An MDOT contract worker was electrocuted to death on Interstate 44 as his drill rig came in contact with overhead power lines

ST. LOUIS, MO — 

A worker has been electrocuted to death and over 400 Ameren customers are out of power near Fenton, MO, as the burned body of the poor victim short-circuited the network.

A boom truck hit a power line at around 10am near I-44 east of Mraz road. One person has died as a result of the accident. The victim is a contract worker for Ameren. He has not yet been identified.

The electrocution victim was apparently getting a core sample of the road for MoDOT. When he raised the boom to drill for a sample he hit a high power line. Investigators say the worker was killed instantly. The electricity from the line caught the back tires of the truck on fire.

A man working with the victim sought shelter. He was not injured but is very upset about the accident. The two had worked together for several years.

The incident caused the ground wire, which stretches across I-44 to snap. The ground wire plays an important role in distributing electricity to Ameren customers. Ameren closed the highway at around 1:15pm to install the new wire. They expect to restore power soon.

Businesses in the area are confirming power outages in the area. Traffic is being rerouted because signals are out of power.



That drill rig was way too close to the power lines. There must be at least 20-30 feet separation between the mast of the rig and the power lines. This death was avoidable.   This poor driller was roasted to death, a very terrible way to end your life.




======================



FENTON, Mo. (KMOV.com) – A Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) contract worker was electrocuted on Interstate 44 Wednesday morning.

The worker was operating a truck at a power line when a piece of equipment struck the line, electrocuting him near the Soccer Park Road exit around 10 a.m., according to MoDOT officials.

One person was pronounced dead.

At least 400 Ameren Missouri customers were directly impacted by the incident, according to an Ameren spokesperson. Around 12:30 p.m., Ameren officials said power had been restored to a large number of the customers.

No other details have been released.

Stay tuned to News 4 and KMOV.com for more on this breaking news story.

The straight-line winds that hit Findlay, Ohio on Nov. 5 caused at least $250,000 in damage to Findlay City Schools property, and that total is expected to rise

FINDLAY, OHIO:

The straight-line winds that hit Findlay on Nov. 5 caused at least $250,000 in damage to Findlay City Schools property, and that total is expected to rise, Superintendent Ed Kurt said at a special school board meeting Tuesday.

At Findlay High School, courtyard windows were blown out, trees came down, the greenhouse was crushed, the auxiliary gym roof was damaged and heating and cooling units on the roof were damaged. Light poles at the baseball field were blown over.

Glenwood Middle School’s roof was also damaged.

The damaged property is insured.

The board passed a resolution Tuesday waiving “the usual procedures for advertising and competitive bidding” for repairs to the auxiliary gym and other high school damage.

Auxiliary gym bids are due Dec. 6, Kurt said, so the repairs can be approved at the Dec. 11 school board meeting.

“We’re expediting as fast as we can the repair of the roof, as getting moisture in the walls of the facility is a huge issue,” Kurt said.

Separately Tuesday, the board approved an appropriations amendment decreasing general fund spending by $270,000, to reflect textbooks being purchased with permanent improvement money instead.

That drops general fund spending from $64,918,218 to $64,648,218 for fiscal year 2018.

The permanent improvement levy was passed in 2006 and generates about $2 million a year. Spending money from that fund on textbooks means fewer capital projects, “but we’ve really put ourselves in a good position the past couple years with some of the major projects we did,” district Treasurer Mike Barnhart said at an October board meeting.

Moving textbook expenses to the permanent improvement fund is one way for the district to attack a projected general fund deficit, which was about $4.1 million before the change in textbook purchasing.

The amendment approved Tuesday also accounts for $140,000 in new grants.



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FINDLAY, Ohio (13abc Action News) - 

Findlay City Schools were back open Tuesday. A storm system that produced multiple tornadoes around the region did significant damage to some of the buildings.

All the schools were closed Monday. The high school was the hardest hit. Tonight, we give you the first look at security footage that shows the storm in action.

A lot of the repair work at the high school was done in a matter of hours, but there is not a quick fix for all of the damage. The auxiliary gym could be closed for weeks or even months. Security cameras were rolling the moment high winds hit the gym roof.

Ryan Imke is the Principal at Findlay High School,"It appears the roof is actually lifted up and then went back down in several areas. We obviously have to make sure it is safe before students and staff can go back in that area."

Cameras also captured the sheer force of the wind as it slammed into windows, sending shattered glass everywhere. Ed Kurt is the Superintendent of Findlay City Schools, "We are blessed no one was hurt, and we are blessed no one was killed. The bottom line is that we can fix the school, and we will do that."

