Jan. 4, 2023 Azusa fire and rescue personnel are checking their gear as the threat approaches.

By Hayley Smith Source Los Angeles Times (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A successive series of powerful atmospheric river storms poses a growing threat to California as the ground becomes more saturated, river levels rise and heavy winds threaten the power infrastructure.

This week’s storms are expected to dump intense levels of rain in a fairly short period of time. The greatest potential for disaster is in Northern California, which has already been battered by several destructive storms — including one this weekend that caused a deadly levee breach. But each new storm, including one set to arrive Wednesday, adds new pressure.

“The main reason why this storm is going to have a larger impact than it would have had if it had happened two or three weeks ago is that it’s rained a lot in Northern California already recently, so everything’s really saturated,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA.

“There’s already active river flooding with levee breaks in Sacramento County, so that’s the stage for something pretty intense coming in … It’s this progression and sequencing that’s a big part of what’s going on,” he added.

But while the incoming atmospheric river is likely to compound damage of the week’s earlier storms, experts say considerable groundwork for the danger was also laid long before the rains arrived. Prolonged drought conditions have weakened the state’s soil and left trees brittle and prone to breaking, while worsening wildfires have left large swaths of burn scars that are highly vulnerable to landslides and increased stream flows.

“To put it simply, this will likely be one of the most impactful systems on a widespread scale that this meteorologist has seen in a long while,” the weather service said in its forecast for Northern California, adding that widespread flooding, downed trees, power outages and hillside collapses are likely.

Indeed, the series of atmospheric rivers that started toward the end of December came as something of a shock after one of California’s driest years on record, which left reservoirs drained and soils dry as a bone.

Across Northern California, creeks filled, rivers rose and floodwaters began to surge, stranding motorists and spurring evacuations. At least one person was killed when waters from the Cosumnes River rushed over levees. More than 5 inches of rain fell in San Francisco on Saturday — the area’s second wettest day in more than 170 years of records, officials said.

Part of the concern about the incoming system is that it will arrive on top of that overload, Swain said. He noted that in October 2021, a similarly strong atmospheric river brought significant rainfall to the state but did not cause nearly the same amount of damage because the conditions leading up to it were more dry. Whereas now, “it’s going to take a much lesser storm to produce much greater impacts given how wet it is.”

San Franciso Mayor London Breed said the city was “preparing for a war” as officials passed out sandbags and braced for more rain and strong winds.

Sacramento and other areas are similarly bracing for another inundation. NWS meteorologist Scott Rowe said the Sacramento Valley can expect an additional 2 to 3 inches of rain Wednesday through Friday, while some areas in the foothills could see up to 6 inches on top of all the rain from the days prior.

“We already have some ongoing flooding in the area … and we’re expecting more heavy rain,” he said.

But compounding moisture isn’t the only cause for concern. Areas that have been burned by California’s wildfires are also susceptible to crashing torrents of mud, rocks and other debris because of a lack of vegetation to help anchor the soil, said Chris Field, director of Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment.

“In general, there’s a strong relationship between areas that are burned in wildfires and debris flow in the year following when there’s heavy rain,” he said. “And there’s every reason to think that we will see more debris flows when we have the series of storms we’re seeing now.”

In fact, one recent study out of UCLA found that in areas where more than a fifth of the forest had burned, stream flow increased by an average of 30% for six years after the fire, contributing to increased erosion, flooding and other hazards.

High-intensity fires can also burn through upper layers of soil, leaving waxy moonscapes that can be water-repellent, “so we see the effects at all these different levels that combine to increase the risk of a serious landslide or mudslide,” Field said — though he noted that the relatively tame wildfire season of 2022 probably helped slightly reduce such risks this week.

Still, past fire activity could be partially to blame for flooding around the Cosumnes River, according to Swain.

The river had several factors working against it — including receiving some of the weekend’s heaviest rainfall and being one the state’s few rivers without dams — but part of its watershed also burned in the Caldor fire of 2021. The 222,000-acre blaze seared through many living trees whose roots could have helped sap moisture from the storm, he said.

