SEMI-TRUCK ACCIDENT CAUSES FUEL SPILL IN SAN LUIS RAY RIVER, IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

Semi-Truck Accident Causes Fuel Spill in San Luis Ray River, IN San Diego, California

The crash caused damage to the saddle tanks on the truck and diesel fuel leaked from the freeway to the San Luis Ray River.

Friday, Dec 12, 2014 • Updated at 6:52 PM PST

A semi-truck hit a guard rail on an Oceanside freeway, causing 100 gallons of fuel to spill onto the freeway and into the river below.

The accident happened during the heavy morning rain Friday on Interstate 5 near the Harbor Drive exit, the Oceanside Fire Department said. The crash caused damage to the saddle tanks on the truck, and diesel fuel leaked from the freeway to the San Luis Ray River.

Authorities said Haz Mat crews responded, as well as County Health, County Haz Mat, Camp Pendelton Haz Mat, California Highway Patrol and Cal Trans. Fish and Game, the Coast Guard and National Response Center were also notified for assessment and clean up purposes.

The river is not currently spilling into the ocean on the other side of the sand, but Fish and Game will evaluate the river basin near the harbor's south jetty, the fire department said.

The driver, a man in his 40s, suffered moderate injuries and was transported to Scripps La Jolla trauma center.

LOOSENED CARGO CRASHES FUEL TANK. 80+ GALLONS OF DIESEL FUEL SPILLED IN ACCIDENT ON MANHEIM PIKE IN MANCHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA

LOOSENED CARGO CRASHES fuel tank. 80+ gallons of diesel fuel spilled in accident on Manheim Pike in Manchester, Pennsylvania

Incident happened near Jones Honda, located on the 1300 block of Manheim Pike

UPDATED 2:53 PM EST Dec 12, 2014

LANCASTER, Pa. —Crews spent several hours on Friday cleaning up an accident on Manheim Pike (Route 72) in Lancaster.

The incident happened near Jones Honda, located on the 1300 block of Manheim Pike, around 10 a.m.

The driver, Michael Foreman of Philadelphia, says a car cut him off, which caused him to slam on his breaks. That caused the metal chains holding a 50,000+ pound of steel coil to come loose and fall off the rig, which in turn crushed the fuel tank. 

Firefighters and hazmat crews worked to cleanup the 80+ gallons of fuel that spilled onto the roadway. PennDOT crews also spread sand onto the sheen that ran about 40 yards past the truck. 

The road was closed for several hours on Friday. It reopened shortly before 3 p.m.

HEAD INJURIES ARE ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF WORKER DEATHS OR INJURIES AT OILFIELD SITES: TEXAS-MAN DIES AT GOLIAD COUNTY OIL WELL SITE IN VICTORIA, TEXAS WHEN A PRY BAR STRIKES HIS HEAD

HEAD INJURIES ARE ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF WORKER DEATHS or injuries AT OILFIELD SITES: Texas-Man dies at Goliad County oil well site in Victoria, texas WHEN A PRY BAR STRIKES HIS HEAD

December 12th, 2014

A 46-year-old man died Thursday after a pry bar struck his head at an oil well site in Goliad County, near Fannin.

Rogelio Ballez Duenez, of Rosharon, was found dead just after 5:30 p.m. at RBC Energy Services, 2235 Farm to Market Road 2987 (2235 FM 2987), Victoria, Texas 77905, said Sgt. John Pape, an investigator with the Goliad County Sheriff's Office.

RBC Energy Services, LLC, is a full service oil and gas waste disposal company whose management has over 30 years of experience.  They specialize in deep well injection of “dirty” fluids and solids, such as drilling fluids, produced sand, tank sludge, workover waste, drilled cuttings and other exempt non-hazardous oil and gas waste regulated by The Railroad Commission of Texas.  RBC maintains its unloading, tank rinse-out and disposal facility at 50 FM 2987, Fannin, Texas 77960, located off US Highway 59 between Victoria and Goliad.

Although there are no witnesses to the death, through reconstructing the scene, Pape thinks Duenez was removing a piece of pipe from a pumping unit using a large pry bar.

"Because the pipe in question was under pressure, it released violently, striking the pry bar that he was using and forcing the pry bar back against his head," Pape said. "He suffered massive head trauma and died instantly."

Duenez, a Mexican national in the country legally, was taken to Central Texas Autopsy in Lockhart.

Justice of the Peace of Precinct 1 Susan Moore ordered the autopsy.

Duenez's co-workers discovered his body. They searched for him after they had not seen him for about 20 minutes.

Pape said Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be notified.

"We certainly don't expect anything other than what was at the scene," he said. "At this time, there is no indication of foul play. It was an industrial accident."

OVERLOADED ELECTRIC CORD MAY HAVE CAUSED A 2-ALARM FATAL FIRE IN BROOKLYN, NY

OVERLOADED ELECTRIC CORD MAY HAVE CAUSED A 2-alarm fatal FIRE IN bROOKLYN, NY

We have recently posted a warning against the use of electric extension cords for major appliances.  Here is the blog link:

DO NOT USE AN EXTENSION CORD OR POWER STRIP WITH AN ELECTRIC SPACE HEATER.  IT CAN OVERLOAD THE CIRCUIT AND CAUSE FIRE.

http://metroforensics.blogspot.com/2014/11/do-not-use-extension-cord-or-power.html

An electric space heater’s power cord is not intended to be used with an extension cord.  If you are unable to plug the unit directly into a socket and have to use an extension cord, consider using a heavy-duty cord marked with a #14 gauge or larger wire (#12 gauge is larger than #14 gauge).  An incorrectly sized cord could create a fire hazard. If the heater’s plug has a grounding prong, use only a grounding (three-wire) extension cord.

Unfortunately, a man died in a fire yesterday that may have been caused by connecting a refrigerator and an oil lamp to an extension cord.  If that cord was not properly sized for the load, then it could have overheated and caused the deadly fire.  Here is the story.

Rob Nelson reports on the aftermath of the blaze in Flatbush, and the residents who escaped.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

FLATBUSH (WABC) --

A two-alarm fire that killed one person in a building on the 1400 block of Flatbush Avenue above a commercial strip in Brooklyn appears to have been caused by an extension cord.
The cord was being used for a refrigerator and an oil lamp inside an apartment. A 24-year-old man who died in the fire lives in the building.
Including the victim who died, reportedly a 24-year-old man, 17 people were taken to various area hospitals. The man died at New York Community Hospital where he was being treated for smoke inhalation. Of the remaining individuals, two are in critical condition, and 14 are stable.
A FDNY spokeswoman said the fire broke out at 12:38 a.m. Wednesday in the three-story single-room occupancy apartment building, leaving nearly 20 people inside trapped, screaming and scrambling as thick smoke billowed from the windows.
"I was seeing the flames and stuff like that and I was hearing noises, people saying 'help me, help me," said nearby resident Katie Barcoo.
The building has a storefront church on the first floor. The blaze was under control by 1:55 a.m.

Officials said the fire originated on the second floor and swept through the third floor. Everything in the building, the first floor church and the second and third floor apartments, are a total loss.
Many families are now leaning on the Red Cross for temporary shelter, left homeless right in the middle of this week's brutal cold snap.
The victim's identity has not yet been released.
The building received a Buildings Department violation for an illegal subdivision in September.
The violation was issued against the building's owner, Luckner Lorient, because extra partitions were added in the cellar. The complaint was resolved.
There is now a full vacate order issued to the building because of the fire.