FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-EMERGENCYNET NEWS SVC.-08/22/93-1500CDT FIRE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD #5 By: Amy Clark, Medical Correspondant Paul Anderson, Metro Correspondant David Kiplinger, News Intern Clark Staten, Executive Editor 08-01-93 1700CDT THREE CHILDREN KILLED IN MILWAUKEE LEFT-ALONE FIRE Milwaukee, WI - The third of badly burned children died today at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, following a house fire that occurred yesterday morning. Johnnie Johnson, age 17months, died as the result of ventilatory problems and burns. Johnnie was preceded in death by two other members of his family; Tiffany Burton, age 4, and Terrance Burton, age 3, who were declared dead shortly after rescue. A police investigation revealed that the children were sleeping in the basement of a two story building, while their mother had been taken to the hospital to give birth to another child. Reportedly, Linda Johnson-age 25, mother of all of the children, had left earlier in the evening and asked her mother (the children's grandmother) to watch the deceased children. The Grandmother reportedly was then awakened by smoke alarms that signalled that the fire had started. According to Emergency Medical Service officials, the two older children had suffered burns over more than 50% of their small bodies. A final autopsy report had not been issued at the time of this report, and police said that they were still investigating the cause of the fire. 08-03-93 1400CDT FIREWORKS EXPLOSION KILLS FOUR, FIVE INJURED Dixon, KY - A group of "partying teenagers" got more explosion than they bargained for when an oil collection tank detonated in a group of youths and killed four of them. Although not firmly established as the final cause of the blast, witnesses said that they believed that the teenagers had ignited the tank by throwing firecrackers into or near it. According to a county emergency services official, the explosion was caused either by careless smoking or fireworks. The sudden conflagration caused a shock wave that reportedly could be felt at farms as far a way as two miles, and resulted in flames shooting several hundred feet into the air. The primary source of the eruption was thought to be a 200 Gal. tank that caught runoff from a small oil well, that was located on private property, near a rural gravel road. According to local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) officials, the blast injured another five (5) teenagers severely. The teens were stabilized, and transported to hospitals in Madisonville, Louisville, and Nashville, TN. All were described by medical personnel as being in critical condition with burns and smoke inhalation. Police are thought to be continuing their investigation into the incident, but are being hampered by the medical condition of the youths that survived the blast. A police spokesperson would not confirm or deny an allegation that alcohol was involved in the incident. 08-03-93 1700CDT ILLEGAL FIREWORKS FACTORY EXPLODES, TWO DEAD Gig Harbor, WA - An explosion, in what police describes as "illegal fireworks factory", took the lives of two young men on Saturday. The detonation, which totally devastated half of a mobile home, snuffed out the lives of Brandon Reid, age 16, and Quent Belden, age 27. The mobile home was owned by Belden. Reportedly, the two young men had been assembling large firecrackers by putting black powder into cardboard tubes, when the explosion occurred. An unconfirmed report said that Belden and Reid were allegedly making fireworks and selling them to other youths in the area. EMS sources said that Reid died almost immediately after the blast, as the result of blast injuries and smoke inhalation. Belden reportedly survived long enough to be airlifted to a hospital in Seattle, where he later succumbed to his injuries. 08-04-93 2300CDT CLEVELAND ARSON FIRE DESTROYS SEVERAL BLOCKS Cleveland, OH - Cleveland firefighters had one of the worst Fourth of July weekends in recent memory. In what has been described as an "extremely suspicious" fire, a total of seventeen buildings were destroyed. The fire, which burned out of control for hours, severely taxed the firefighting resources of the Cleveland Fire Department. According to official reports, as many as seventeen (17) buildings were destroyed by the rapidly spreading conflagration. The origin of the fire was believed to be a former Woolen Mill factory that had been abandoned for several years. A senior fire official said that firefighters found several sources of ignition and that "it is likely that this fire is the result of arson". The fire was reportedly accelerated by the explosion of several barrels of petroleum-based flammable liquids that were stored in the old woolen factory. Fire officials said that they let the factory burn, rather than allow contaminated water from the unidentified barrels enter into the city's sewer system. Several other ground level stores and offices were destroyed when the fire spread rapidly from the woolen factory to other nearby structures. 07/11/93 2100CDT ANTIQUE FIRE TRUCK EXPLODES, KILLS FIRE BUFF Shippensburg, PA - An antique fire truck exploded near here today, as it was being driven to an local show of antique fire apparatus. The driver, Stoyan Russell - Age 33, was killed by a fireball that engulfed the 1951 Pirsch Hook and Ladder truck. Another man was reportedly seriously injured by the fire. The two men were taking the truck to the 18th Annual Pennsylvania Pump Primers show. An investigation into the fire revealed that the truck's drive shaft had snapped, punctured a hydraulic line, and caused the flammable hydraulic fluid to leak onto a heated exhaust pipe and ignite. The resulting explosion and fire quickly consumed the apparatus and killed Russell and severely burned his companion. 07/24/93 1900CDT FALSE ALARMS RESULT OF "LOVE CALLS", ON A LIGHTER NOTE... Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Firefighters in Kuala Lumpar report that they received a total of 36,774 false alarms during the first six (6) months of 1993. More unusual than the number of hoax calls was the reason for more than half of them. According to Fire Chief Mohammad Yusof Mohammad, 15,479 of these false calls can be attributed to young women calling the firefighters to chat and attempt to request dates with the eligible bachelors. During the first half of 1993, the Penang District firefighters responded to only 730 genuine emergency calls. 07/25/93 1400CDT SIX "LEFT ALONE" CHILDREN KILLED BY FIRE IN ROWHOUSE Philadelphia, PA - A South Philadelphia rowhouse erupted in flames at approximately 12:20 a.m., early on Sunday morning. The deadly aftermath revealed the deaths of a total of six children, ranging in age from one to six. Two other children, aged nine and eleven, were rescued from the rapidly spreading inferno. According to police reports, the mother of the children Vashti Jamison, 29, alleged that she had left the children in the care of a sixteen year old neighbor at the time of the fire. The mother said that she "was walking a friend home" when the fire broke out. According to eyewitnesses, the mother was visibly shaken and adamantly denied the fact that she had left the children alone. Ms. Jamison is quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "I had people watching them...I didn't leave them". Police say that they are investigating statements made by Jamison and have questioned several neighbors. Firefighters report that upon their arrival that the first floor was totally involved and that flames were shooting out of windows and the doorway. Firefighters and neighbors say that three children were rescued from the fire and taken to nearby Methodist Hospital, but that they succumbed to their injuries shortly after arrival at the hospital. Two other children were found dead on the second floor and one was found deceased and badly burned on the first floor. The fire was brought under control within 30 minutes, according to a Philadelphia Fire Dept. Battalion Chief. The actual cause of the blaze remains under investigation at the time of this report. Investigators report that there were no smoke detectors present in the residence. (c) EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1993 All Rights Reserved, Except as Assigned Emergency Response & Research Institute 5656 N. Moody St., Chicago, IL 60646 (312) 631-1101 - Voice/Messages (312) 631-4703 - Fax (312) 631-3467 - Computer/Modem-EMERGENCY BBS-2400bps-24hrs (312) 631-3950 - " " " " 9600pbs " (312) 631-0517 - " " " " 14,400bps "