Superintendent Kurt says a team from the National Weather Service visited the high school yesterday to analyze the damage, "Right now the National Weather Service is calling what hit the school straight line winds. Whatever it was, I know it was significant."

Even with the students back in class, clean up work continued today.
In addition to the structural damage and the broken glass, Kurt says poles and trees were also bent and in some cases snapped in half, "That's the first 15 feet of a tree. The top of the tree was twisted right off of it."

Part of the roof and some of the heating and cooling units sustained heavy damage. Everything is being assessed, and Kurt says the repair work could be long-term."We have the fear that we might not notice some things until weeks or even months from now. We might not notice that something is broken right away, so we are trying to inspect as much as we can."

Imke says the best part of this difficult situation is how everyone came together to help, "The second the news went out that something had happened students and staff were reaching out to me. They were all asking how can we help, what can we do? So many people were willing to step in and help."

The damage is covered by insurance. At this point there is not a final estimate for the repairs.That number is expected in the next week or so,

Jubal D. Hubbard, 28 of Holden, Mo., was killed when a high pressure valve ruptured at a construction site at Garmin's warehouse.

OLATHE, Kan. —

  The Olathe Police Department has released the identity of the man killed in a workplace incident at Garmin's headquarters on Monday.

Jubal D. Hubbard, 28 of Holden, Mo., was killed when a high pressure valve ruptured at a construction site at Garmin's warehouse. 

Garmin director of corporate communications Ted Gartner confirmed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident.

“Unfortunately, an employee of one of the construction contractors was killed during this incident, which was immediately brought under control,” Gartner said.

“Local authorities and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are investigating the incident, and it is inappropriate for Garmin to comment on any specifics at this time. Our sincere condolences go out to the victim’s family, friends, and coworkers.”



===============

28-year-old worker killed at Garmin work site was ‘family guy that loved to fish’

By Toriano Porter


November 28, 2017


The man who died Monday after a pipe ruptured on the construction site of the new Garmin expansion was described by a long-time friend as an avid outdoorsman and a doting father to an 8-year-old son.

Jubal D. Hubbard, 28, of Holden, was working on a high-pressure valve when it ruptured about 2:20 p.m. near a loading dock area of a warehouse at 1515 S. Mahaffie Circle.  

Thadius Paul Plemons, 24, of Cement, Okla., said he’d known Hubbard since Plemons was a 6-year-old growing up near a farm in Holden.

“He loved to fish and was a big, big family guy,” Plemons said Tuesday.


The pair, Plemons said, were keen on hunting, fishing, camping and hiking.

“If were doing something outside we were happy,” Plemons said.

Plemons said Hubbard was a former Army National Guardsman and a loving and protective father to 8-year-old son, Daniel.

“Daniel idolized his dad and vice verse,” Plemons said.

Plemons said he last saw Hubbard during a trip to Holden this past weekend. The two talked about family and shot guns on a private range.

Funeral arrangements for Hubbard are pending, but Plemons and family will make an unwanted return trip to Holden on Wednesday to meet with Hubbard’s parents.

“He wasn’t just a friend, he was a brother,” Plemons said. “His mom and dad and my mom and dad are best friends. We’ve been best friends since Day 1.”

The site where Hubbard died has been under construction since last year when Garmin announced its plans to build a new warehouse and distribution center on 29 acres near 151st Street and Mahaffie Circle.
=======================

November 27, 2017

OLATHE, Kan. -- 

A worker has died Monday afternoon after an explosion at the new Garmin headquarters under construction in Olathe, officials say.

Olathe Fire Department spokesman Mike Hall told Fox 4 a subcontractor was working on a high-pressure valve in a warehouse near a loading dock when the valve ruptured around 2:30 p.m. Monday.

The worker was killed instantly. No one else was injured. Officials have not yet released any identifying information about the victim.

"We've transitioned into a death investigation where we will continue to investigate exactly what occurred here to the best of our ability," Olathe Police Sgt. Logan Bonney said.

The new headquarters is currently under construction at 1550 S. Mahaffie Circle in Olathe.

The company overseeing the construction of the new headquarters issued the following statement:

"McCownGordon Construction would like to express our firm’s deepest sympathy to the victim’s family, friends and co-workers. We understand that local authorities, as well as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are currently investigating the incident. It is inappropriate for us to comment at this time."


Due to significant success, Garmin is expanding its corporate headquarters. McCownGordon and Gould Evans are collaborating to complete the multi-phased, $200 million project including a parking garage, warehouse and manufacturing facility, office space and associated site work and landscaping.

