MEC&F Expert Engineers : 03/04/17

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Smoke inhalation caused the deaths of all 36 victims in the Ghost Ship Fire in Oakland, California





Firefighters stand outside the Ghost Ship Warehouse in Oakland, Calif. on Feb. 15, 2017. (KGO-TV)

Updated 1 hr 58 mins ago
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Smoke inhalation caused the deaths of all 36 victims in the Ghost Ship Fire in Oakland.

The Alameda County Medical Examiner says burns or other injuries did not play a role in their deaths last year.

The victims were unable to get out of the burning warehouse with several illegal living spaces inside during a party.

PHOTOS: A look inside the Oakland Ghost Ship collective warehouse








This photo of the Ghost Ship art collective warehouse in Oakland, Calif. was posted on its website. (Photo by www.OaklandGhostShip.com) 



Investigators have still not announced what caused the fire or any potential criminal charge

A 2-yr old boy killed and his father was seriously injured after a six-alarm fire ripped through homes and the Sts. Joseph and Michael Church in Union City, NJ













Saturday, March 04, 2017 11:39AM
UNION CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A young boy was killed and his father was seriously hurt in a fire overnight Friday in New Jersey.

PHOTOS:








March 4, 2017: The six-alarm fire ripped through homes and a church in Union City, NJ starting around 1 a.m. Saturday.

The six-alarm fire ripped through homes and a church in Union City, starting around 1 a.m.


It began at homes on Summit Avenue and the wind sent embers to a nearby church, Sts. Joseph and Michael Church at Central Avenue and 14th Street, and surrounding areas. The church has been standing for more than 100 years.

Consumed by flames, the church steeple collapsed onto the street below. Power lines also were down in the area.

The original fire started a block away at a two 3-story frame houses at Summit Avenue and 14th Street. The child who died was in one of the homes.

The fire was under control later Saturday morning, but firefighters remained on the scene to put out hot spots around 8 a.m.

Police are advising motorists and pedestrians to avoid the area.



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Ice clings to a cross at Sts. Joseph & Michael Parish located on Central Avenue. which was ravaged in a early morning fire on Saturday, March 4, 2017. Union City, NJ (Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

  MaryAnn Spoto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
 
updated March 04, 2017 at 2:52 PM




UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY -- A 2-year-old was killed and his father was seriously injured in a fire that ripped through at least three buildings before spreading to a nearby church early Saturday morning in Union City, authorities said.

The fire started around 1 a.m. in a residential building on Summit Avenue, spread to two more residential buildings and then the embers ignited the steeple of Sts. Joseph and Michael Parish across the street, said Union City Police Chief Richard Molinari.

Molinari said police received multiple calls about a fire at 1404 Summit Ave. at 1:02 a.m. and about people trapped inside the building. Encountering heavy smoke when they arrived at the scene, emergency responders helped get people out of the building, he said.

A 2-year-old boy was found dead in one of the apartments, he said. The boy's father suffered serious burns after he tried to get back into the building to get his son, Molinari said. The father was rushed to Saint Barnabas Burn Center in Livingston, he said.

Authorities did not identify the boy or his father. The man lived in one of the apartments with his wife, the child and several other children, Molinari said.

High winds spread the fire to 1406 and 1408 Summit Ave., he said.

About a half hour later, embers from the fire ignited the church steeple, which eventually collapsed, taking down power lines, he said.

Union City Police, the state Fire Marshal's Office and the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office are investigating, he said.

Five firefighters were taken to a local hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening, he said.

David Kaminsky, who lives a block west of the apartments where the fire started, said he woke Saturday morning at 1:30 to the sound of police officers pounding on his front door and telling him to get out.

Along with his 92-year-old grandmother, his mother and his 16-year-old son, he got out of house, he said. The family stayed in their car for warmth, Kaminsky said.

The city and the American Red Cross provided shelter nearby for those who didn't immediately have a place to go, he said.

"I saw nothing but smoke and big huge flames coming from the church - like something from a movie," said Kaminsky, 42.

Kaminsky and his family were allowed to return to their home at 6:30 a.m. but the house is still without power, he said.

A text from PSE&G alerted him that power should be restored by 8:45 p.m. today, but he's not sure that timeframe will hold, he said.

