MASSIVE FIRE DESTROYS 20,000-SQ FT BARN IN VAN BUREN COUNTY, MICHIGAN

MARCH 27, 2015

BANGOR, MICHIGAN

Fire consumed a 20,000-square-foot barn Thursday night in Van Buren County, causing an estimated $200,000 in damages.

At approximately 8 p.m. Thursday, the Bangor Fire Department responded to 36399 County Road 681, Bangor, on reports of a barn fire. There they discovered an out building, roughly 50 feet behind a two-story home, partly involved in flames, Bangor Fire Chief Derek Babcock said.

"It was all through the roof here," Babcock said, pointing to the barn's southwest corner. "There was just so much wood and lumber, bales of hay stacked in the back.

"It was tough getting (the fire) under control," he added.

Firefighters doused the building with water from five different hoses and cut large holes into the barn's second story siding in order to ventilate the flames, Babcock said.

It took roughly two hours for crews to subdue the fire, and by 11:30 p.m. eight different departments, including the Lawrence, Keeler Township, Watervliet, Columbia Township, and Hartford fire departments were on scene, Babcock said.

A neighbor, driving a front end loader, used his equipment to clear debris and open up lanes for fire-hoses, according to Babcock.

Though flames crept through majority of the 20,000-square-foot barn, firefighters managed to control the spread.

"We made a stop here," Babcock said, pointing at the barn's north end, which contained a snowmobile, a four-wheeler and more than five antique horse carriages.

"We did a good job getting (that property out)," the Bangor fire chief added, "but (the barn) is a total loss." 

There were no injuries in the fire, Babcock said. The property, saved by firefighters, was valued at roughly $15,000 by the homeowner.

Preliminary investigations suggest the fire started in the southwest corner of the building, Babcock said, and was possibly caused by a wood boiler, which set 30 bales of hay, as well as nearby timber, alight.

Emergency personal closed a two-mile stretch of road in order to fight the blaze.

Source: http://www.mlive.com

NO CHLORIDE LEAK DETECTED AT TRENTON WATER TREATMENT PLANT, AFTER MONITORS SHOWED ELEVATED LEVELS INSIDE A PLANT ROOM

MARCH 27, 2015

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY

Elevated chlorine levels inside a room of the Trenton Water Treatment plant prompted a response from a hazardous response team Friday morning.

Firefighters arrived at the Route 29 facility around 6:15 a.m. after sensors inside the treatment plant detected a chlorine leak, Chief Robert Tharp said.

The HAZMAT team checked the area for a leak, but could not find one, Tharp said.

The plant was shut down for a short time and employees were evacuated while water from the reservoir was used as crews investigated, Tharp said.

Operation of the plant was returned to employees around 7:30 a.m., according to Michael Walker, spokesman for the Mayor's Office.

The plant was operating normally by mid-morning and supply is unaffected, Walker said. 

Source:nj.com

UP TO 600 GALLON DIESEL SPILL RESULTED WHEN A FISHING VESSEL SUNK NEAR LA PUSH, WASHINGTON

 

MARCH 27, 2015

LA PUSH, WASHINGTON

Personnel from the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound Incident Management department are responding to a report of a sunken vessel and diesel sheen near La Push. 

The local harbormaster placed boom around the site to contain any further pollution and the Coast Guard is currently en route to assist with the cleanup. They are expected to arrive later this afternoon.

Sector Puget Sound watchstanders received a report from Coast Guard Station Quillayute River personnel stating that while they were doing a morning bar check, they noticed the 35-foot fishing vessel Nellie M sunk at the local marina.

The current amount of fuel spilled is unknown at this time, but a maximum potential of 600 gallons of diesel fuel is reportedly aboard the vessel.

As the area is a National Marine Sanctuary, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been notified. The cause of the sinking is under investigation.

Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound located in Seattle has responsibility for Coast Guard pollution response in the region.

LUFTHANSA AIRLINE COULD FACE SIGNIFICANT COMPENSATION CLAIMS FOR ALPS CRASH

MARCH 27, 2015

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (AP)

Lufthansa could face "unlimited" compensation claims for the crash that killed 150 people in the French alps and it would be difficult, even counterproductive, for the German carrier to try to avoid liability, experts said Friday.

Under a treaty governing deaths and injuries aboard international flights, airlines are required to compensate relatives of victims for proven damages of up to a limit currently set at about $157,000 — regardless of what caused the crash.

But higher compensation is possible if a carrier is held liable.

"So more or less you will have unlimited financial damage," said Marco Abate, a German aviation lawyer.

To avoid liability, a carrier has to prove that the crash wasn't due to "negligence or other wrongful act" by its employees, according to Article 21 of the 1999 Montreal Convention.

That would be a difficult argument to make when a pilot intentionally crashes a plane into a mountain, and one that Lufthansa would likely avoid as it could further damage the brand, Abate said.

Investigators say the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 locked himself into the cockpit and slammed the Airbus A320 into the Alps. Germanwings is a subsidiary of Lufthansa.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr on Thursday said the airline would honor "international arrangements regulating liability." The company is offering immediate aid of up to 50,000 euros ($54,800) per passenger to relatives of the victims. Those payments are separate from eventual compensation payments.

How much the airline ends up paying in compensation will depend on where claims are filed. The options in this case, a German flight en route from Barcelona to Duesseldorf, are many, said Dutch lawyer Sander de Lang.

"For example, French law because that is where it ... crashed, German law because in most cases the passengers had return tickets to and from Germany. But some people may have bought tickets in Spain, then Spanish law could be appropriate," he said.

In some countries including the Netherlands, there's no compensation for emotional suffering, he said.

Damages are typically much lower in Europe than in the U.S., where in domestic air crashes, juries have awarded plaintiffs sometimes millions of dollars per passenger.

The families of the three American victims could sue the airline in U.S. courts. Article 33 of the Montreal Convention states that a passenger's "principal and permanent residence" is used to determine jurisdiction for lawsuits regarding passenger deaths or injuries.

Abate said that in German courts, damages for pain and suffering typically don't exceed 10,000 euros ($11,000). However, Lufthansa could face much bigger claims for loss of financial support. If the breadwinner of a family was killed in a plane crash, the survivors can sue for years of lost income, Abate said.

Several analysts said Lufthansa will probably reach settlements with relatives of victims to avoid going to court.

Once the shock and grief subsides, the compensation issues should be resolved quickly, said Wouter Munten, a Dutch lawyer representing relatives of victims of last year's downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine.

"People always say take your time for grief," he said. "But not everyone has the luxury to wait. Children have to be fed and go to school."

Source: AP.com