The new parking facility—an extension of the existing garage—was constructed while the current garage remained active. The warehouse and manufacturing expansion includes more than 720,000 square feet of new space to house Garmin’s growing business. The new space will feature a creative setting for R&D, engineering and industrial design teams. With a focus on employee wellbeing, the expanded campus will also feature a fitness center, recreation fields, running trails and an outdoor event space. Phase II of the expansion includes new office environments for Garmin’s expanding workforce. =====================

Worker dead after pipe ruptures on Garmin construction site

By Kaitlyn Schwers And John Sleezer
November 27, 2017




A contractor working on the construction site of the new Garmin expansion in Olathe died Monday after a pipe ruptured, the fire department said.

Olathe Fire Capt. Mike Hall said the person who died was working on a high-pressure valve when it ruptured. Hall said the accident happened near a loading dock area of a warehouse.

The fire department said the accident was reported at 2:18 p.m. Monday at 1515 S. Mahaffie Circle.

No other injuries were reported.

The fire department spokesman said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Olathe police were investigating the accident.


The site where the death happened Monday has been under construction since last year when Garmin announced its plans to build a new warehouse and distribution center on 29 acres near 151st Street and Mahaffie Circle. 

McCownGordon is the general contractor, and Gould Evans is the designer and architect. The company said the $200 million expansion would create 150 new jobs.

PG&E is trying to figure out what caused the gas leak and the gas explosion that ripped through a Bernal Heights apartment building and caused damage in San Francisco, CA

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (KGO) --

PG&E is trying to figure out what caused a gas explosion in San Francisco's Bernal Heights. No one was hurt in the blast, but the explosion ripped through a Bernal Heights apartment building and caused major damage.

It happened around 10am on the 3900 block of Mission Street.

Carmen Godoy lives in the building. She wasn't home at the time of the explosion, but when she returned to the neighborhood she feared the worst. "My son was inside and I say, 'My son, maybe he's dead. I don't know,'" said Godoy.

Her son is deaf and so he didn't hear the blast, but he felt the building shake.

The explosion blew out the windows and the garage door.

The leak is believed to have come from under the street.

It took PG&E crews three hours to cap off the gas lines from both ends.

"This was a tedious task that included turning off two valves at an off site location as well as digging up these holes behind me," said Andrea Mennitti, a spokesperson for PG&E.

Nearly 500 people have been without service for much of the day and at least a hundred are expected to be without gas until Tuesday as PG&E investigates the pipe.

The company has hired a third party to help them figure out what caused the leak.

In the meantime, the Godoy family is without a home, but tonight they're thankful to God that everyone's safe.

They believe a wooden box with a picture of Jesus Christ remained hanging inside their apartment for a reason.

"It's still there. The windows exploded, but I think that's a miracle," said Elizabeth Godoy.



=====================


By Bay City News
November 27, 2017


UPDATE 3:44 P.M.:

A gas leak that caused an explosion in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood Monday morning has been resolved and evacuated residents are being allowed to return to the area, according to fire officials.

The gas leak was reported shortly before 10 a.m. when firefighters were called to the 3900 block of Mission Street near St. Mary’s Avenue to investigate a gas odor in the area, according to fire officials.

At 10:14 a.m., an explosion occurred in the lower floors of 3987 Mission St., a three-story residential building, causing moderate damage to the home and blowing out its front windows.

No one was inside the building and no injuries were reported.

Firefighters evacuated 19 addresses on Mission Street, College Terrace and Bosworth Street. An evacuation center was opened this afternoon at the YMCA’s Mission branch for those displaced.

PG&E workers arrived on scene around 10:30 a.m. and had stopped the flow of gas as of shortly after 1 p.m.

Fire officials said the leak appears to have been outside on the street in front of the building and it is unclear how the gas got inside.

The 14-Mission and 49-Van Ness/Mission buses were rerouted around the area during the incident, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

SENIOR RISK: Adults 65 or older accounted for 40 percent of all fire-related deaths in 2015 despite only constituting 15 percent of the U.S. population, with the relative risk of dying in a fire for senior citizens being 2.7 times higher than for the general population

November 28, 2017

NEW HAVEN, CT-- 

Adults 65 or older accounted for 40 percent of all fire-related deaths in 2015 despite only constituting 15 percent of the U.S. population, with the relative risk of dying in a fire for senior citizens being 2.7 times higher than for the general population, according to the U.S. Fire Administration Fire Risk Report.

Orange Fire Marshal Timothy Smith said the disparity is relatively consistent throughout the nation, noting that areas with higher senior populations will have higher rates for fire-related deaths.

"A lot of it's attributed to mobility issues, disabilities, reactionary skills aren't there like they are with adults or young children or they can't self-evacuate or extricate themselves from a burning building," he said.


