Worker with T.A. Schifsky & Sons Inc. was critically injured during a resurfacing project at the Granite Trails complex in Maplewood, MN

A man lies on the ground Tuesday near a road roller, used to compact concrete or asphalt, on a parking lot of a Maplewood apartment complex where a worker was critically injured. (Photo courtesy of Christine McArdle)

Maplewood, MN
 
A man injured while helping resurface a Maplewood apartment building’s parking lot Tuesday morning remains in critical condition, according to an employee of the apartment complex.

T.A. Schifsky & Sons Inc. was scheduled to resurface the parking lot of Granite Trails Apartments in Maplewood early this week.


On Tuesday, a worker was injured during the project. An ambulance took the man to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, according to Granite Trails staff.

Schifsky confirmed a worker had been injured but declined to say how and where the injury occurred.

“We do have an injured worker. We are not aware of his condition at this time. Out of concern for his or his family’s privacy, we will not be releasing any more information,” a Schifsky spokeswoman said.

The resurfacing project was supposed to be completed by Wednesday but has been put on hold.

There was little information about the incident from safety regulators and Maplewood officials.

A mother (Debra M. Kegarise), son, and two dogs have died in a massive 2-alarm duplex house fire in Hagerstown, Maryland

Maryland State Fire Marshal Carl Witmer looks at photos on the back of his camera while investigating the cause of a fatal fire that killed two people in Hagerstown, Md., Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.

An overloaded power strip caused a fire that killed a mother and her son last month on Snyder Avenue in Hagerstown.


City Fire Marshal Doug DeHaven wrote in an email that the power strip overheated and ignited combustibles in the first-floor living room.


After firefighters put out the blaze, they found the bodies of Tyson Kegarise, 41, and Debra Kegarise, 62, on the second floor of the duplex at 20 Snyder Ave.


"The cause of death was listed on their documents as smoke inhalation and thermal burns for both victims," DeHaven said.


Complete autopsy results are normally unavailable for four to six weeks until the toxicology tests are done, he said.


Two nonfunctioning, 9-volt battery smoke alarms were found in the debris, according to DeHaven.


“This was a preventable fire and a tragedy that should never have happened,” he said. “Working smoke alarms are the first line of defense to provide you time to get out in the event of a fire. Had they had working smoke alarms, the result may have been totally different.”


The fire, which was reported at 3:31 a.m. on Oct. 24, also took the lives of two dogs and caused extensive damage to both sides of the duplex.


Hagerstown fire marshals were supported at the scene by the Hagerstown Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division and the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office.


DeHaven said the Hagerstown Fire Department returned to the neighborhood on the day of the fire to ensure all of the homes had working smoke alarms.


"The canvass resulted in several smoke alarms being repaired or new ones installed," he said.


DeHaven said most fire departments will install smoke alarms at no charge.


Hagerstown residents who need assistance checking their smoke alarms may call the fire department at 301-790-2476.


Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of the home, outside the sleeping area and in each bedroom, DeHaven said.


Homes that use fossil fuels, such as fuel oil or natural gas, also should have carbon monoxide alarms.

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

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — Officials say two people have died in a house fire in western Maryland.

Firefighters responded to a duplex on Snyder Avenue in Hagerstown around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Officials say two adults were found dead on the second floor of the structure after firefighters were able to knock down the flames.

The names of the victims were being withheld pending notification of family members.   The owners of the 18-20 Snyder Avenue dublex are listed and Debra M. Kegarise and her son, Frederick Kegarise.

An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the fire.



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



HAGERSTOWN, Md. (ABC7) — A mother, son, and two dogs died in a fire at a duplex early Tuesday morning in Hagerstown, Maryland.

Hagerstown Fire Department officials have not identified the victims at this time.

The mother and son were trapped inside the home and a witness told ABC7 News neighbors heard the victims call for help.


Approximately 42 firefighters and 20 pieces of equipment were needed to combat the two-alarm fire.


The blaze took place on Snyder Avenue, and fire officials say an investigation into the incident is underway.

The home prior to the deadly fire

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









Two adults and two dogs were found dead Tuesday after an early-morning fire in a duplex off Virginia Avenue in Hagerstown’s South End.


The fire destroyed the duplex at 18-20 Snyder Ave., Hagerstown Fire Chief Steve Lohr said.


No one was living at 18 Snyder Ave.


Jeremy Benna, who lives at 14 Snyder Ave., said that screaming and shattering glass woke him at about 3:30 a.m. He said he ran from his second-floor apartment outside and discovered the duplex next door at 20 Snyder Ave. was on fire.


