Faulty electrical outlet caused Forrest County, MS house fire, killed 1-year-old Sage Morris

 According to the Forrest County Sheriffs Office, when the fire broke out the family tried to rescue everyone in the house, but was unable to save the toddler.; (Photo source: WDAM) FORREST COUNTY (WDAM) - 

Electrical outlet caused Forrest County house fire, killed 1-year-old 

July 30th 2018
By WDAM Staff

WDAM has learned new details about the deadly house fire that claimed the life of a 1-year-old in Forrest County.

1-year-old killed in Forrest County fire identified

Sage Morris died in a Friday morning house fire in the 700 block of Camp Dantlzer Road.

According to Forrest County Fire Coordinator and Investigator Chip Brown, the cause of the fire was from the electrical outlets in the bedroom that the child was found in. The flames then traveled from the child’s bedroom throughout the entire house.

Authorities said when the fire broke out the family tried to rescue everyone in the house but was unable to save Morris.

The Forrest County Sheriff’s Office said that several people were in the house during the fire.

Brown says that the cause of the fire was accidental.

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1-year-old killed in Forrest County fire identified 

July 31st 2018
By Ashley Jackson, Reporter


A 1-year-old boy died in a Friday morning house fire in the 700 block of Camp Dantlzer Road in Forrest County.

Forrest County Coroner Butch Benedict identified the victim as Sage Morris.

James Morris, Sage's brother, said he and the family were headed down the road when they received the call about the fire.

"It scared me I didn't know what was going on," Morris said.

“We were going down the road in town and my grandmother got a call and I could tell who it was and I could hear her screaming and I heard the house was on fire,” Morris said.

According to the Forrest County Sheriffs Office, when the fire broke out the family tried to rescue everyone in the house, but was unable to save the child.

One firefighter on the scene was also injured and taken to the hospital and released after receiving stitches on his hand.

“A young child trapped inside," Forrest County Fire Coordinator and Investigator Chip Brown said. “Firefighters made entry and the part of the house they could get into. And they couldn’t save that child.”

The Forrest County Sheriffs Office said that several people were in the house during the fire. WDAM tried reaching out to neighbors in the community and some chose not to comment on camera.

The fire cause of the fire is under investigation.

Smoking material coming in contact with a couch in the garage appears to have started a fire that severely damaged a home and killed a dog in the Barberton area of Vancouver, WA

Smoking material seen as cause of house fire



By Andy Matarrese, Columbian Breaking News Reporter

August 1, 2018

  Vancouver, WA

Smoking material coming in contact with a couch in the garage appears to have started a fire that severely damaged a home and killed a dog Monday afternoon in the Barberton area.
Firefighters were called to the home, at 11906 N.E. 40th Ave., around 5:30 p.m., and they could see a column of smoke in the distance as they approached.

The fire tore through the garage and made it inside the attic of the home’s living area before firefighters could bring it under control.

Deputy Clark County Fire Marshal Dan Young said investigators believe burning matter from a cigarette burned a couch, and the resident spotted it when the home’s heating and cooling system spread the smoke inside.

The fire also damaged a vehicle parked in the garage and another inside. Young said an estimate of the total damages was still pending.

He also warned that even though the past weeks’ stretch of hot weather seems to be abating, conditions are still dangerously primed for fires. 

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Vancouver, WA

A fire tore through a home north of Vancouver Monday afternoon, killing a family’s dog.

The fire, at 11906 N.E. 40th Ave. in the Barberton area, was reported around 5:30 p.m. Responding firefighters saw a column of smoke as they approached the neighborhood, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian.

Clark County Fire District 6 spokesman David Schmitke said the firefighters arrived to find the two-story house in flames.

“It was really going when we got here,” he said.

Joseph Caver said he was inside, in the living room, watching television when he started to smell smoke.

“I thought it was the A/C, so I looked outside and I saw smoke,” he said. “So then I ran outside into the yard, looked over the fence and saw smoke, saw it wasn’t the A/C.”

He then ran around to the front of the house and saw fire coming from the garage’s windows.

Leann Caver, Joseph’s wife, was away when the fire started. She called the house their “dream home,” and said they moved in last November.

Her father was hospitalized after losing consciousness at the scene. Schmitke said it wasn’t clear whether the man’s medical issue was directly related to the fire.

Schmitke said the family’s dog — a Dobermann named Perseus, Leann Caver said — was found upstairs.

The fire gutted the home’s garage, destroyed a vehicle parked inside and damaged another vehicle parked in the driveway. Firefighters cut a hole in the building’s roof, but Schmitke said it wasn’t clear how much fire burned inside the home’s living areas.

The Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office was investigating what happened, but Schmitke said it appeared initially that the fire started in the garage. The fire was brought under control in about 40 minutes.

He expected there’d be firefighters at the scene well into the night. Schmitke said the home was uninhabitable for now. The Red Cross said it responded to help three adults and two children.

Yung Yi, 44, who ran the 1st Class Sleep Diagnostic Center and 1st Class Medical in Virginia has been convicted on charges of scamming $83 million from Medicare and private insurers.

A Virginia woman has been convicted on charges of scamming $83 million from Medicare and private insurers.

Yung Yi, 44, ran the 1st Class Sleep Diagnostic Center and 1st Class Medical. She was convicted Monday of seven counts of healthcare fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of filing a false tax return, according to local news affiliate WTOP.