For Connecticut it is not clear if the specific nationwide numbers apply, due to missing information. Seven out of the 20 fire-related fatalities listed in 2016 in Connecticut do not list the individual's age. However, a state report on injury and death from 2000-04 showed the rate of death from fire for people 50 and older was about 4 times higher than that for people ages 10 to 49. There were an average of 30 fire-related deaths annually in those years, the state report noted.

With advancing age, physical and mental capabilities decline, making it more difficult for older adults to clearly see, smell and hear, increasing the risk of death or injury from fire due to decreased senses, the fire administration report noted.

Older people also can have physical disabilities or limitations that hinder their mobility, making it more difficult for them to react to the threat of a fire the way younger adults can.

The October wildfires in the heart of California wine country claimed 43 victims, and didn't discriminate by age, killing young and old. But Charles and Sara Rippey, who was confined to a wheelchair, did not make it out. The couple, married for 75 years, lived in Napa for the past 35, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, a sister Hearst newspaper of the New Haven Register. They died together in their home, unable to escape the wildfires.

Their bodies were found by police inside the charred ruins of their Silverado Country Club condominium on Westgate Drive. He was 100, and she was 98, according to the Chronicle.

Rippey apparently died trying to save his wife, one of their children told KPIX TV.

Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other disorders that affect mental functions also increase the risk of injury or death from a fire due to erratic or even potentially dangerous behavior and the inability to recognize a hazard, according to the report.

"You don't want to think, 'OK, I'll climb out of the window,' if you're a person confined to a bed or have a walker or if you have difficulty walking normally. You have to make your plans reasonable," said New Haven Fire Chief John Alston.

To compound this problem, older adults are more inclined to accidentally start a fire than younger adults. Sometimes, they are close to the source of a flame, and their clothes or bedding ignites, according to Smith.

"Cooking fires tend to be very common with the senior population because they forget they leave the stove on, and they walk away. Maybe, there's an early onset of dementia or other sort of mental issues going on. Or they're cooking with a bathrobe and the bathrobe catches fire because they aren't aware of it," he said.

Heating, in particular, also represents an elevated fire danger to older adults, who frequently feel cold. When the central heating source of a home does not work properly, Alston said older adults will often rely on temporary sources of heat, such as legal or illegal portable space heaters, fireplaces or even cooking ovens.

"It's a difficult population to try to change their evacuation skills, but detection doubles your chance, doubles everyone's chances, of escaping a fire," Smith said. "So early detection of a fire is probably the best thing for the senior population. The sooner they know about, the sooner they can be made of aware it, the sooner they can start the self-evacuation to protect themselves."

Smoke alarms are present in most homes, having saved many lives since the mid-1970s when their use was widely encouraged for the first time. While the number of senior citizens living in housing without smoke alarms or with alarms that do not work is not well-documented, Smith said senior citizens may not have access to smoke detectors and other equipment in poorer populations due to their inability to afford the detectors and/or the batteries.

Cromwell Town Councilman Al Waters, 74, said he changes his smoke detector batteries religiously twice a year. "That's the big thing," he said of the simple action fire officials urge people to do during the Daylight Saving Time change.

The American Red Cross has even coined the phrase, "Time to Turn and Test."

Waters said he is also vigilant about making sure passageways in his home are clear. "I don't keep the areas of exit cluttered," Waters said.

Often during emergencies, the elderly especially can become very disorientated, he said. Any impediments will make it difficult to make it outside to safety. Many may not even realize portions of their homes could be fire hazards, he said.

"I'm out every day moving," Waters said. "I just can't sit idle. There are people that, if they're getting 60 years or older, probably their reflexes are not as fast."

Waters said because he's so active, he has always taken the normal precautions when it comes to fire safety.

West Haven Fire Department Chief Jim O'Brien said residential sprinkler systems also help to reduce the risk of deaths and injuries, homeowner insurance premiums and uninsured property losses. While many homes do not have automatic extinguishing systems, despite them being found in hotels and businesses, O'Brien said there is a major movement in the U.S. fire service to require sprinklers in all new homes.

Smith said senior citizens are considered a target population for public education and intervention, explaining that as much as fire departments visit kids at schools and teach them the basics of fire safety, they also go to senior centers to teach senior citizens about senior fire safety and home escape.

"What we're finding is when the seniors call us to come in and do a presentation, they want us there. So they're truly interested in the subject and they want to learn it, as opposed to kids where the teachers are telling them they have to be there," he said. "That's a huge gap in between there. So a lot of these people, they're upcoming seniors, they haven't really had any fire safety education as they're entering their 'golden years.'"

