Seattle Commuter Bus Bursts into Flames

Limousine Fire Kills Five

May 052013

iStockphoto(SAN FRANCISCO) — Five people were killed and a number of others injured when a limousine caught fire late Saturday on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.

The victims were all women in their thirties on their way to a dance. Four other women and the driver of the limousine were able to escape the blaze. Four of the survivors were taken to the hospital; three for treatment of minor injuries and smoke inhalation, and one due to severe burns, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Amelia Jack.

The cause of the fire is not known at this time. It does not appear that the limousine was involved in a collision, California Highway Patrol Spokesman Officer Art Montiel said.

“It appears that the fire started in the back,” Montiel said, before adding that he could not confirm that until the investigation had been completed.

Authorities shut down all westbound lanes on the bridge due to the fire, though they have since been reopened.

Ga. Fire Engulfs Home, Takes Lives of Woman, Four Children

Apr 272013

Hemera Technologies/Thinkstock(NEWNAN, Ga.) — A woman and four children died in a blazing fire that engulfed a single-story brick home in Newnan, Ga., early Saturday morning.

Alonna McCrary, 28, along with two of her children, Eriel McCrary, 5, and Nikia White, 2, died in the fire, according to a statement from the Newnan Police Department. Messiah White, 3, and McKenzie Florence, 1, who were sleeping at McCrary’s home, also did not survive the flames.

The fire broke out just after 1 a.m. on Saturday. McCrary’s 11-year-old daughter, Nautica, was awoken by her mother telling her the house was on fire and to run, the news release from the Newnan Police Department stated.

“She couldn’t see anything, they were bumping into each other,” Nautica’s aunt, Roxanne Arnold told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “They had to feel around and she was hollering and screaming. Her mother kept telling her to get out.”

Nautica was the sole survivor of the fire.

She was taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, but has since been released and is in the care of an aunt, Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner spokesman Glenn Allen told ABC News.

Allen said the fire originated from an electrical panel in the home’s den. Authorities determined the fire was accidental, he said.

Investigators found a smoke alarm in the rubble from inside the home, but it was so badly damaged that Allen could not say whether the device was working prior to the fire.

“My heart goes out to any of the families affected, and the 11-year-old daughter that did escape,” Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens told ABC News. “She’s going to be traumatized.”

The bodies of the mother and children were taken to the state crime lab for an autopsy at a later date, Allen said. Allen said he did not know where the bodies were found inside of the charred home.

It is unclear if Messiah and McKenzie were related to McCrary, Hudgens said.

More than a Dozen Injured in Kansas City, Mo., Gas Explosion

Feb 202013

Ablestock.com/Thinkstock(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) — More than a dozen people were injured after a natural gas explosion ripped through a popular downtown restaurant in an upscale section of Kansas City, Mo.

Witnesses say the huge fireball, which engulfed an entire city block Tuesday night, could be seen for miles. The explosion destroyed JJ’s restaurant and rattled windows blocks away.

“Everything shook, and you could feel it almost as much as you could hear it,” one witness said. “It was by far the biggest explosion I’ve ever felt in my life.”

There were no initial reports of fatalities, but cadaver dogs are searching the area. Kansas City Fire Chief Paul Berardi told reporters Wednesday morning that one person is missing.

“At this time we’re still searching for one victim and that employee is a female employee of JJ’s restaurant,” he said.

St. Luke’s Hospital said it treated eight patients, including two men who were in critical condition. Six other people had less serious injuries, according to ABC News affiliate KMBC-TV. The University of Kansas Hospital said it had received four patients and had a fifth on the way, KMBC reported.

More than 100 firefighters worked overnight to knock back the thick black smoke and shooting flames that forced onlookers to flee the downtown Kansas City shopping district just after 6 p.m.

“We are concerned that there may be additional people not able to get out of the structure,” Berardi told reporters late Tuesday. “This was happy-hour at a restaurant. There were patrons in the restaurant.”

“I would always fear there are fatalities in a scene like this,” he added.

Investigators are sifting through the rubble Wednesday morning and trying to figure out what caused the blaze. It is believed that a contractor might have hit an underground natural gas line.

It almost smelled like the radiators were seeping out gas,” one witness said. “Strong enough for us to call the landlord to say something was wrong.”

Witnesses say gas fumes could still be smelled hours after firefighters got the flames under control.

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Investigators Looking Into Explosion at Kansas City, Mo., Restaurant

Feb 202013

Ablestock.com/Thinkstock(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) — A natural gas explosion caused nearly 100 firefighters to respond Tuesday evening to a massive fire at a Kansas City, Mo., restaurant.

It’s unclear what caused the blast, but authorities are calling it an accident for now. Kansas City Fire Chief Paul Berardi ruled out reports that a car or construction vehicle struck a gas main, but he said officials are investigating the incident.

“Right now, the investigation is ongoing, but it does seem like an accident,” Berardi said Tuesday. He added, “It doesn’t appear to be foul play at this time.”

While no fatalities have been reported, 14 people have been transported to area hospitals. Officials say they still haven’t accounted for everyone, but investigators will use cadaver dogs to thoroughly search the structure.

At the time of the blast, patrons had been in the building during the restaurant’s happy hour, Berardi said.

Seattle Commuter Bus Bursts into Flames

Jan 112013

KOMO/ABC News(SEATTLE) — A commuter bus burst into flame on Interstate 5 in Seattle during the heart of the morning commute Friday, but the fire department said the driver’s quick thinking helped prevent deaths or injuries.

“The bus driver said he heard a couple of pops and evacuated 30-40 people off the bus,” fire department spokesman Kyle Moore told ABC News. “He not only evacuated them but moved them a significant distance away, which helped greatly with our firefighting efforts.”

“Everyone starts looking around at each other, like, ‘What’s happening?’” passenger Emalasa Franulovich told ABC affiliate KOMO-TV. “Then we hear a second ‘pop’ and everyone starts panicking and yelling, ‘Get off the bus.’”

The fire erupted before the bus came to a full stop, and soon consumed its rear half.

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Aerial footage of the blaze showed billowing clouds of black smoke from the bus and traffic backed up for miles. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire around 7:30 a.m. local time.

Moore said that the blaze could have been much worse had the bus been powered by natural gas, and not by diesel fuel. “Diesel fuel is not explosive like a natural gas bus,” he said.

Police and Sound Transit, which owns the bus, are investigating the incident.

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