MEC&F Expert Engineers : 01/08/15

Thursday, January 8, 2015

DEADLY (3 DEAD AND 30 INJURED) 18-VEHICLE PILEUP ON I-80, PA NEAR CLARION AMID WHITEOUT; VICTIMS WERE HIT BY OTHER VEHICLES WHEN THEY EXITED THEIR OWN VEHICLES



DEADLY (3 DEAD AND 30 INJURED) 18-VEHICLE PILEUP ON I-80, PA NEAR CLARION AMID WHITEOUT; VICTIMS WERE HIT BY OTHER VEHICLES WHEN THEY EXITED THEIR OWN VEHICLES








A deadly pileup on Interstate 80 near Clarion claimed three lives, and left dozens more seriously injured.



17 cars were in a jumbled mass on the roadway in the Westbound lane of  I-80 after slick conditions caused chaos around 1:30 this afternoon, according to emergency management authorities in Clarion.



The pileup included 8 tractor trailers and 9 other vehicles.



It took about two and a half hours for responders to transport all the patients to various hospitals. 





Vern Smith, Director of Emergency Services for Clarion County, spoke to CBS affiliate KDKA in Pittsburgh by phone in the hours after the crash.



"At the time of the crash (conditions) were extremely white, snow blizzard coming down, we had two squalls that came through the county which made visibility... very difficult for transportation throughout the county," Smith said.



Traffic was detoured off of I-80 at exit 70 – Strattanville to Route 322 West to Clarion.



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A blinding whiteout yesterday in western Pennsylvania sparked an 18-vehicle pileup that cost three people their lives and left dozens injured.



But there may be a life-saving lesson in all the winter-caused carnage.



According to Pa. state police near Clarion, at least two of the victims died after exiting their vehicles at the scene and then being struck by oncoming vehicles.



Thus, the moral of this tragic story may be to stay in one's car, if at all possible.



Philly.com reports that two people died at the scene on Interstate 80 and a third en route to a hospital.



In all, Nine trucks, several of them tractor-trailers, and nine cars were involved in the crash that occurred at 1:40 p.m. yesterday in the westbound lanes of I-80 in Clarion Township, state police tell the website.



"There was a whiteout. There was very heavy snow at the time with visibility virtually zero," Clarion County Emergency Services director Vern Smith told Philly.com.


WIND-SWEPT FIRE DESTROYS DELAWARE COUNTY HOME IN INDIANA



WIND-SWEPT FIRE DESTROYS DELAWARE COUNTY HOME IN INDIANA


Firefighters from multiple districts responded to a two story house fire in rural Gaston Wednesday afternoon. The blaze, fueled by strong sustained winds, was made even more difficult to fight by having to ship water to the scene from a convoy of tanker trucks.(Photo: , Corey Ohlenkamp/The Star Press)Buy Photo


GASTON -- A wind-swept fire destroyed a couple's home in northwestern Delaware County on Wednesday.
Firefighters from Gaston, Summitville, Matthews and Fairmount contended with single-digit temperatures - and a wind chill that made it feel like it was 20 below zero - in battling the mid-day blaze.


Gaston Fire Chief Mike Dobbs said the wind was an "extreme factor" in the two-story wood-frame house's destruction, creating a virtual "blow torch" when flames emerged from the home's roof.
The fire - at the home of Jerry and Nancy Rodecap, 16090 W. Delaware County Road 1100-N - was reported shortly before noon.
Dobbs said Jerry Rodecap, 65, "smelled something hot" and alerted his wife, then at work at a health care center in nearby Summitville.


Firefighters but I want to blaze despite Highwinds and frigid temperatures in Gaston. Corey Ohlenkamp
After smoke became visible, Rodecap gathered the couple's prescription medications - and the family dog, Mick - and sought refuge in the cap of his pickup truck, with its engine running to combat the frigid conditions.
Nancy Rodecap, 57, called 911 before returning home, However, there was apparently confusion after that call was received by 911 dispatchers in Anderson, and firefighters from Gaston, about six miles away, were sent to the scene before firefighters in the considerably closer Madison County town of Summitville.

The couple's property sits on the Delaware-Madison county line.
Dobbs, in the first Gaston truck at the scene, said the flames were already visible on the roof when he arrived. The extremely cold weather "hampered" the firefighting efforts, he said, as "everything started freezing."


However, Dobbs said he believed the house - with the fire apparently starting in its attic - likely could not have been saved even under better conditions.
Keeping a supply of water available was helped by the proximity of Summitville, he said, and firefighters were rotated in and out of the battle to give them an opportunity to warm up in nearby vehicles.


An American Red Cross van eventually came to the scene to give firefighters easier access to warmth.
A family cat perished in the fire, according to the Rodecaps' nephew, Mark Antrim, who added that the blaze was believed to be electrical in nature.
He said the couple, both longtime local residents, had lived in the house for about 30 years.
The Rodecaps have several relatives in the area, Antrim said, and planned to spend Wednesday night at his family's house.


