Benna said he ran back inside his apartment, got dressed, banged on the door of his first-floor neighbors alerting them to the fire, and then called 911.


When he first ran outside, only the porch of the duplex was on fire, Benna said.


But that quickly changed.


“I beat it outside,” he said. “I tried to do something, but I just couldn’t.”


The Hagerstown Fire Department, along with units from surrounding jurisdictions, were dispatched to the fire, according to a news release.


They arrived to heavy fire coming from the first and second floors of 20 Snyder Ave., and extending into 18 Snyder Ave. Snyder Avenue is between Wilson Boulevard and Noland Drive.


The bodies of two adults were found on the second floor and one was immediately removed, Lohr said.


Both bodies will be taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Baltimore, the release said.


Hagerstown Fire Marshal Doug DeHaven said Tuesday afternoon that he could not release names of the victims, adding that assistance from the Medical Examiner’s Office is needed to confirm the identities.


DeHaven said he might have more information about the victims Wednesday morning.


DeHaven said it was too early to say what started the fire. He said fire officials cleared the scene about 4:35 p.m. Tuesday, and there are more interviews to be conducted as well as other followup investigation.


“It will be open for a while,” DeHaven said.


Firefighters had the fire knocked down within 20 minutes.


Ryan Llewellyn, the owner of the duplex at 14-16 Snyder Ave., said he and his girlfriend, Shelby Diehl, live on the first floor of 14 Snyder Ave. They were sleeping when Benna banged on their door.


Llewellyn immediately feared the fire would spread to his residence.


“I said, ‘We gotta get outside,’” Llewellyn said.


On Tuesday evening, a stream of vehicles slowly passed the house as onlookers took in the scene.


A few people stood outside talking about the people who lived in the house.


One man, who said he worked with a man who lived in the house, declined to comment.

Amazon employee Karla Kay Wyatt Arnold, 50, died after she was hit by a sports utility vehicle driven by another Amazon employee Monday night in Amazon Fulfillment Center's parking lot in Monee, Illinois

Tuesday, October 24, 2017 04:01PM
MONEE, Ill. --

A 50-year-old woman was fatally struck by a vehicle Monday night in the parking lot of the Amazon Fulfillment Center where she worked in south suburban Monee.

Karla Kay Arnold (Wyatt) was walking toward the main entrance of the facility in the 6600 block of West Monee-Manhattan Road at 6:20 p.m. when she walked into an intersection and was struck by a vehicle, according to Monee police and the Cook County medical examiner's office.

She was trapped under the vehicle, which had to be lifted off of her.

Arnold, a Kankakee resident, was taken to Franciscan St. James Health in Olympia Fields, where she died at 7:02 p.m., according to the medical examiner's office. An autopsy Tuesday found she died of multiple injuries from being struck by an SUV, and her death was ruled an accident.

Both the driver and the victim were Amazon employees reporting to work, police said, calling the crash a "tragic accident."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and loved ones during this very difficult time," Amazon spokeswoman Shevaun Brown wrote in an email. "Unfortunately this was a very sad traffic incident in our parking lot. The safety of our associates remains our top priority."

The driver is cooperating with investigators, police said. The Will County Sheriff Office's reconstruction unit is assisting with the investigation.



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



Amazon employee killed after being hit by vehicle in Monee parking lot

Susan DeMar Lafferty Daily Southtown




A Kankakee woman died after she was hit by a sports utility vehicle Monday night in Amazon Fulfillment Center's parking lot in Monee, officials said.

Karla K. Arnold, 50, (Karla Kay Wyatt) was pronounced dead at 7:02 p.m. at St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields after suffering multiple injuries, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

First responders found Arnold trapped underneath a vehicle about 6:20 p.m. near the main entrance at 6600 W. Monee-Manhattan Road. They lifted the vehicle off her and transported her to St. James Hospital, officials said.

Monee Police Chief Scott Koerner said the driver was looking for a place to park while Arnold was walking toward the entrance and the two did not see each other. The driver was not speeding, he said. Both Arnold and the driver were Amazon employees who were reporting for work, officials said.

Koerner said the investigation is continuing, but he believes it was a "tragic accident."

Police said the driver has cooperated with investigators.

The Will County Sheriff's Department accident reconstruction unit is assisting with the investigation.

Since the incident happened on private property and not village streets, information from the investigation will be turned over to the state's attorney's office to determine if charges are warranted, Koerner said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and loved ones during this very difficult time," Amazon said in a statement through its regional operations public relations manager Shevaun Brown. "Unfortunately this was a very sad traffic incident in our parking lot. The safety of our associates remains our top priority."

