MEC&F Expert Engineers : 06/21/15

Sunday, June 21, 2015

THE DEADLY U.S. ROADS: 1 TEEN WOMAN KILLED, SEVERAL TEENS INJURED AFTER FIERY CRASH IN NORTHRIDGE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA




JUNE 21, 2015

NORTHRIDGE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

A 19-year-old woman died and several other young adults were injured after a fiery two-car crash in Northridge early Sunday, authorities said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department and units from the LAPD’s Devonshire Division responded to the fatal collision, which occurred at the intersection of Roscoe Boulevard and Lindley Avenue around 3:40 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

One of the vehicles erupted in flames following the crash, a desk officer with LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division said.

A total of five people — three females and two males — were initially said to be injured, some critically. One of the female victims later died, police said.

She has been identified by the L.A. County coroner’s office as 19-year-old Desirae Crystal Crittenden.

Authorities have not released the names of those injured in the collision, only stating that they were all between the ages of 18 and 21. Some were in critical condition, according to the desk officer, who did not provide a specific number.

No further details about the collision have been released. The cause of the crash remained under investigation.

The deadly U.S. Roads:  more than 34,000 people are killed every year and millions injured.  This is one of the highest death rates among developed nations at about 1 person in 10,000 dead each and every year. 

By contrast, about 15,000 people are killed every year by guns.

WORKER ELECTROCUTED TO DEATH AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE OF THE NEW PAPILLION PUBLIC WORKS FACILITY, IN PAPILLION, NEBRASKA








JUNE 19, 2015

PAPILLION, NEBRASKA

A worker shocked Wednesday at the construction site of the new Papillion Public Works facility near 96th and Giles has died.

Forty-two-year-old Jeffrey Glup of rural Sarpy County was digging with a shovel in a trench when another worker operating a backhoe hit an electrical conduit. 

Glup was employed by TSI Mechanical of La Vista, which issued the following statement on Thursday:

"Jeff Glup, 42, an employee of TSI Mechanical, LLC, was fatally injured Wednesday afternoon about 2:30 p.m. on the Papillion Public Works construction site. Glup, who was a laborer, received a fatal electrical shock when he came in contact with a live electrical conductor while working in a trench installing a storm sewer drain.

At this time we cannot provide additional details as we are attempting to investigate all the facts involved. We are working with local and federal agencies in the investigation of this tragic incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and we share in the grief."

OSHA is investigating the incident.

1 MAN, 2 CHILDREN KILLED, 2 INJURED IN I-75 WRONG-WAY HEAD-ON COLLISION IN GEORGIA. WRONG-WAY DRIVER CHARGED WITH DUI, 3 VEHICULAR HOMICIDES




JUNE 21, 2015

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Three people were killed and one person arrested in an early morning wrong-way crash on I-75, Sunday.

Jorge Solis, 20, was charged with driving under the influence on the scene after he killed a man and two small children driving the wrong way on the southbound portion of the interstate near Porsche Avenue.

A second man and a 3-year-old were also seriously injured and sent to the hospital for treatment.

Solis was driving a Ford F-350 pickup truck.

The wreck shut down all southbound lanes of traffic near the Porsche headquarters around 4 a.m.

Solis was arrested for driving while under the influence, driving the wrong way, serious injury by vehicle, and three counts of vehicular homicide first degree.

Jail records showed Solis, an Ellenwood resident, was being held without bond.
The names of the victims have yet to be released.

Georgia’s road death toll is through the roof this year.

SKYDIVE INSTRUCTOR KILLED IN JUMP AT JAMUL, CALIFORNIA AFTER PARACHUTE FAILURE; HE FELL OVER 100 FEET TO HIS CRUSHING DEATH







JUNE 20, 2015

JAMUL, CALIFORNIA

A skydiver was killed Friday in a hard landing near Lower Otay Lake, authorities reported.
The parachuting fatality off the 13500 block of Otay Lakes Road in Jamul was reported shortly after 2 p.m., according to Cal Fire.

Andrei Penz, 30, was an expert parachutist with more than 1,500 jumps a year under his belt and many years of experience.  However, the parachute has to fail once, and then it is end of life.

An expert skydive instructor with a passion for adventure and a love of life was killed after a hard landing at the Skydive San Diego facility in Jamul, California, Friday when his parachute failed.

The experienced parachutist - identified by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office as Andrei Penz, 30 – jumped at 1:30 p.m. at the facility on 13531 Otay Lakes Road, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

A witness watching from below told officials that as the man got closer to the ground, they could see him moving the parachute's toggles. However, it did not slow him down, and he hit the ground hard.

The witness said the parachute appeared to be partially collapsed upon the skydiver's approach to the ground.

Paramedics and a medical chopper were called in, and despite CPR efforts, they were not able to revive the victim.

