Thick black smoke could be seen for miles after a hair salon in the 22600 block of Loop 494 went up in flames.
Monday, August 17, 2015 10:18PM
HOUSTON, TEXAS (KTRK) --
Thick black smoke could be seen for miles Monday afternoon as Jessie Frazier pulled up to his neighboring business where a dozen customers evacuated.
"They were just starting to get the flames down. Still pretty high. The vinyl on the next door was melting," said Frazier.
Firefighters pulled two alarms as the hair salon burned in the 22600 block of Loop 494. Employees hugged at the scene. It was closed today but the dry wood went quickly, melting siding of a design store next door. Flying embers burned grass across the street.
HFD District Chief Charles Medina said, "We went defensive because I knew the building was already collapsing. Then our next priority was going to be to protect the exposures."
On the other side of the fire sits Tony Raffa's popular Kingwood restaurant. Fire crews worked to cool the building and save Amedeo's, which is celebrating its 30th year of business.
Owner Tony Raffa said, "I've been in with firefighters and it looks like minimal water in through the doors...minimal smoke. We're hoping we'll be in good shape to open as soon as possible."
Arson investigators are on scene but no word yet on a cause.
AUGUST 17, 2015
I-7-, MARYLAND
Lenny Robinson, a man who spent much of his recent years visiting sick kids in hospitals while dressed as "Batman," died over the weekend when someone hit his "Batmobile" in western Maryland. (Published Monday, Aug. 17, 2015)
Updated 5 hours ago
A Maryland man who visited sick children dressed as Batman died Sunday night after he was struck by his own Batmobile, which had been hit by another driver.
Lenny B. Robinson was driving eastbound on I-70 near Hagerstown when he experienced engine trouble and stopped partially in the fast lane. According to Maryland State Police, Robinson was checking the engine when a Toyota Camry hit his Batmobile. Robinson's custom black Lamborghini, which then struck him.
Robinson, 51, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Camry was not injured.
"He was my brother, my business partner, my best friend,” brother Scott Robinson told the Washington Post. “He touched a lot of lives and made a lot of kids smile. That’s all he wanted to do.”
'Batman': His Life in Pictures 
Robinson impersonated Batman for years but became an even bigger celebrity in the region after police pulled him over while he was in costume and driving his black Lamborghini back in 2012.
The officers who stopped him wanted to talk about his Batman-logo license plates, which aren't approved in the state. A video of the stop shows police officers eventually shaking his hand and taking pictures with him.
In a 2012 profile on the charitable Caped Crusader, The Washington Post reported that Robinson spent more than $25,000 of his own money on Batman-related items every year, including toys, T-shirts and books he gave away to kids.
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Bergen County, NJ native who dressed as Batman for hospitalized children dies in highway crash
Sade Baderinwa has the details
By Associated Press
Monday, August 17, 2015 06:50PM
HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- Authorities say a man known for visiting hospitalized children dressed as Batman died in a crash on a western Maryland highway after his Batmobile had engine trouble.
Police say 51-year-old Leonard (Lenny) Robinson of Owings Mills was checking the engine of his Batmobile while standing in the fast lane of eastbound I-70 Sunday night when the car was hit by a Toyota Camry.
The driver of the Camry wasn't injured.
The crash occurred around 10:30 p.m. near the unincorporated community of Big Pool.
Robinson was known for traveling in costume to hospitals in the Baltimore-Washington area and gained national attention in 2012 when dashcam video surfaced of police pulling him over while he was driving his Batmobile.
The Washington Post reported in 2012 that Robinson spent more than $25,000 of his own money on Batman-related items every year, including toys, t-shirts and books he gave away to kids.
Robinson is originally from Bergen County in northern New Jersey. He leaves behind three sons.
Worker killed after trench collapses in Fort Dodge
by Linh Ta
August 14, 2015
Fort Dodge, Iowa
A worker with Riley-Armstrong Plumbing & Heating, a plumbing company, died following a trench collapse at a construction site in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
The man was working for Riley-Armstrong Plumbing & Heating when the incident occurred near the 2400 block of 6th Avenue North, according to Fort Dodge Fire Captain Steve Hergenreter. He was 10 feet down in the trench when the accident happened around 1:40 p.m.
A co-worker called 911 and the fire department responded to the scene, where the man was found dead on arrival.
The Iowa Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration arrived at the scene around 5 p.m. Friday and was investigating the incident.
The name of the man is being withheld pending notification of family.
August 10, 2015
A construction worker inside a Texas work zone was killed last week in an accident involving heavy equipment at the jobsite.
According to a report from KSAT TV, 66-year-old Salvador Guillen was killed during a repaving job August 10 on FM 541 near FM 2505, west of Poth.
KSAT spoke with both Guillen’s employer, New Braunfels-based contractor Dean Word Company, and the Texas Department of Transportation but were unable to report any details surrounding the accident, including the type of machine involved.
Guillen had actually retired from the company in 2008 after an 18-year career, but came back to work in March.
TEXDOT tells KSAT the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.
Susquehanna Hose Company volunteers responded Friday to an explosion at the Maryland National Guard Readiness Center at 301 Old Bay Lane in Havre de Grace, where an acetylene tank explodied, injuring a worker. (Courtesy of Susquehanna Hose Company / Baltimore Sun)
By David Anderson The Aegis
AUGUST 18, 2015
HAVRE DE GRACE, MD
Maryland National Guard investigating employee's injuries as result of fuel tank explosion
A Maryland National Guard employee at the Havre de Grace Readiness Center was injured Friday afternoon after the acetylene tank he was working on exploded, according to the Susquehanna Hose Company fire chief.
Fire Chief Scott Hurst said Monday that the "adult male patient" was drilling holes to scrap empty acetylene tanks, which are used by welders.
One tank still had fuel in it, and it exploded as the man was drilling it, Hurst said.
First responders were alerted around 1:30 p.m. The tank was still burning when Susquehanna Hose firefighters arrived at the readiness center in the 300 block of Old Bay Lane, Hurst said.
Hurst said the man suffered severe burns. Aberdeen Fire Department EMS workers responded, too, and they took the victim in an ambulance to a helicopter landing site at the National Guard facility.
The victim was then flown by Maryland State Police Medevac to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Burn Center in Baltimore, Hurst said.
Col. Charles Kohler, a spokesperson for the National Guard, said the organization's safety office is conducting an investigation.
Kohler could not say Monday if the injured man was a civilian or member of the military.