Last month, Monee Police warned residents on its Facebook page of heavy traffic exiting Amazon between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m., and urged them to find alternate routes to Interstate 57, such as Stuenkel Road.

"Obviously a facility this large is going to impact our community in a vast variety of ways. One of the biggest learning curves for us is dealing with traffic congestion. We are working closely with Amazon, Monee Public Works, as well as Will County Highway and IDOT to make this transition as smooth as possible," the Facebook post stated.

Zekeiah “Nikki” Veramick Cole-Hunt, 36, a Clarkesville, GA Post Office employee delivering mail on a rural roadway was killed Monday afternoon after a large tree fell across her vehicle, smashing its front passenger compartment.

Postal worker killed in ‘freak accident’

October 25, 2017
By:
CHRISTINA SANTEE

Clarkesville , GA

 A Clarkesville Post Office employee delivering mail on a rural roadway was killed Monday afternoon after a large tree fell across her vehicle, smashing its front passenger compartment. 

According to information released to The Northeast Georgian by the Georgia State Patrol, the victim was behind the wheel of a 2003 Honda Element, traveling north on Buckhorn Road, when it was crushed by a tree that fell from atop an embankment at approximately 12:58 p.m. Oct. 23. 

“As the Honda was in motion, a tree fell from the east side of the roadway and landed on top of the Honda, causing devastating damage to the vehicle,” GSP stated. “The roof of the Honda collapsed in with the tree onto the driver, causing a fatal injury.” 

Habersham County Coroner Kasey C. McEntire identified for The Northeast Georgian Tuesday morning the victim as being Zekeiah “Nikki” Veramick Cole-Hunt, 36, of Mt. Airy. 

“Ms. Hunt passed away instantly from injuries sustained from a fallen tree [on her vehicle] while driving north on Buckhorn Road,” McEntire said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire family at this difficult time.” 

Public safety personnel worked tirelessly to free Cole-Hunt from the vehicle prior to her being transported from the scene. 

“At the time of the incident, the driver was performing her duties as a rural mail carrier and deliver[ing] mail for the U.S. Postal Service,” GSP stated. “The incident occurred after a long period of heavy rain and as winds were increasing in the area.” 

Habersham County was pummeled Monday by thunderstorms, which continued from the early-morning hours well into the afternoon, bringing hard rains and gusts of wind. 

The stretch of Buckhorn Road where Cole-Hunt was killed remained shut down for several hours after the incident, as the Element and related debris were removed from the roadway. It has since been reopened. 

When reached by The Northeast Georgian Tuesday, Rick Badie, Atlanta contact for U.S. Postal Service’s Corporate Communications division, declined comment, stating the incident was still under investigation. 

“We have nothing to say at this time,” he said. 



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



Clarkesville, Georgia  postal carrier killed in freak accident
October 24, 2017 By Joy Purcell


Mt. Airy woman dies after tree falls onto her vehicle along rural mail route


Freak accident. That’s how officials describe the event that lead to a local postal carrier’s death on Monday.

36-year-old Zekeiah (Nikki) Cole Hunt of Mt. Airy died when a tree fell on top of her vehicle while she was out delivering mail. It caused the roof of her 2003 Honda Element to collapse, killing her instantly.

“It happened immediately,” says Habersham County Coroner Kasey McEntire. “A very tragic accident.”

The fatal accident happened around 1 p.m. Monday at the height of the storm that swept through Habersham County. Gusty winds and heavy rain likely played a part. “It was pouring,” says Deanna Wilson with the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) Post 7 in Toccoa.

Hunt was traveling north on Buckhorn Road when the accident occurred, according to the GSP report. Wilson says there were no witnesses.

“She was a dear friend,” says McEntire. “Death is no respecter of age.”

McEntire says Hunt was married with three children. He adds, “Our thoughts and prayers are with her entire family at this time.”

Queens jury awards $41.5 million negligence sum to Bina Frosch, who lost her Department of Sanitation worker Steven Frosch, 43, when a runaway street sweeper driver by Antonio G. DeCaro pinned him inside a city garage in Maspeth

The widow of a city Department of Sanitation worker who was crushed to death by a runaway street sweeper won a $41.5 million negligence award against the city Tuesday.

The Queens jury granted the massive sum to Bina Frosch, who lost her husband Steven Frosch, 43, when the vehicle pinned him inside a city garage in Maspeth in June 2014. At the time, the couple’s four children were ages 11, 8, 3 and 7 weeks.