According to prosecutors, patients referred by their doctors to 1st Class for sleep studies were also solicited to participate in “supplemental but medically unnecessary studies.” Yi hid the scam by telling her employees not to send the results of those studies to doctors. She also told the patients there was no co-payment or co-insurance for the supplemental studies and cross-billed patients from each of the 1st Class entities, WTOP reported.

Authorities said that Yi also encouraged her own employees to get unnecessary sleep studies. For example, three 1st Class employees had 27 sleep studies done among them in less than three years – even though none of them had sleep apnea. Teams of workers also held competitions to see who could refer the most friends and relatives for unnecessary studies, WTOP reported.

Authorities said that Yi used the money she made from the fraud to buy fur coats, luxury vehicles and real estate, including a $1.1 million house and a condo, as well as properties in Chicago and Honolulu. All the properties were booked as business expenses. She also created a fraudulent charity to hide the money from law enforcement, according to WTOP.

“When someone commits healthcare and tax fraud, it drives up the cost of care for everyone and creates an unlevel playing field,” said US Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger. “Yi misled patients and their doctors, falsified records to cover it up, and deducted millions in taxes she used to buy expensive properties and luxury goods.

Yi will be sentenced in November.

The U.S. Coast Guard commandant has convened a formal Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) into the loss of the U.S.-flagged amphibious passenger vessel, Stretch Duck 07, which occurred on Thursday, July 19 with 17 casualties and 14 survivors.

Coast Guard convenes Investigation into loss of Stretch Duck 07
Aug 1st, 2018 



WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard commandant has convened a formal Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) into the loss of the U.S.-flagged amphibious passenger vessel, Stretch Duck 07, which occurred on Thursday, July 19 with 17 casualties and 14 survivors. A commandant-directed formal Marine Board of Investigation is the highest-level investigation in the Coast Guard.

The marine board consists of five members who will investigate all aspects of the casualty including, but not limited to, the pre-accident historical events relating to the accident, the regulatory compliance of Stretch Duck 07, crewmember duties and qualifications, weather conditions and reporting, and Coast Guard oversight.

“Our hearts go out to the victims as well as the families and friends that have been impacted by this terrible tragedy that occurred in Branson,” said Capt. Wayne Arguin, chairman of the Marine Board of Investigation. “The Coast Guard will conduct a thorough and detailed investigation to identify all potential causal factors associated with this tragedy.”

During the course of the MBI, panel members must decide:
The factors that contributed to the accident;
Whether there is evidence that any act of misconduct, inattention to duty, negligence or willful violation of the law on the part of any licensed or certificated person contributed to the casualty; and
Whether there is evidence that any Coast Guard personnel or any representative or employee of any other government agency or any other person caused or contributed to the casualty.

In advance of the investigation’s findings, Rear Adm. John Nadeau, assistant commandant for prevention policy, sent a Marine Safety Information Bulletin to all Officers in Charge of Marine Inspection (OCMI), as well as vessel owners, operators, and masters, to review routes and conditions, review company operations manuals, conduct extensive crew training and drills, and encourage companies to have a proactive approach to vessel oversight.

Both the National Transportation Safety Board and the Coast Guard have agreed that, at this time, the NTSB will lead the marine casualty investigation effort with the Coast Guard joining as an equal partner, in accordance with Joint Federal Regulations.

A redacted copy of the vessel’s Certificate of Inspection is posted to the Coast Guard’s FOIA reading room.

Subscribe to Maritime Commons, the Coast Guard’s official blog to communicate with the maritime industry, for the latest information on upcoming hearings, updated marine safety guidance, and safety alerts.

OSHA cited the Holly Hill, Florida-based paving company Pavemax Corp. for safety violations after employee Ulysses Tolbert, 72, was pulled under a paver and crushed to death at an Orange City worksite.

OSHA cited the Holly Hill, Florida-based paving company Pavemax Corp. for safety violations after employee Ulysses Tolbert, 72, was pulled under a paver and crushed to death at an Orange City worksite.

U.S. Department of Labor Cites Florida Paving Company After Employee Sustains Fatal Injuries


ORANGE CITY, FL – 

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Pavemax Corp. for safety violations after an employee suffered fatal injuries at an Orange City worksite.

OSHA inspectors determined that a paver operator lacked proper training to use the equipment, and was allowed to stand on the equipment while it was in motion, and subsequently fell and was pulled under the paver.

The Holly Hill, Florida-based paving company faces $16,814 in proposed fines, including the maximum penalty under the law, for failing to provide a place of employment free from recognized hazards.

"This tragedy could have been prevented if employees were trained properly on operating equipment safely," said OSHA Jacksonville Area Office Acting Director Buddy Underwood.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to help ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education, and assistance. For more information, visit https://www.osha.gov.

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72-year-old man run over, killed by asphalt paver in Orange City

ORANGE CITY, Fla. – 

A 72-year-old man was run over and killed Tuesday after falling off an asphalt paving machine he had been operating in Orange City, police said. 

The freak accident occurred at the future site of a medical complex on Harley Strickland Boulevard. Orange City police said Ulysses Tolbert, of Deltona, was moving the asphalt paver to another area of the parking lot when he fell off the machine for an unknown reason. 

The machine ran over him and pinned Tolbert underneath, police said. Other contractors tried to use a Bobcat to lift the machine off the man, but the paver was too heavy. 

A large heavy-duty wrecker was brought in to move the paving machine off his body, police said. Tolbert was pronounced dead at the scene by Orange City Fire Rescue. Police said the paving contractor working on the lot is Pavemax Asphalt Services.