 square miles of the south metro Denver area, said those who depend on oxygen tanks “should be prepared with enough spare bottles to last through Sunday, or consider staying with family, friends or in a hotel outside of the planned outage area.”It also advised against using outdoor stoves indoors for heating or cooking.“If using a generator, keep it outside in a well-ventilated area away from windows,” it said. More

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Elections

      Man Set Fire Outside Bernie Sanders’s Vermont Office, Police Say

      by

      The authorities are trying to identify an arsonist who struck outside the U.S. senator’s office in Burlington, Vt. No one was injured, and the senator was not there.The authorities in Vermont said they were searching for a man who started a fire outside Senator Bernie Sanders’s office in Burlington on Friday morning.The unidentified man walked into the vestibule of Senator Sanders’s office and sprayed an “apparent accelerant” on the entrance door to the third-floor office, before lighting the accelerant and fleeing, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement. It was unclear exactly what the man sprayed on the door.“A significant fire engulfed the door and part of the vestibule,” which prevented staff members who were working inside the office from exiting, the Police Department said.The building’s sprinkler system activated, which mostly put out the fire before firefighters arrived around 10:45 a.m., the Police Department said.A surveillance photo of a man the police say set a fire outside Senator Bernie Sanders’s office in Burlington, Vt., Friday morning.Burlington Police DepartmentThe Burlington Fire Department said that the door to the senator’s office “sustained moderate” damage from the fire, and that the third floor of the building and the floors below it also had water damage.No injuries were reported. Senator Sanders, independent of Vermont, was not at the office at the time of the fire, his office said in a statement.Investigators with the Vermont State Police determined that the fire was an act of arson. The authorities had not concluded a motive.The Police Department released a photo from surveillance footage of the man who started the fire. In the photo, he is wearing a black jacket, dark-colored pants, white sneakers and an orange beanie.Kathryn Van Haste, the Vermont state director for Senator Sanders, said in a statement, “We are grateful to the Burlington Fire and Police Departments who responded immediately today to a fire incident that took place in our office building.”The United States Capitol Police and the Senate sergeant-at-arms were working with local authorities in Burlington investigating the fire, Ms. Van Haste said.Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak of Burlington said in a statement that she was “relieved to hear that everyone made it out safely.” More

    • 75 Shares179 Views

      in Elections

      Chile Wildfires Prompt Evacuations Along Coast

      by

      Several communities in the Valparaíso region were being evacuated on Wednesday night. Fires along the coast killed more than 100 people last month.The authorities were battling another round of dangerous wildfires along Chile’s Pacific coast on Wednesday night, several weeks after blazes there killed more than 100 people.Chile’s national disaster agency said on Wednesday night that several communities in the Valparaíso region were being evacuated as emergency crews battled the Cerro Cordillera fire. That part of the coast is dotted with towns that rise steeply from the ocean.Devastating wildfires swept through the region last month after erupting in Viña del Mar, a coastal resort city about 80 miles by road northwest of Santiago, the capital. They ravaged entire neighborhoods, trapped people fleeing in cars and destroyed thousands of homes. President Gabriel Boric called it Chile’s worst disaster since a cataclysmic 2010 earthquake killed more than 400 people and displaced about 1.5 million more.This is a developing story. More

    • 113 Shares149 Views

      in Elections

      Firefighter Rescues Driver in Truck Hanging Over Kentucky Bridge

      by

      For nearly an hour, the driver was trapped in a tractor-trailer leaning over the side of a Kentucky bridge until a firefighter lowered on a rope made a daring rescue.A rescuer pulled the woman to safety after a crash left the vehicle hanging over the Ohio River on a bridge in Louisville, Ky.John Sommers Alamy Live News, via Associated PressFor nearly an hour, the driver of a tractor-trailer was trapped in its cab as it dangled high above the Ohio River off the side of a Kentucky bridge after a multivehicle crash on Friday.From the bridge, emergency responders shouted directions to the driver. Emergency crews set up a rope system and lowered a Louisville, Ky., firefighter, Bryce Carden, to rescue her.“Thank God,” the driver said when Mr. Carden drew even with the truck’s cab, he recalled at a news conference on Friday.Initially, Mr. Carden said, he struggled to free the driver from her seatbelt.“We were given a free pocketknife during our trainings, and I had that pocketknife on me, so I was able to cut her out of her seatbelt,” he said in a phone interview on Saturday. “I was able to get her out and get the rest of the harness on her.”The driver and Mr. Carden, who were now attached to each other, were about 100 feet above the river as they were lifted up to the bridge, a process that took about five minutes.“I kept telling her ‘I have you, I have you,’” Mr. Carden said on Saturday. “She was just thanking God, and then I told her, ‘Let’s just keep praying together.’”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 100 Shares149 Views

      in Elections

      What Are the Largest Wildfires in U.S. History?