"With all the ice on the power lines, they have a lot of work ahead of them,"

About 15 families were displaced from the three buildings that burned, officials said. About 80 people at temporary shelter at the Jose Marti School at Summit and 18th avenues. Many were from homes that were evacuated around fire, Diane Concannon of NJ Red Cross said.

"Our hearts are with the families affected by this morning's fire as they cope with this tremendous loss," said Ana Montero, CEO, American Red Cross New Jersey Region. "Our volunteers are providing compassionate care and emergency assistance to those impacted by these devastating fires as they take the first steps towards recovery."

Mayor Brian Stack said the community is heartbroken.

"It is absolutely devastating," Stack said in a release. "The loss the parents of this little boy are experiencing is unimaginable and truly heartbreaking. We all will hold our loved ones a little tighter tonight having heard the news of this tragedy."

He said his civic association has offered to pay for the toddler's funeral.

Deacon Richard Flores from the parish said the church was empty at the time of the blaze.

"This is sad, but this is only material (and) the church is within us," he said. "We hope everything goes back to normal."

He said the church will hold services at a nearby school.

The mayor's office has set up a fund for the victims of the fire. Checks or money orders, made payable to the Union City Fire Victims' Fund, can be sent to the following address:

Union City Fire Victims' Fund; City of Union City; Office of Mayor Brian P. Stack, 3715 Palisade Avenue, 3rd Floor, Union City, NJ, 07087.


Pilot Steven Silver, 69, of Woodstock, died after the Cessna 421B plane clipped power lines and crashed near the Cherokee County airport in Georgia











BALL GROUND, GA -- The pilot who died at the controls after a twin-engine Cessna crashed late Friday night has been identified.

Steven Silver, 69, of Woodstock, died after the plane crashed near the Cherokee County airport.

Police and fire crews responded to the crash around 12 a.m. where they found a plane down at the end of the runway at the Cherokee County Airport near the 1300 block of Bishop Road.

The airplane apparently clipped a power line and crashed into a nearby retention pond. Officials confirmed the death upon examining the scene.

11Alive reporters on the ground said the tail number of the aircraft is N421KL. According to FAA records, the aircraft is registered to an owner in Coweta, OK.

The Federal Aviation Administration is continuing its investigation.




Date:

03-MAR-2017
Time: 12:00 LT
Type:
Cessna 421B
Owner/operator: Private
Registration: N421KL
C/n / msn:

Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities: 0
Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: Cherokee County Airport, GA - United States of America
Phase: Landing
Nature: Private
Departure airport:

Destination airport:

Narrative:
The aircraft was found crashed at the eastern end of the runway inside a small, fences, water run off pond. The pilot died in the crash which occurred shortly after midnight. Power lines were brought down.

Sources:
http://www.11alive.com/news/local/canton/plane-crashes-in-cherokee-county-one-dead/419728871
http://www.fox5atlanta.com/breaking-news/239526719-story
http://patch.com/georgia/canton-ga/pilot-killed-plane-crash-cherokee-county
http://www.cbs46.com/story/34664486/pilot-dead-following-cherokee-county-plane-crash

ANOTHER SORE LOSER: Arnold Schwarzenegger quits 'Celebrity Apprentice,' blames Donald Trump for his involvement with the show





Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives at the 2016 Governors Awards on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Friday, March 03, 2017 06:17PM
NEW YORK -- Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday that he's through with "The New Celebrity Apprentice," and he's blaming President Donald Trump for the television reality show's recent poor performance.

The former California governor said he wouldn't mind working with NBC and producer Mark Burnett again "on a show that doesn't have this baggage."

Schwarzenegger replaced the president as host of the show, but Trump remained as an executive producer. The president taunted Schwarzenegger for the show's recent poor performance in the ratings, even mocking him during an address at the National Prayer Breakfast.

The show, which wrapped up its 15th season last month, averaged fewer than 5 million viewers per episode. That was lower than any other incarnation except for a 2010 Trump-hosted edition without celebrities, and the most poorly-rated edition among the youthful viewers NBC cares most about, the Nielsen company said.

Even if he were asked again, Schwarzenegger said he wouldn't want to do it.

"With Trump being involved in the show people have a bad taste and don't want to participate as a spectator or as a sponsor or in any other way support the show," he said in an interview with the Empire web site. "It's a very divisive period now and I think this show got caught up in all that division."

After Schwarzenegger's debut in January, Trump took to Twitter to report the show had been swamped "in comparison to the ratings machine, DJT" - using his initials.

