A fire broke out on the second floor of the Nutt House Hotel building in Granbury early Thursday morning leaving the future of one of the city’s historic buildings in limbo.
Shortly after 1 a.m. the Granbury Volunteer Fire Department and other units from Hood County responded to the call. The fire marshal said the building was unoccupied.
“The fire was contained on the second floor, but the whole building has smoke and water damage,” said city spokesman Jeff Newpher.
Cause of the blaze is still unknown as an investigation continues, Jones said.
“I’m just kind of in a holding pattern right now,” the fire marshal said. “We’re gonna be here all day and there’ll be a fence put in place for security reasons. Safety reasons.”
An overhead bin fire erupted mid-flight on a Spirit Airlines flight from DFW International Airport to Orlando International Airport on Wednesday afternoon, injuring passengers and forcing the plane to divert to a nearby airport.
According to Spirit, Flight 259 landed at Jacksonville International Airport following what’s believed to be a battery fire from an item belonging to a passenger that was in an overhead bin. The fire was extinguished inflight.
“The plane landed at JAX and taxied to the terminal without incident,” Michael Lopardi, manager of media relations at Spirit Airlines said in a statement. “We thank our crew and guests for their quick actions to ensure the safety of everyone onboard, and we thank first responders for meeting the aircraft.”
On the plane was Joseph Fleck, a Fort Worth resident traveling to Disney World with his two daughters and wife, when someone on their flight screamed “fire.” He noticed smoke coming out of one of the overhead bins. He said many people on the flight were splashing water on it, trying to extinguish the flames.
Spirit “extinguished it out pretty quick, but there was a lot of smoke in the cabin that they had to take one woman out on a stretcher because of the inhalation of smoke,” Fleck said. “A bunch of people got medical attention. The man who initially went to grab it burned his hand really good.”
He said that he heard it was a battery pack charging a cell phone that exploded and set clothes on fire. Fire officials came aboard, and many passengers were coughing from the smoke. He said once travelers got off the plane, they waited two hours until Spirit told them it was permanently grounded and passengers needed to find another way to Orlando.
The plane was scheduled to land in Orlando at 4:13 p.m. but instead landed in Jacksonville, about 130 miles away, at 3:50 p.m., according to Flightradar24.com.
Spirit is providing vouchers and arranging alternate transportation for travelers to get from Jacksonville to Orlando. Fleck and his family were paying for a $200 Uber to get there because all of the rental cars were booked, he said.
March 2, 2023 Kobe Bryant’s widow sued after learning Los Angeles County firefighters and deputies shared graphic photos from the deadly helicopter crash.
Kobe Bryant’s family reached a $28.5 million settlement with Los Angeles County over authorities sharing photos from the helicopter crash that killed him and daughter Gianna, covering possible future claims by the former NBA star’s children.
A federal jury in August awarded Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, $15 million in her lawsuit against the county. That amount was included in Tuesday’s settlement, as was more than $13 million to cover remaining claims and additional costs.
Bryant, 41, and Gianna, 13, were among the nine people who died in the January 2020 crash in Calabasas, Calif.
“Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct,” said attorney Luis Li, who represented Vanessa. “She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect.”
“I don’t want my children to ever come across them,” Vanessa testified last year. “I have three little girls.”
Gianna was the second eldest of Bryant’s four daughters with Vanessa, whom he married in 2001. The National Transportation Safety Board blamed the helicopter’s pilot for the crash, which occurred while Bryant and his daughter were flying to her basketball game.
On Tuesday, the county’s attorney described the settlement as “fair and reasonable.”
“We hope Ms. Bryant and her children continue to heal from their loss,” Mira Hashmall said.
Bryant played each of his 20 NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five championships. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame after his death.
O’Fallon firefighters took a defensive operation at Bill’s Service Center warehouse Wednesday.
The fire was through the roof when crews approached the area, KMOV reported.
“Because of the volume of fire and the potential hazards that were in the building, structure was unsafe when we pulled up to send any of our firefighters inside of so chose a defensive position,” explained Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Brian Moore.
“We wanted to make sure we took precautions to have a safe collapse zone set-up around the building that way if and when the building collapsed, which it did, our firefighters were safe,” he said.
Explosions likely came from lawn mower gas tanks, he said, adding that there was a partial collapse.
Syracuse, N.Y. — Residents of Brighton Towers, where two men were found dead and an apparent drug exposure hospitalized at least 10 people, were told they can return to their apartments, Syracuse firefighters said Wednesday evening.
The residents of the sixth floor were given the all-clear before 6 p.m. after it was determined it was safe to return, firefighters said in a news release.
Emergency crews were sent to the apartment complex at 10:12 a.m. Wednesday for an apparent emergency. Crews found two men dead and another person critically ill in Apt. 607 in Tower 1, firefighters said.
Several Syracuse police officers waiting at the scene for a medical examiner started to feel ill, firefighters said. Three officers and a firefighter were taken to Upstate University Hospital and were treated for nausea and accelerated heart rates, they said.
The hospital’s Emergency Department was shut down for a little more than two hours after some hospital staff began feeling symptoms, firefighters said.
All told at least 10 people started to feel ill: three officers, a firefighter, two AMR staffers a hospital nurse, a hospital police officer and a hospital clerk as well as the person in the apartment.
