A spectacular fire destroyed a harborside tower under construction in Hong Kong.
More than 250 firefighters battled the fire for more than nine hours.
The skyscraper sits in the heart of the shopping district that’s visited by up to 30 million tourists every year, Reuters reported.
Falling scaffolding, made of bamboo, ignited fires in nearby buildings. Officials said Hong Kong is one of the last major cities to use bamboo in construction. Even though it’s strong and cheap, it’s being phased out. Steel and aluminum will replace it.
The 42-story building didn’t have a sprinkler system installed yet.
Mar. 2—A South Jersey woman who drove her car onto the shoulder of Interstate 76 in 2021, striking four people and killing a Lower Merion firefighter, was sentenced Thursday to 12 to 24 years in state prison.
Jacquelyn Walker, 64, of Little Egg Harbor, wept as the sentence was handed down by Montgomery County Judge William Carpenter in the death of Thomas Royds, 48, a longtime member of the Belmont Hills Fire Department.
Walker pleaded guilty in October to third-degree murder, aggravated assault by vehicle and reckless endangerment for swerving into Royds, two other firefighters and a state police trooper who were responding to a 3 a.m. crash on the side of the highway.
Carpenter said Walker showed little remorse for what he called the “malicious conduct” of driving her 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee in a severe state of disrepair, with faulty brakes, on the night she swerved into the group of first responders.
“She did not care for the rules of the road, and she had no justification for her actions,” Carpenter said. “A lesser sentence would diminish the seriousness of the crimes.”
Walker, in a tearful statement, apologized to the dozens of Royds’ family members and friends packed into Carpenter’s courtroom in Norristown. It was never her intention, she said, to hurt anyone on the night of the crash.
“I’m not trying to make this devastating accident any softer; my only wish is to have Tom Royds’ family not hate me any longer,” she said. “I’m truly sorry.”
Walker’s sentencing served as a memorial of sorts to Royds, whose family, friends and colleagues spoke about his selflessness and dedication to public service, as well as his mentorship to younger colleagues, who they said called him the “dad of the firehouse.”
Royds’ son, Thomas Royds-Helberson, took the stand to describe the fresh bout of grief he faces every day without his father. And he lamented the things he never got to experience, like sharing his first beer with him on his recent 21st birthday.
“He shouldn’t have died, but the one good thing about this is that he died doing what he loved — helping people,” he said. “One of the hardest things is when the people you make memories with become memories themselves.”
The younger firefighters struck alongside Royds took turns expressing their survivor’s guilt and remorse. Some raged at Walker, calling her a coward and saying she deserved a harsh punishment. Others said they forgave her, but still wished to see her face consequences for her actions.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele told the judge Walker’s crimes stood out because they were entirely preventable.
“What hurts so badly with this is that this shouldn’t have happened, and it wouldn’t have happened if not for the choices of this defendant,” he said.
In an interview with investigators, Walker said she had left her home hours before the crash, heading to a mall in Quakertown, according to the affidavit of probable cause for her arrest. She said she got lost as she tried to find her way home and had been pulled over three separate times by police from different departments over the course of her journey.
She said she drove onto the shoulder in an attempt to avoid the fire trucks stopped on the highway, which she said she noticed only “at the last second.” Walker told police she knew her brakes didn’t work, but chose to drive anyway.
Steele, the DA, said that decision was inexcusable.
“Firefighters understand the dangers of what they have to do to help people,” he said. “Standing on the side of the road is not something they envisioned to be the cause of a horrific death.”
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.
