Headlines - Just News headlines all the time: May 23, 2009

Saturday, May 23, 2009

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Sacramento Metro Fire - 6th annual "Operation River Safe"
Teens arrested for Arson - Playing with gasoline in unoccupied home
Military aircraft down in Kern County - 1 dead

Sacramento Metro Fire - 6th annual "Operation River Safe"

Posted: 22 May 2009 10:29 AM PDT

METRO FIRE'S 6TH ANNUAL "OPERATION RIVER SAFE" TO KICK OFF ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

Rancho Cordova, Ca- Sacramento Metro Fire will kick off its 6th annual "Operation River Safe" program located in Rancho Cordova Saturday May 23rd at 10.00 am at the Sunrise foot bridge on the south side.

Due to an unfortunate incident in the year 2004, Metro Fire started a program called "Operation River Safe". The tragic incident involved a 12-year-old Rancho Cordova boy, swimming in the American River over the 2004 Memorial Day weekend. The boy was swimming with his family for the better part of the day, "with his life jacket on." It was when he removed his life jacket and attempted to swim across the river while snorkeling that his family lost him in the swift currents of the American River.

Operation River Safe is set up over the three major holidays in the summer: Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. With the donations from UC Davis trauma and outreach program and Kaiser Permanente, we purchase numerous life jackets at a significantly discounted price from Diversified Marine.

Metro Fire employees along with our CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) members staff a table at the raft launch located on the north and south side of the Sunrise footbridge. The life jackets are not only loaned out to citizens recreating on the water, but we also ensure that each life jacket fits each citizen correctly. A life jacket must fit the person properly in order for it to work effectively. That is why we have such a large assortment of sizes. Near the end of the day, Metro Fire employees and CERT members go down to Goethe Park and at the end of Harrington way and remind people to return the borrowed life jacket.

The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District wants to remind our citizens to always wear a life jacket whenever you enter our waterways, watch out for each other, and never leave a child unattended around any water source, not even for a second.

Teens arrested for Arson - Playing with gasoline in unoccupied home

Posted: 22 May 2009 08:46 AM PDT

TRUCKEE — Three boys have been arrested for the arson and burglary of a home in Sierra Meadows.

At about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, Truckee Fire and CalFire responded to reports of a structure fire at an unoccupied home on Columbine Road, according to a Truckee Police press release.

Fire personnel where able to contain the fire to an upstairs bathroom, keeping damage to an estimated $25,000, according to the release.

Several witnesses reported three juveniles were seen allegedly running from the scene, and Truckee Fire requested Truckee Police aid in the investigation, according to the release, and the cause of the fire was determined to be arson.

Witnesses were able to identify the three boys and where they lived, according to the release.

The boys, 13, 14, and 14 years old, admitted to playing with fire and gasoline inside the residence, and two were treated for minor burns at Tahoe Forest Hospital, according to the release.

All three were booked into Juvenile Hall in Nevada City on charges of arson and burglary.
Source: sierrasun.com - Link

Military aircraft down in Kern County - 1 dead

Posted: 22 May 2009 08:19 AM PDT

T-38 air force jet trainer jet went down just north of Edwards Air Force Base Thursday afternoon was on a training mission

Update: 5-22 AM -A statement from Edwards Air Force Base says 30-year-old Capt. Mark P. Graziano was killed Thursday afternoon on a training flight when his T-38A crashed near California City, about nine miles north of the Mojave Desert base.

Major Lee V. Jones, a senior navigator, ejected from the plane and was injured. The Air Force says he's in stable condition at a hospital.

Witness reports: Paul Sigman was sitting on his front porch, when he heard an eerie sound. "I heard the plane go over. It sounded like it was having some problems with the thing. The afterburner kicked in, then it kicked out and kicked back in and out again. And then there was just dead silence maybe for 2 or 3 seconds and then I heard what sounded like a sonic boom, just a terrible explosion."
Another man who witnessed the crash, said he saw one person eject from the jet before it went down.

Scanner listener report: Both pilots ejected. One ejected through the canopy and suffered a partial amputation of his right arm and leg, plus broken bones. The second pilot was pronounced on the scene approximately 5 miles miles north California City.

Injuries: Officials say the coroner removed the body of one crew member. The other, who was flown to Kern Medical Center, suffered undisclosed injuries. The names of the pilots have not been released.
Also reports of a Brush fire in the same area of California City...

Cause: crash is under investigation.

It was the second crash of an aircraft from Edwards in less than two months. On March 25, a test pilot died when an Air Force F-22A Raptor crashed about 35 miles north of the base.