The weather service has already issued flash flood watches in several burn areas, including that of the August Complex fire, the River Complex fire, the Mosquito fire and the western region of the Dixie fire. The agency advised residents in or near such areas to “prepare to leave before the storm arrives and stay tuned to local authorities for any possible evacuation warnings.”

Beyond wildfire hazards, California’s prolonged and extreme drought may also add threats.

The state’s record-dry conditions have contributed to unprecedented tree mortality, including the death of nearly a third of Southern Sierra forests as well as urban trees in medians and backyards.

The brittle, weakened trees will face intense winds during the incoming storm, and could cause power outages and property damage if they snap or fall.

“This is probably the strongest wind event that we will have had in this era where there’s that many drought-weakened or killed trees,” Swain said. “So the combination of the fact that this looks like it’s going to be a pretty high wind event, especially for Northern California, and the fact that there may be more trees vulnerable than usual — I would not be too surprised if there are a lot of power outages Wednesday night and Thursday morning.”

Last week’s storms left tens of thousands of homes in Northern California without power for several days. The weather service has issued high wind warnings for Wednesday’s storm in several parts of the state, including gusts of up to 75 mph in portions of far Northern California.

“It’s important for people to be cautious,” Field said. “This looks like a big series of storms, and big storms are dangerous — even if the water is welcome.”

Jan. 3, 2023 Wilkes-Barre crews needed one ground ladder to reach the porch and a second to reach the third-floor windows to save 5 people.

By Bob Kalinowski Source The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Jan. 3—WILKES-BARRE — Eleven people were displaced and three cats died as a result of a blaze that broke out Monday morning at a New Hancock Street apartment building.

Five people, including two children — a boy, 3, and girl, 5 — were rescued from the third floor.

Tim Trupp, 33, said it seemed like his family waited a long time for help as smoke from the fire, which began on the first floor, infiltrated his apartment.

“I was hanging out the window. It was a while. I was trying to get my children down to them,” Trupp said.

Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney said that fire crews had to use one ground ladder to get onto the front porch roof and another ground ladder to reach the third floor windows to get the trapped victims.

Because of the way the trucks arrived and other obstacles, crews could not use the aerial ladder truck to reach the trapped victims, the chief said.

“These decisions made are split decisions. It was a tedious call. It was a dangerous call. It was not easy to do what was done today. The firefighters risked their lives to save those people on the third floor,” Delaney said. “It’s not often you have to use two separate ground ladders to get to the third floor.”

The fire was reported around 9:15 a.m. at 273-275 New Hancock St., a multi-unit apartment building.

Wilkes-Barre Fire Crews were on another call at the time at a high-rise apartment building, so Plains Twp.’s fire department was called to assist with other Wilkes-Barre crews. The Kingston-Forty Fort Fire Department was already on an automatic response with a rapid intervention team.

Upon arrival, firefighters were met by heavy fire and smoke, Delaney said.

“They had a lot to get done. There was a lot to do,” the chief said. “They all worked like one fire department.”

Wilkes-Barre fire Capt. Francis Evanko, the city’s fire inspector, ruled the fire was accidental due to an electrical issue in a first-floor closet. The property was posted as unsafe for human habitation after the inspection.

The American Red Cross assisted the displaced tenants in finding lodging.

Delaney said the fire could have been a lot worse and he was happy there were no civilian injuries.

“They train for this,” Delaney said of his fire crews. “The firefighters are experts in what they do.”

Jan. 3, 2023 Coastside Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Brian Pottenger didn’t expect to find any survivors in the car.

By Rachel Swan Source San Francisco Chronicle (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Jan. 2—A Tesla plunged off of a cliff at Devil’s Slide in San Mateo County on Monday, falling 250 feet onto rocks and critically injuring the four people inside, according to Cal Fire’s San Mateo- Santa Cruz unit.

When firefighters and paramedics responded to a 911 call at 10:50 a.m. they found two children, ages 9 and 4, and two adults trapped in the vehicle that apparently careened over the road’s edge while traveling south on Highway 1, just past the Tom Lantos Tunnels. Witnesses told Cal Fire crews that the car simply veered off the highway and over the dirt shoulder before it plummeted.