Penz was working as a contracted skydive instructor at Skydive San Diego.
Buzz Fink, owner of Skydive San Diego, told NBC 7 the charismatic Penz was a master of his craft and was loved by many.

“Andrei was a great guy. He loved skydiving. He loved his fellow skydivers. He loved the sport; he loved adventure. He loved life,” said Fink.

Fink said Penz was a senior parachute rigger with the Federal Aviation Administration and was able to work on his own parachutes. He had been working on his equipment before the accident and Fink said there was an issue with how the parachute’s line length was “trimmed,” which impacted how it flew.

When Penz came in for turns, the parachute wasn’t working as smoothly as it should have been, Fink said.

 “When he came in yesterday to land, for some reason, as he turned, the entire parachute turned underneath itself and collapsed, so he ended up falling over 100 feet,” Fink explained.

Fink said Penz had logged more than 1,500 jumps a year for the past several years and was an “extremely experienced, expert skydiver and instructor.”

Unfortunately, Fink said, more experience often means more accidents in the world of skydiving.

“In the sport of skydiving, generally the injuries and accidents are with the more highly-experienced skydivers because the more experience you get, the smaller canopy you get, and the faster you go,” he explained.

However, with more experience, comes more expertise when it comes to handling parachutes, Fink added.

He said this accident had nothing to do with Penz’s skills, rather an equipment malfunction that ended in tragedy.

“Andrei was an expert canopy pilot. He did not do anything wrong (until of course the deadly incident with his parachute - his mistake only have to happen once): he did not set up his approach wrong, he did not turn wrong. It happened to be something with the equipment he had on at the time that happened to fail on him. That’s what caused it. It was not his skills. He was an expert parachutist,” Fink said.

Fink said most of Penz’s family lives in Brazil, but he does leave behind a girlfriend and sister in San Diego.

Besides skydiving, Penz loved to surf, hike and travel.  He will not do any of that anymore.

“He would do a little bit of everything. He just lived life to the fullest,” Fink said. “I think [skydiving] made him feel alive, jumping out of an airplane at 120 mph, feeling the rush of the air in your face.”

Fink said fellow jumpers and his company will work together with the victim’s family to plan a memorial service down the line.

He assured skydiving is a safe sport – more so, in his opinion, than driving a car.  You must be joking, right?  Only nutcases sky-jump, risking their lives for cheap thrills.

“I feel safer doing a tandem skydive than I would driving on the road. I do think the most dangerous part is actually driving to and from the skydiving center. When done right (of course this is a big if), [skydiving] is very safe,” he said.  Yes, but driving a car is safe if it is done right.  The problem is that there are people who brake the rules and end up killing themselves or others.

Skydive San Diego does approximately 16,000 tandem jumps a year in San Diego.

2 WORKERS EXPOSED TO STANNOUS CHLORIDE CHEMICAL FUMES, AFTER UNITED TACONITE LAB VENTILATION FAILURE IN FORBES, MN








JUNE 20, 2015

FORBES, MN

Two United Taconite (a division of Cliffs Natural Resources Company) employees were evacuated and checked by medical personnel Saturday morning as a precautionary measure after an exhaust fan in a lab there failed, according to a spokesperson for the company.   The address is 8470 Townline Road, Forbes, MN 55738

On Sunday, Pat Persico, director of global communications for Cliffs, said both employees had been released with a clean bill of health, and one was back to work already. 

Virginia Fire Dept. Battalion Chief Erik Jonassen had said Saturday that two people left the site and were taken by personal vehicle to a local hospital; one had burns to his face while the other person's injuries were unknown, that he believed their injuries were non-life threatening. However, Persico said Sunday that neither employee had been injured at all.

The two employees were analyzing iron ore and working with a chemical compound called stannous chloride, a vapor that can cause harm if inhaled as well as irritate and burn the skin or eyes. Persico said the employees were evacuated before any chemical was inhaled. 

The Virginia Fire Department got the call at 10:49 a.m. on Saturday. When crews arrived, the lab and associated areas of the building were evacuated and sealed. Firefighters worked with the Minnesota State Duty Officer as well as Minnesota Homeland Security on identifying and determining the proper personnel protective equipment. 

Once the area was cleared, Jonassen said they started ventilating the atmosphere and identified the chemical compound as stannous chloride and determined how to mitigate it. After that, they ventilated the lab and cleared the scene by 2:15 p.m.

As of Sunday, Persico said the lab has been cleared and is functioning normally. 
McDavitt Fire Department assisted on the scene.

Company Overview

United Taconite LLC owns and operates iron ore mining and palletizing assets. The company produces magnetite pellets. United Taconite LLC was formerly known as EVTAC Mining Co. and changed its name to United Taconite LLC in September 2004. The company was founded in 1965 and is based in Eveleth, Minnesota. United Taconite LLC operates as a subsidiary of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.

8470 Townline Road, Forbes, MN 55738
Phone: (218) 744-7800