Schwarzenegger shot back on social media that he hoped Trump would work for the American people as aggressively as he did for his ratings.


These losers think that Donald Trump is a easy target;  that is why they keep blaming the Would-Be-Greatest-President-Of-All-Time for all their ills and misfortunes.  Sad, but expected.  Our Great President has amazing work ethics and he leaves everybody behind biting his dust.  Hopefully the young people of our country will learn to work like President Trump.  He is truly amazing.  We are blessed to have him as our President.  Thank you President Trump, thank you.

83-year old man was recklessly smoking while using an oxygen tank, ends up being burned to death at his Ravenswood Manor neighborhood home


Firefighters clear the scene at a fatal house fire in Ravenswood Manor early Saturday. | Network Video Productions

 
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- A 83-year-old man died after being pulled from a fire at his Ravenswood Manor neighborhood home early Saturday on the Northwest Side.

Crews responded about 12:30 a.m. to the blaze in the 2900-block of West Giddings, and firefighters found Ibraham Fakhoury in the basement, according to Chicago police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

He was taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m., authorities said.

Fire officials said he had been smoking while using an oxygen tank, igniting the fire. It was put out in about 15 minutes.


(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire - Copyright Chicago Sun-Times 2017.)

Sugarloaf Ski Patrol ski resort employee has lost his footing and killed in a tumble down a steep mogul course that was being prepared for competition in Maine














Ski Resort Worker Slips, Dies After Tumble Down Steep Trail
A Maine ski resort employee has lost his footing and been killed in a tumble down a steep mogul course that was being prepared for competition.


March 3, 2017, at 5:50 p.m.

CARRABASSET VALLEY, Maine (AP) — A Maine ski resort employee has lost his footing and been killed in a tumble down a steep mogul course that was being prepared for competition.


Members of the Sugarloaf Ski Patrol responded Friday to the double-black diamond Skidder trail and transported employee Alex Witt to a first aid clinic. Paramedics performed CPR, but Witt was pronounced dead at the clinic.


Sugarloaf is in Carrabassett Valley, a small town that's also home to a skiing and snowboarding academy. Local police and the ski resort say Witt was 24 years old and was from Farmington.


Sugarloaf general manager Karl Strand says the death is a blow to the tight-knit community. He says co-workers' hearts are with their "team member and his family." Federal workplace safety regulators have been notified.

Concern of El Salvador MS-13 gang violence in Houston, as MS-13 gang members are desensitized to death.











Concern of MS-13 gang violence in Houston. (KTRK)

By Ted Oberg
Friday, March 03, 2017 07:56PM
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Gang experts in Houston estimate 75 of the city's 300 murders last year were gang-related. A much smaller number is directly linked to MS-13, the Central American gang believed to be connected to the killing and dumping of Genesis Cornejo.

While the numbers of MS-13 murders may not be rising, their level of brutality is.

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Mark Sabol, who works with the Texas Anti-Gang Center, told ABC13 Investigates, "These are some of the most graphic things we've encountered."

MS-13 came up from the streets of El Salvador. To understand the violence the gang is committing here in Houston, experts told ABC13 you have to understand how violent their lives are there. El Salvador has fewer people than metro Houston, but 16 times as many killings.

There were more than 6,500 murders in El Salvador last year -- Houston and Harris County had just more than 400.

Experts suspect MS-13 gang members are desensitized to death.





The mother of a young girl allegedly killed by two gang members during a satanic ritual speaks out.

"To become a MS-13 member, you must commit at least one murder, sometimes more," Sabol said.

That may be as close to a motive as there is.

"There isn't a group wide endeavor except killing people," he added.

According to Sabol, MS-13 doesn't deal drugs, or traffic in guns, money or migrants.

Their victims are not random, either. They are typically gang associates. In some cases, like Jose Meraz's, they are people who want out of the gang life. That's not possible because you have to kill to get in and die to get out, according to experts.





Was a local middle school student murdered because he refused to kill? The boy's family believes a gang was involved in his death

When asked what scares members of MS-13, Sabol frighteningly closed the interview and said, "Nothing yet."

The FBI says they need the community's help. Anyone who suspects a child is being recruited needs to speak up. Sometimes that starts as young as 9 years old.

The FBI and Texas Anti-Gang Center have signs to look for on their www.stophoustongangs.org website.