Rescue teams used ropes to rappel down the slope carrying Jaws of Life tools to breach the doors of the wrecked car, where they didn’t expect to find anyone alive, said Brian Pottenger, a battalion chief for the Coastside Fire Protection District who served as the incident commander.

“We go down there quite a bit for vehicles off the cliff, and normally they’re not alive,” he said. But on Monday, rescuers peered through binoculars as they descended the bluff and glimpsed an arm moving in the front window.

“That’s how we knew that we had at least one person alive in the vehicle,” Pottenger said.

Remarkably, all four people were alive and conscious. Teams were able to extricate them and put the two children on stretchers and using ropes and pulleys to hoist them up to the road. Helicopters later arrived for the two adults, and all four crash victims were transported to hospitals.

As of 3 p.m., efforts were still under way to retrieve the wrecked and crumpled car, which landed on a jagged outcropping just above the water’s edge, California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Andrews said.

Dramatic video from Cal Fire showed a helicopter flying in over the choppy waters of the Pacific Ocean to pick up the car’s occupants and take them to a landing area, where firefighters and other first responders stood waiting. They had managed to steer a complex operation in spite of gusting wind and rain beating down.

A CHP spokesperson said investigators from the agency do not believe the vehicle was operating in self-driving mode.

Emergency crews warned motorists to expect delays as firetrucks packed the road and rescue teams assessed the wreck.

Jan. 3, 2023 EMTs administered CPR after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during the Monday Night Football game.

Source Firehouse.com News

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is in critical condition after collapsing on the field during Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bills say the 24-year-old suffered cardiac arrest and his heartbeat was restored on the field.

CBS Mornings co-host Nate Burleson, a former NFL player himself, read a statement from the Bills that said, “Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in the Buffalo Bills’ game versus the Cincinnati Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.”

As players gathered around Hamlin on the field, viewers immediately sensed how serious the situation was. 

The players from both teams formed a human wall around Hamlin as EMTs fought to save his life.

Some players were visibly sobbing and others took to their knees to pray as CPR was administered and Hamlin, who was given oxygen, was loaded into an ambulance.

Initially, the word from league officials was that the game would resume after a brief 5-minute warm-up.

The head coaches of the two teams gathered their players together and the decision was made that they would not play.

The league finally officially suspended the game, which will be finished at a later date.

Jan. 3, 2023 Buffalo fire officials reported the four girls and boy ranged from 2-10 years old.

By Stephen T. Watson Source The Buffalo News, N.Y. (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Jan. 2—Cornerstone Church Ministries Pastor Duane Price usually holds an online service on Facebook Live from 10 to 11 a.m. on Saturdays.

When he saw that one of his congregants, Clarence Liggans, was phoning him at 8:30 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, “I’m thinking he’s calling to let me know he’s going to be at the service, or to crack a joke for me,” Price said.

Instead, Liggans, calling from work, was crying and screaming because he just learned a fire was raging through his house.

“I canceled services and came straight over,” said Price, who has since been busy helping a devastated family that lost five young children in a house fire that gutted their rental house on Dartmouth Avenue.

Clarence and Lisa Liggans lived at the home with two of their adult children and six grandchildren ranging in age from 7 months to 10 years old, Price said during a Monday afternoon press conference outside the 1 1/2-story structure off Bailey Avenue.

All the children except the infant died as a result of the fire.

Three girls — ages 7, 8 and 10 — died Saturday at the scene.

The family learned only hours before the press conference that a 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy died earlier in the day at Oishei Children’s Hospital, where they were taken by rescue crews.

The infant was released to family members Monday. Clarence Liggans and his two adult children who lived in the house also are staying elsewhere with family, Price said.

Lisa Liggans, 63, remained at Erie County Medical Center in critical condition with third-degree burns to her body, the pastor said.

Price and city officials have not released the names of the fire victims.

The pastor said the family appreciates the support it is receiving from the community, but needs more time to mourn.

“They are not ready to talk about this, and they asked that we give them time to do some healing,” Price told the media assembled outside the house.

“They are not my direct relatives, yet every time I think about them, it’s hard for me to fight back the tears,” he said. “And if it’s difficult for me, imagine how difficult it is for them.”