The police officers and the firefighter have since been released, firefighters said. The person who they said was critically ill has also been released, they said. News on the others who fell ill was not released.
Firefighters said they have not been able to identify the substance people were exposed to that made them ill. An investigation into what caused the men’s deaths is continuing, they said
Hazmat team members decontaminated the apartment building’s elevators and a contaminated crime scene team cleaned the apartment, firefighters said.
The Buffalo firefighter who died in the line-of-duty has been identified as 37-year-old Jason Arno of Engine Company 2.
Arno’s death was first reported yesterday by Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown.
The Buffalo firefighter who was trapped inside a burning building in downtown Buffalo has died, according to Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown.
The 37-year-old firefighter died fighting the four-alarm blaze after becoming trapped by falling debris.
The mayor confirmed the death during a 4 p.m. news conference adding that the firefighter’s name would not be released at this time, with family notifications still pending.
Brown also said that an emergency demolition order will be issued for the building at 745 Main St., citing its unstable condition.
The Buffalo firefighter who was trapped inside a burning building in downtown Buffalo has died, according to Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown.
The 37-year-old firefighter died fighting the four-alarm blaze after becoming trapped by falling debris.
The mayor confirmed the death during a 4 p.m. news conference adding that the firefighter’s name would not be released at this time, with family notifications still pending.
Brown also said that an emergency demolition order will be issued for the building at 745 Main St., citing its unstable condition.
The Buffalo firefighter who perished in a four-alarm fire Wednesday has been is 37-years old and was assigned to Engine 2.
“The hardest thing, actually, was keeping our firefighters from entering the building to rescue our fallen firefighter in the building. That was the most difficult part of it,” Renaldo said at an afternoon press conference.
A mayday call was issued early in the operation while crews
The commissioner said due to significant damage, it will be a while before firefighters can get into the building.
Firefighters were called to DC Theatricks on Main Street just before 10 a.m.
Smoke and flames could be seen for several miles.
“I was one of the first people out here and for a few seconds it was just smoke,” Jason Colston told 2 On Your Side. “The there was a burst of flames and you could hear the floor fall and the firefighters started yell about how the floor it fell.”
Manchester-by-the-Sea firefighters train to hone their skills.
Firefighters in a small North Shore town are shooting back an idea from the town administrator that police officers undertake volunteer fire training to help the department through staffing shortages, a problem rattling small communities nationwide.
The Manchester-by-the-Sea Fire Department has been without a volunteer crew since last summer, leaving an understaffed full-time workforce which has sparked the need for creative solutions, Town Administrator Greg FederspIel told the Herald on Friday.
The idea also includes public works employees and residents. Those who sign on as a volunteer would supplement full-time firefighters at large-scale incidents, acting in similar fashion as when the department receives mutual aid from other towns, Federspiel said.
Union President Bob Cavender, in an interview with the Herald, expressed concern over the “huge lag time in getting a police officer up to speed to even be credentialed” to respond to a working fire. The police department, he said, is also dealing with shortages.
“The police department is a fellow brother in a public safety goal,” Cavender said. “As professional firefighters, it is a little insulting and a little off the beaten path. Nobody went to our union or over this.”
The department has just 11 full-time certified firefighters, two of which have yet to go to the fire academy to gain certification, union Vice President Bill Kenyon said. The town last July disbanded the department’s volunteer crew as its roster dwindled to just three active members, who were paid per call, he said.
Manchester-by-the-Sea, a coastal town on Cape Ann, has a rough population of just over 5,400.
Currently, one of the department’s four squads — manned by one lieutenant and two firefighters — is down to just two members, making it nearly impossible to guarantee safety for all at a fire scene or car crash, Kenyon said.
“It is disappointing the stance that the town has taken on this,” he said. “It’s really concerning in terms of what the future holds. I don’t know when I go in for the next shift what’s going to happen.”
To help overcome challenges, the department had been backfilling vacancies to ensure it stayed at three firefighters per shift, using overtime to do so at the chief’s discretion, Cavender said. That practice came to a halt last week at Federspiel’s request, according to a letter the union released this week.
By early January, the department had spent $100,000 more in overtime than the budgeted $125,000 for this fiscal year, which ends June 30, Federspiel said. Voters at a town meeting in April will decide whether they approve a supplemental budget that allows more overtime funding and for the three-firefighters-on-duty level to be restored, he said.
“My problem is I can’t spend money that the voters haven’t approved,” Federspiel said. “We needed to take a step back and say, ‘Wait a minute. What’s going on here?’”
The union says it feels like the town is silencing its voice. Federspiel told the department last week it had to put down a sign that alerted residents the understaffing forced an engine out of service.
“Our only goal was to keep the public informed of the situation so they know because it directly affects them,” Kenyon said.
In the past, there never had been a sign indicating staffing levels outside the fire department, Federspiel told the Herald, adding that the union didn’t seek permission to put it up from the Select Board.
The union on Wednesday filed charges against the town with the state Department of Labor and Milton-based law firm Barrault and Associates, LLC. The charges allege the town’s actions violate a handful of state laws.
“The town is just not really doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” attorney Ally Presskeicher said. “They are putting the community at risk. It’s really not something that the union and firefighters in general can sit back and allow to happen.”