UNITED STATES STILL HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST ROAD ACCIDENT DEATH AND INJURY RATES IN THE WORLD: 34,000 DIE AND 2.5 MILLION INJURED EACH YEAR.

http://metroforensics.blogspot.com/2015/03/united-states-still-has-one-of-highest.html

UNITED STATES STILL HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST ROAD ACCIDENT DEATH AND INJURY RATES IN THE WORLD: 34,000 DIE AND 2.5 MILLION INJURED EACH YEAR.

Despite the improvements in road safety, the United States has one of the highest death rates at about 1 person dead per 10,000 people. Unfortunately, only undeveloped countries have higher death rate.

Some states, such as Texas and West Virginia (sorry, WV, despite your tremendous progress in traffic safety, you are still at the top of the worst-death-rate list) have death rates of nearly 1.5 percent, i.e., fifty percent more people die compared to the national death rate.

Approximately 34,000 people are getting killed each year.  In the 1950s and 1960s, about 55,000 people used to die on the roads – so, there has been improvement in the number of dead. 

However, the number of injured is rising.  Roughly 2.5 million are injured (yes, you read it correctly – 2.5 million injured) per year.  That is, 1 percent (1%) of the population that is eligible to drive is injured every year.

It is worse than a war zone out there.  So, please be safe and be on the lookout for weaving-through-the-traffic drivers, crazy drivers, reckless drivers, sick drivers, medical-condition drivers, sleepy drivers, negligent drivers, stupid drivers, careless drivers, drunk drivers, speeding drivers, drugged drivers, texting drivers, talking-on-the-phone drivers, looking-at-the-GPS drivers, hurry-hurry drivers, tailgating drivers, upset drivers, eating-while-driving drivers, putting-the-lipstick-on-while-driving drivers, elderly drivers, and so on.

Barclay Friends Senior Home fire victims Mildred Gadde, Theresa Malloy, Delores Parker and Thomas Parker all died of smoke inhalation in their sleep - then their bodies burned by the raging inferno at the Chester County, Pennsylvania, facility

Coroner Identifies People Killed in Barclay Friends Senior Home Fire in Chester County; All 4 Died of Smoke Inhalation


The four residents identified, according to the coroner’s office, were Mildred E. Gadde; Theresa J. Malloy; and Delores G. Parker, and Thomas F. Parker, a married couple.

 
Four people who died in the burned out Barclay Friends Senior Living Community earlier this month died of smoke inhalation, according to the Chester County Coroner's Office.

The four residents identified, according to the coroner’s office, were Mildred E. Gadde; Theresa J. Malloy; and Delores G. Parker, and Thomas F. Parker, a married couple.

The inferno broke out at the Chester County, Pennsylvania, facility on Nov. 16. It took crews days to recover the bodies from the West Chester fire scene.

The manner of death — including what cause the fire — is pending further investigation, Coroner Gordon Eck said.

Special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) National Response Team, Pennsylvania State Police and Chester County Fire Marshal’s office announced last week they had recovered remains of all those believed to have perished in the fire.

Investigators continued to sift through the rubble of the Barclay Friends Senior Living Community along North Franklin Street through the Thanksgiving holiday, officials said. A large crane and other excavating equipment was brought to the fire scene as investigators continued the search for a cause of the fire.

No foul play is suspected in the fire, the ATF said.


The fire erupted shortly before 11 p.m. while most of the 137 residents were sleeping. The blaze started in the back of one of the buildings, ripped through the center and all the way to the ceiling, creating a "raging inferno," Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said.

Flames tore through the senior living community's personal care wing with such speed that hundreds of first responders rushed into the building without securing their breathing equipment.

Several firefighters described their helmets melting and cracking from the intense heat.

Most of the residents were bedridden or in wheelchairs. Senior home staff and outside neighbors rushed from room to room in the facility, wrapping residents in blankets and sweeping them out in to the frigid night in wheelchairs and even in beds.



Paramedics took 27 residents to hospitals for treatment. Some of the injuries were described by authorities as "serious." Of those that were rescued without injury, 102 were placed in other facilities and 31 have been taken in by family members.

Seniors Flee Inferno at Chester Co. Senior Living Community

Parts of the complex burned for more than 24 hours and unstable walls teetered over the scene.

Last year, state health officials cited Barclay Friends and its owner Kendal with fire safety violations, including a failure to maintain corridor smoke doors. The violations were recorded in the facility's nursing home section, which was not touched by fire.

A provisional license status for the nursing home was lifted in February following a new inspection, but at least one fire safety violation remained, state records showed.