The fatal fire began at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. Lisa Liggans was able to rescue the infant from the home, and another adult woman also made it out safely, city officials said. Buffalo firefighters got the other children, who were all in cardiac arrest, out of the home.

By late New Year’s Eve morning, the light green house with dark green trim was cordoned off with police tape, which continued to flutter around the property Monday in the early January chill.

Buffalo fire investigators have ruled the fire accidental, said Michael DeGeorge, spokesman for Mayor Byron Brown. Fire officials previously said the fire began in the dining room, and that the home had working smoke detectors.

Property records show the owners live in New York City.

Clarence and Lisa Liggans rented the home, according to a GoFundMe page set up on behalf of the family by their church. Price said the Cornerstone fundraiser is the only one authorized by the family, and it will assist with funeral expenses for the children, as well as basic needs for a family that lost everything.

Price said the church, at 410 East St., is also accepting donations of clothing, furniture and food for the survivors.

“Every dime and every morsel of food donated through this fundraiser will go to help that family,” he said.

Larry Scott, a Buffalo School Board member, tweeted on Monday that the district was preparing to provide additional support for students at the schools the children attended.

“We are deeply saddened by the heartbreaking tragedy where the lives of five young, innocent children perished in a fire. Four were enrolled in Buffalo Public Schools,” the district said in a statement Monday. On the GoFundMe Page, several supporters commented that “Your PS 89 family is here for you,” referring to Dr. Lydia T. Wright Elementary School.

“Crisis support will be available Tuesday and as long as needed to provide support for all students and staff at the respective schools,” the BPS statement said. “The district is reaching out to the family to offer support and will remain respectful of the family’s wishes.”

Price said the fire added another horrific tragedy to 2022, a year that held a devastating racist massacre in May and the Christmas weekend blizzard that caused some 40 deaths in Western New York.

“With each of these tragedies, Buffalo has stepped up and helped those in need,” Price said, “and we ask that you continue to do that for this family.”

Jan. 3, 2023 Two sisters died in the Lancaster fire despite quick rescue by firefighters.

Source Firehouse.com News

An electrical malfunction in an outlet is being blamed for sparking a blaze that killed two sisters in Lancaster this past weekend.

Firefighters pulled the sisters from a second-story bedroom, Lancaster Chief Todd Hutchinson told WGAL, adding that crews made fast entry to perform the rescues. 

But the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office said Anna Leavitt, 18, who was a senior at McCaskey High School, died at the hospital from smoke inhalation.

Anna’s sister, Ariana Leavitt, 13, an eighth-grader, was taken to a burn center in critical condition. She died from her injuries Monday morning, just after midnight.

“It hits a lot of the firefighters hard. They did everything possible to give those girls a fighting chance,” the chief said.

A fire marshal ruled the fire an accident, saying an electrical malfunction in an outlet on the first floor was to blame.

Jan. 3, 2023 Orange County Fire Rescue technicians train for these types of rescues.

By Alison Cutler Source The Charlotte Observer (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

More than 60 people spent New Year’s Eve hundreds of feet in the air after a Ferris wheel broke down in Florida, Florida rescuers said.

Just after 7 p.m. on Dec. 31, Orange County Fire Rescue reported that there was a power failure at “The Wheel” at Icon Park in Orlando, according to a Tweet.

No injuries were reported, but video obtained by WFLA shows sparks and smoke coming out of the Ferris wheel.

Firefighters scaled the wheel and riders began getting off around 8 p.m., Spectrum News reported.

The wheel is 400 feet tall and offers views across Orlando, according to the park’s website.

“As we rotate it down, we’re having to manually open the door, so it takes about 10 to 15 minutes for each pod, for us to get it open and to get people out,” Division Chief Martis Mack told WESH. “We’ve trained hours and hours on this type of rescue, so we were ready for this.”

“All guests in The Wheel have safely disembarked after the attraction lost power on Saturday night,” ICON Park said in a statement, according to Spectrum News.

In March 2022, a 14-year-old boy died at ICON Park in the Free Fall ride after he plummeted more than 400 feet to the ground, McClatchy News previously reported.

An investigation revealed that the Free Fall ride operators did not follow proper procedures on the ride, according to WESH. The ride’s operator was issued a $250,000 fine, the outlet said.