“The loss has been unbearable for me and my four children, and it always will be,” Bina Frosch told The Post.

Her lawyer, Ben Rubinowitz, said his client’s husband “was killed as the result of negligence of a fellow Sanitation worker.”

The wrongful-death suit claimed that city employee Antonio G. DeCaro “negligently took his foot off the brake pedal without putting his vehicle in park,” causing the accident.



DeCaro blamed the incident on faulty equipment. The city is on the hook for the eight-figure judgment since DeCaro was driving the street sweeper as part of his job. Modal TriggerA funeral was held at Catherine of Sienna for NYC Sanitation worker Steven Frosch.VICTORALCORN.COM

The jury gave the family $40 million for future economic loss because Frosch was ready to retire from the Sanitation Department to become a financial planner, Rubinowtiz said.

“I am grateful to the jury for understanding how important Steven was to all of us,” his widow said.

Jurors awarded another $1.5 million for “conscious pain and suffering” after learning that Frosch was alive for 2 to 3 minutes before succumbing to his injuries.

He had been on the job for 18 years and was fixing his own street sweeper when he was hit by his colleague’s vehicle.

It took the jury of four women and two men just 1.5 hours to come back with the judgment Tuesday afternoon. The trial lasted a week.

“We’re very pleased with the verdict,” said Rubinowtiz, who tried the case with law partner Peter Saghir.

“It’s a heart-wrenching story,” Rubinowitz said, “four children lost their father and a wife lost her husband at age 43.”

A city Law Department spokesman said “the city recognizes that this was a tragedy and did not contest. However, the city believes that the jury’s verdict exceeds the reasonable limits that have been recognized by appellate courts and will pursue its legal options to reduce the award.”

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


A city sanitation worker died Saturday when he was crushed under a street sweeper in Queens, police said.

Steven Frosch, 43, was making adjustments to his sweeper inside the Department of Sanitation garage on 48th St. in Maspeth when he was hit by the driver of another sweeper who failed to see him about 1 p.m., officials said.

Frosch, a married father of four who worked for the department for 15 years, died at the scene.
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Beloved Sanitation worker mourned

Steven Frosch was killed on the job Saturday, leaving a family behind







GO FUND ME PHOTO

Steven Frosch, a 15-year veteran of the Sanitation Department, was killed last Saturday in Maspeth when he was pinned between two street sweepers. Over $40,000 had already been raised online for his family by Wednesday morning.


Posted: Thursday, June 26, 2014 10:30 am

by Christopher Barca, Reporter 


By all indications, Steven Frosch was a man who cared more about his family than anything else.

He even left his job as an NYPD officer in 1999 after five years for another city position in a safer line of work.

But on Saturday, Frosch, a 15-year veteran of the Sanitation Department, was killed in an accident inside the Queens West 5A garage at 58-02 48 St. in Maspeth where he worked.

According to police, the Garden City South, LI resident was performing maintenance on a street sweeper when a second street sweeper, driven by a colleague, accidentally struck him, pinning him between the vehicles.

When police arrived, he was unconscious and unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS.

Frosch, a 1989 graduate of St. Francis Prep, leaves behind a wife and four children, the youngest child being just 2 months old.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of one of New York City’s Strongest today while on the job in service of our city,” Mayor de Blasio said in a statement over the weekend. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Steven Frosch’s family — especially his wife and four children — as well as his friends and fellow Sanitation workers.”

Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia also mourned Frosch’s death.

“Visits to his garage reveal a man deeply admired and loved by his colleagues, many of whom were his dear friends,” Garcia said. “This will be a week of mourning, but I have already seen the strength and compassion for our fellow employees as we grieve.”

A page on the popular fundraising website Go Fund Me was set up in Frosch’s name on Sunday, with a goal of $10,000.

By 11 a.m. on Wednesday, just four days after the tragic accident, $40,095 had already been raised for Frosch’s family.

Donations ranged from $20 to $1,000 on Tuesday alone, with dozens of people donating more than $100.

Comments from family members and mere acquaintances alike poured in just as the dollars did.

“Steve, I did not know you very well but I remember the bright spirit you had,” one man wrote. “May God watch over your family and bring peace to them.”

Frosch’s brother-in-law, Joe Cuz, also commented on the page, calling his sister’s husband one of the best men he ever met.

“Steve, you will be missed. I want to say thank you for everything you’ve done,” Cuz wrote. “I will always, for the rest of my life, think of you when I look at [Frosch’s children].”

Funeral services will be held Friday morning at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Franklin Square, LI.