BURSTING PIPES AND DAMAGED HEATING SYSTEMS: THE RESULT OF THE DEEP FREEZE



BURSTING PIPES AND DAMAGED HEATING SYSTEMS: THE RESULT OF THE DEEP FREEZE

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Bad breaks : Stranded motorists, burst pipes and fried furnaces


 Northboro firefighters use large squeegees to clean up water from the hallway floors of Algonquin Regional High School in Northboro after a fire sprinkler pipe burst during Thursday's bitter cold. (T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN)


 Worcester firefighters exit Marie Hills' house on Stafford Street on Thursday. They helped her shut off the main water supply after a pipe supplying the outdoor faucet burst inside a garage wall. (T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN) Enlarge photo


With the bitter cold that settled into the area this week, things are breaking bad for motorists and homeowners alike. 


AAA Southern New England provides roadside assistance for motorists who are stranded by dead batteries or other problems. As the mercury dips, the calls increase. 


"Right now we're experiencing four times our call volume for people looking for roadside assistance," said Mary Maguire, a spokesman for AAA Southern New England. "Wait times are obviously a little bit longer due to the fact that we have such a high volume."

Temperatures plunged to 10 below zero Wednesday night and Thursday morning in some areas of Central Massachusetts, bringing a host of problems. 


"We have a huge influx of battery-related calls, which means people are having trouble starting their cars or their batteries are at the end of their lives," Ms. Maguire said. "Batteries typically last three to four years, but the average is 36 months."

Cold weather was to blame for a pipe that burst Thursday afternoon inside Algonquin Regional High School in Northboro. 


Northboro Fire Capt. Robert P. Theve said a sprinkler pipe burst in the girls room near the school auditorium, flooding water into the bathroom, the hallways leading to the rotunda area of the school and the auditorium.

Capt. Theve said a significant amount of water poured into the building before firefighters were able to shut down the system. Ceiling tiles in the bathroom were damaged and there may be rug damage in the auditorium. He said firefighters helped with the cleanup, sweeping water down the hallways and out a door. 


In Westboro, there was a call for a broken sprinkler pipe in an industrial building, but Fire Capt. Bob Rand said the cold was not to blame — it turned out a pipe had been hit by a forklift.

Capt. Rand said the Westboro Fire Department received a call for leaking pipes in one home and expects more when the weather warms. He said homes that are recently constructed or have not gone through a full-fledged winter yet tend to develop problems in deep cold. 


"It's a problem of the cold getting deep into people's homes and freezing pipes. When it gets warm the pipes thaw out and start to leak," he said.

Capt. Rand said that when pipes freeze and do not burst, they stay frozen. Leaks caused by the freezing are not detected until the pipe thaws. 


Homeowners also awoke Thursday to furnace problems.

Heating and plumbing companies throughout the region were kept busy with weather-related water pipe breaks or broken furnaces.

In Worcester, Marie Hills said she was alerted to a water break in her home on Stafford Street by the sound of running water. 


"I was upstairs in my home and I heard a noise as if someone had turned on all the water faucets," she said.

Knowing she was not washing clothes or otherwise using water in the house, she set out to investigate. She was traced the noise to the garage and found water coming from a wall between the house and the garage. She said she opened the garage door to let the water run down the driveway. 


Unsure if the water was affecting anything electrical, she contacted the Worcester Fire Department.

Firefighters shut down the water system and recommended she have a plumber come in, take out a section of the wall and replace the pipe.

Ms. Hills said she was fortunate. Firefighters got there before the water backed up into the house and caused more damage.


Weaknesses in furnaces tend to reveal themselves during extreme cold, when the furnaces are working overtime.

Tricia Pistone of Fitchburg said she and her husband, Michael, woke around midnight Wednesday to a loud banging sound. She said her husband went to investigate.

"We weren't sure what was going on," she said. 


What he found was their furnace had broken down. The temperature outside at the time was 2 below zero, and with the furnace down, temperatures were dropping in the house.

To help the situation, they heated the living room with a gas fireplace and contacted Rollstone Fuel Co. to make the repairs. 


Two chilly hours later, the bearings in the furnace had been replaced, and the Pistones were back in business. Mrs. Pistone said the temperature in the house was down to the 50s by the time the repairs were made.

She said they had insulating done in their home last year through the Mass Save energy efficiency program, which may have saved them from further cold.

.BURST PIPES CLOSE ASHEVILLE CITY HALL FOR REMAINDER OF WEEK



BURST PIPES CLOSE ASHEVILLE CITY HALL, NC FOR REMAINDER OF WEEK

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — 

A burst pipe believed to have been caused by freezing weather led to an evacuation of Asheville City Hall and is expected to keep municipal offices closed for another day.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reports (http://avlne.ws/17nHkCs) the pipe burst on the seventh floor in the middle of the day Thursday.

City spokeswoman Dawa Hitch said customer service calls can still be made Friday and will be transferred to an answering service. All city facilities, with the exception of City Hall, will operate normally on Friday. Public safety and water service will not be affected by the closure.

All city board and commission meetings scheduled for Friday are canceled.
Across the state, school systems either delayed the start of classes or canceled classes entirely on Thursday because of the cold temperatures.

The National Weather Service issued a series of warnings and advisories across the state.
Portions of eastern and coastal North Carolina were warned of the threat of patchy freezing drizzle early Friday morning, although significant accumulations were not expected.
In the mountains, forecasters warned of cold weather that would stretch into the weekend with wind chills into the single digits.

The weather service also said there was a threat of wildfires for the piedmont and just east of the mountains because of wind conditions and low humidity. The conditions are expected to persist into Saturday.

Duke Energy reiterated its call for customers in the Carolinas to conserve electricity by cutting back on nighttime usage to help ease the load on its grid.