California Fire News

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

California Fire News

Fire Nearly Ruins Alameda Home

Posted: 17 Jan 2007 01:19 AM CST

Oakland Tribune
January 16, 2007

California - The three-alarm fire drew roughly 40 firefighters from Alameda and Oakland to the 2000 block of Clinton Avenue. Hundreds of neighbors, many of them off work for Martin Luther King Day, lined up to watch from nearby streets and sidewalks.
Alameda Fire Department Captain Daren Olson said one person sustained minor injuries and was taken to Alameda Hospital, just down the block on Clinton Avenue.

Olson did not have information about the nature of the injuries and could not say for certain whether a man who apparently owns the home was the one who received medical attention.

The cause of the fire remained unclear, Olson said.

"I have no idea," he said. "That's still under investigation at this time."

Witnesses reported seeing flames shoot up 10 to 15 feet above the roofline.

"This thing was cooking," said Patrick Bennett, 27, of Alameda.

Bennett said he and a friend were riding their bicycles nearby and followed one of the fire trucks to the scene.

As they watched firefighters attack the flames, some in the crowd snapped pictures with their digital cameras or cell phones. One woman sipped a bottle of beer. Smoke was visible from miles away.

Some people said they heard explosions after the fire started.

Melissa Bass, a hospital staffer in the X-ray department, said she was eating her lunch inside her car parked near the home, when she saw a man flee.

"I saw the guy running out of the house," Bass said. "By that time it was already in flames."

She said that about 10 minutes after she saw the fire, she heard a "boom."

"It wasn't that loud," she said. "It was just one big boom. ... You could probably hear it at the end of the block."

Carol Gerdes, who lives next door, identified the owner of the home as Darrell Hall.

She said she called 9-1-1 after seeing smoke and fire, then turned on her hose to help stop the flames from spreading.

Hall was outside the house, she said. The Fire Department said the home was unoccupied by the time they arrived.

"He was just not able to talk, period," Gerdes said of her neighbor, whom she's known for more than five years. "That's it."

Fire crews had the flames mostly contained after about an hour.

Officials did not have an estimate of how much damage was caused to the one-story home.

Olson said a rear portion was almost destroyed. The roof was ripped apart, windows broken and a garage door was beaten down to put the fire out.

"The interior is gutted," Olson said.

He said some areas inside had not actually burned, but were largely damaged by smoke or debris.

Written by Oakland Tribune
Man's Cell Phone Apparently Sets Him Ablaze

Posted: 16 Jan 2007 03:04 PM CST

Vallejo - A cell phone apparently ignited in a man's pocket and started a fire that burned his hotel room and caused severe burns over half his body, fire department officials said. Luis Picaso, 59, was in stable condition Monday with second- and third-degree burns to his upper body, back, right arm and right leg, Vallejo Fire Department assistant chief Kurt Henke said.

Vallejo Fire Department spokesman Bill Tweedy said Monday that Saturday's incident involving a man who was seriously burned after his cell phone caught fire and ignited his clothing is not that unusual.

"There have been a couple other cases in California in the past few years," Tweedy said. "It's no different than any other fires involving mechanical or electrical items," Tweedy said.

A 16-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns when her cell phone in her back pocket caught fire, the Ontario, Calif., Fire Department reported in June 2004.

An incident in May 2004 in New Paltz, N.Y., lent credibility to the suspicion that a cell phone could ignite a fire at a gas pump. A 21-year-old student was filling up at the pump when his phone rang. When he answered it a large flash occurred at the nozzle and started a fire.

Thousands of counterfeit LG-branded cell phone batteries were recalled in June 2004 because they could overheat and pose a fire hazard, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The 59-year-old resident of The Travelers Hotel on Georgia Street in Vallejo suffered second- and third-degree burns on half his body Saturday night when his cell phone caught fire and ignited his clothing and the plastic chair he was sitting in, the Vallejo Fire Department reported. A sprinkler confined the fire to the immediate area and firefighters found Luis Picaso on the floor of the bathroom.

Tweedy said Monday Picaso is in stable condition at the UC Davis Medical Center.

Written by Associated Press