Jan. 5, 2023 Another resident later admitted to setting the fire in a second-floor apartment.

Source firehouse.com News

A woman on fire ran out of her Dallas apartment and her son jumped from a second-story window overnight to escape a fire. 

And, an unrelated resident later admitted to setting the fire, according to a release from Jason Evans, Dallas Fire-Rescue PIO.

Tiashmon Clark, a neighbor, told reporters: “I looked up and I seen (sic) the lady come running out of the building on fire. My first instinct was to pull my truck over, jump out of my truck and help her. She got over to the grass right here and she started rolling.”

As he used his sweater to smother the flames, she told him her teenage son was still in the building.

Other neighbors rushed to a rear window as the boy jumped out a window to escape the flames.

“They said he couldn’t even walk. So, I don’t know what his injuries were but when I went back and looked at him, he looked bad,” Clark said.

The two were rushed to the hospital for treatment. The woman suffered life-threatening burns.

Another resident who showed up at the hospital for treatment of burns, said he started the fire in a second-floor bedroom, the release said.

Jan. 5, 2023 The Norwich firefighter made it to a window to alert crews.

Source Firehouse.com News

A Norwich firefighter was successfully rescued after calling a Mayday at a house fire Wednesday night.

The firefighter, who declared the emergency after becoming disoriented, made it to a window to alert others, WFSB reported, adding that crews from all departments helped in the rescue.

He was evaluated on the scene and returned to duty.

Fire crews said they initially experienced a pump failure that contributed to a delay entering the building to fight the flames.

Crews began a defensive attack on the fire and the situation was placed under control at 10:19 p.m.

The cause is under investigation. 

Jan. 5, 2023 Miraculously, no one in the North Caldwell, NJ, neighborhood was injured.

By Anthony G. Attrino Source nj.comv (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

No serious injuries were reported after a driver allegedly fleeing police in a stolen car early Sunday struck parked vehicles before flipping over a steep embankment and crashing into a house in Essex County, authorities said.

North Caldwell police were called to Hilltop Drive at about 12:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day after a vehicle was allegedly stolen. When officers arrived, the driver struck two parked vehicles in an attempt to flee, police said.

“The driver lost control of the vehicle and drove over an embankment falling 21.3 feet, landing into a house and onto another vehicle,” police said in a statement.

Security video from a nearby home captured the crash, which included screeching tires as the driver apparently attempted to brake before the vehicle flipped.

No injuries were reported to anyone inside or outside the home. Two people in the stolen vehicle ran off after the crash, police said.

Officers from several towns tracked down two suspects and held them for local police.

The suspects were taken to area hospitals for evaluation and later released to the custody of the North Caldwell Police Department, the statement said.

The names of the suspects or charges were not immediately available Tuesday afternoon.

Jan. 4, 2023 St. John Firefighters Chris Winkler and Bobby Rodrique were checking the attic when they were caught.

Source Firehouse.com News

A Louisiana firefighter is recovering after suffering severe burns to his hands at a house fire on Christmas morning.

While doing a size-up on the house, St. John firefighters determined the fire was in a wall near one of the chimneys.

Firefighters Chris Winkler and Bobby Rodrique went to check the attic, and that’s when they were caught in a backdraft, Chief Jeremy Babin explained.

Both were transported to a local hospital for treatment, and later transferred to University Medical Center in New Orleans, according to St. John Volunteer Fire Department Facebook page.

Babin says protective gear saved Rodrigue’s life. But, his hands, which were exposed, were severely burned.

Winkler was released the following day, while Rodrigue came home late last week after having surgery. Local fire departments and police escorted him to his residence. 

The chief said Rodrigue is has a long road to recovery.

Jan. 4, 2023 Pinnacle Firefighter Van Boles, 58, had been a volunteer for 34 years.

Source Firehouse.com News

A longtime volunteer firefighter in the Piedmont Triad community died Monday hours after being on duty.

Pinnacle Firefighter Van Boles, 58, had been a volunteer for 34 years.

Boles was on duty for two hours on Sunday night, according to WGHP. 

State law dictates that any firefighter or medical worker who dies within 24 hours is considered a “line-of-duty” death, the station reported.

Visitation will be held on Friday, Jan. 6 from 5-7 p.m. at the Needham Funeral Chapel. Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Pinnacle United Methodist Church.

Jan. 4, 2023 North Haven Firefighter Matthias Wirtz later called a ‘Mayday’ and collapsed at a Dec. 26 fire.

By Mike Mavredakis Source Hartford Courant (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

North Haven firefighter Matthias Wirtz died doing what he wanted to do — help those in need.

Wirtz, 46, died of natural causes on Dec. 26 after responding to a morning fire on Quinnipiac Avenue in North Haven. He last called over the radio at 1:25 a.m. that morning while working the engine water line to the fire, according to Fire Chief Paul Januszewski, who listened to the radio recordings from the fire after his death. Januszewski said he could tell that Wirtz was struggling when he listened back to it. Six minutes later, Wirtz called in a mayday and collapsed.

Wirtz was transported to Yale New Haven Hospital and was later pronounced dead. It was determined his death was considered natural and due to a number of causes, including heart disease, by the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office last week.

“He was putting everybody else above himself, just what he has done his entire life,” Januszewski said. “He would not want to be called a hero, I can tell you that. But I don’t know what else to call it at this point. Because he made sure that the job was getting done and at some point in time we’d get around to him. For me, that makes Matt a hero.”

His funeral service was held Tuesday morning at St. Barnabus Church on Washington Street. Hundreds of people, including his at-home and at-work families, were in attendance. The entire North Haven Fire Department was able to attend due to the help of mutual aid partners, who have taken over coverage of the town until 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Januszewski said.

A wooden box with his name on it, his firefighter helmet and a United States flag were placed on altars at the head of the church and his snare drum that he played in the New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes and Drums was placed on the floor in front.

Church hymns and prayers read by loved ones were woven through the service before three speakers, childhood friend Jurgen Weber, North Haven Professional Firefighters Association Local 2987 President Tom Haggerty and Januszewski.

“Matt died while doing what he loved the most, helping people and being there for his firefighter brothers and lifelong friends,” Jurgen said.

Wirtz spent 22 years with the department after beginning his firefighting career as a volunteer with North Haven’s North East Volunteer fire company No. 4. in 1996. He responded to the 9/11 attacks in New York City in 2001 and received several letters of recognition for his work during his time with the department, the department said. He also taught the fire program at Gateway Community College and worked security at the Hopkins School in New Haven, Jurgen said.

Januszewski said he was more than willing to help cover overtime shifts and had a work ethic “that was something that you just can’t define.”

He was also a member of the New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, the Knights of Columbus and Meriden Turner Society. He spoke fluent German and was a fan of soccer club F.C. Köln, located in Cologne, Germany. He was also a fan of the Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins and Washington Commanders, Jurgen said.

An entombment with full departmental honors at All Saints Mausoleum was scheduled following the service.

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.”