      by

      The Smokehouse Creek fire in the Texas Panhandle is now one of the largest fires the country has faced. Here are five of the others.Fueled by dry grass, harsh winds and unseasonably warm temperatures, the Smokehouse Creek fire in the Texas Panhandle has now burned more than 1.1 million acres, making it the largest fire in the state’s recorded history.At more than a million acres burned, it is also one of the largest wildfires recorded in the United States.Almost all of the largest wildfires in U.S. history, including the Texas fire, are in fact not one fire with a single point of ignition but a combination of fires burning close together. They are what are known as fire complexes and are attacked by firefighters under a unified command.Here is a look back at five of the largest wildfires ever recorded in the United States.2020 — Northern CaliforniaAugust Complex FireThe largest wildfire in California’s recorded history was a merger of nearly 40 fires, most started by lightning strikes during August in Mendocino County, a rural area about 90 miles north of San Francisco. It burned through 1,032,648 acres and caused the death of a firefighter. Overall, 2020 was a brutal year of wildfires in California, with the state experiencing about 10,000 separate fires. The wildfire season that year consumed 4.3 million acres and killed 33 people, according to scientists.2004 — ALASKATaylor Complex FireLightning also caused this group of fires in August, during a time of dry weather. It consumed about 1.3 million acres in a sparsely populated area of eastern Alaska near the border with Canada. It was part of a record fire season in Alaska that burned more than 6.5 million acres. No deaths were reported.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares129 Views

      in Elections

      Bangladesh Fire Kills at Least 43 in Shopping Mall

      by

      Officials said the deadly fire broke out just before 10 p.m. on Thursday night. Crews took about two hours to extinguish the multistory fire, which left dozens injured and many in critical condition.At least 43 people were killed and dozens were injured when a fire ripped through a shopping mall late Thursday night in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, officials said.“So far, we know that 43 have died,” Dr. Samanta Lal Sen, the health minister, told reporters outside a hospital where some of the injured were being treated. “The condition of those who are wounded is not good,” he added.At least 75 people were injured, fire officials said. Some were being treated at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Mr. Sen said.The fire erupted at about 9:51 p.m. on the mall’s second floor, which features a popular biryani restaurant. It quickly spread to the rest of the seven-story building, fire officials said, ripping through a clothing store on the third floor.It took crews at least two hours to put the fire out, officials said.Videos showed that most of the floors were charred by the flames. A firefighter atop a fire engine ladder could be seen trying to extinguish a small fire that was still burning near one of the upper floors.The shopping mall, on Bailey Road, houses a mix of eateries and stores. Almost every floor has a restaurant and most have gas cylinders, a fire official told a television news reporter. He added that the cylinders may have played a role in the fire spreading so quickly.The mall is a popular spot on Thursdays, the end of the workweek in Bangladesh.Alamgir Hossain, an assistant director at the fire department, told The New York Times that a restaurant called Kacci Bhai had been offering a special on Thursday night.Mass-casualty fires and industrial disasters, particularly in garment factories, have been a recurring problem in Bangladesh. The steady economic growth of the country of 170 million people has been a regional success story in recent years, but human rights and labor organizations have long expressed concern about poor working conditions and workplace safety measures.The worst of the disasters happened in 2013, when the collapse of an eight-story garment factory killed more than 1,100 people. In 2021, a factory fire in the city of Narayanganj killed at least 51 people. More

    • 113 Shares179 Views

      in Elections

      1 Dead and 17 Injured in Harlem Apartment Fire

      by

      The fire, in the Hamilton Heights section, spread quickly from the third floor, trapped people above and led at least one person to jump for safety.One person died and at least 17 people were injured in a two-alarm fire that tore through an apartment building in the Hamilton Heights area of Harlem on Friday, the authorities said.The Fire Department responded to a call at 2:14 p.m. at 2 St. Nicholas Place, a six-story apartment building with 25 units, officials said. The fire started on the third floor and spread quickly through the floors above, according to the Fire Department.Twelve people were taken to New York Health and Hospitals Harlem, the police said; five were in critical condition. One person died at the hospital, according to Joseph Pfeifer, the Fire Department’s first deputy commissioner.When firefighters arrived, several residents were on the building’s fire escapes and three people were trapped, hanging out of fifth-floor windows. Three firefighters were lowered on ropes from the roof to help them.“I told them not to jump, that we’re coming down to rescue them,” Firefighter Chris Lopez, who was involved in the rescue effort, said at a news conference Friday evening.John Hodgens, the Fire Department’s chief of department, said at the news conference that the firefighters usually conduct one or two rope rescues a year. One person jumped out of a window just before firefighters arrived, Chief Hodgens said. Separately, three people were found unconscious on the sixth floor, he said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 100 Shares129 Views

      in Elections

      Russian Drone Strike on Kharkiv Causes Deadly Fire

      by

      Seven people from two families died in the inferno in Kharkiv on Friday night, as burning oil flowed like lava. “People were doomed,” an official said.The attack hit a fuel depot, causing a fire that quickly spread to several nearby homes.Lynsey Addario for The New York TimesFirefighters were digging through the burned remains of a house Saturday morning searching for the body of a child, the last member of a family killed in a catastrophic fire caused by a Russian drone attack.Four bodies already lay in bags in the yard. Investigators had found the charred remains of the father in a corridor and the mother and two children in the bathroom.Seven people in total died when Russian drones struck a fuel depot late Friday night in one of the most calamitous attacks yet on Kharkiv, the northeastern city that has suffered a series of missile strikes in recent weeks. Burning fuel poured down the street from the destroyed depot, setting a line of houses ablaze so quickly that two families were burned alive in their homes.“The family was held hostage by the fire inside their own house,” Serhii Bolvinov, chief police investigator of Kharkiv, said after firemen and investigators dug for hours through the smoldering debris. “All of them were very badly burned, and DNA examination will be needed for the final conclusions.”A home destroyed in the fire after a fuel depot was struck on Friday night. Lynsey Addario for The New York TimesOleksandr Kobylev, head of the Kharkiv regional police war-crimes department, said the Russians attacked with Iranian-supplied Shahed drones that struck shortly before 11 p.m.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More