Fire - Two Teens Admit To Starting Hollywood Hills Fire

Fire: 150 acres Brush Fire Dark Canyon in the 3600 block of Barham Boulevard, Los Angeles.

Aerial, Ground Fire Crews Contain Blaze

Los Angeles fire officials said the fire had been fully contained, but fire crews would remain on the line through Saturday to contain any hotspots.
After a heavy aerial attack with water-dropping helicopters, ground crews smothered the fire, which began near the Oakwood Gardens apartment complex off Barham Boulevard and climbed into the Hollywood Hills. Crews said it is possible that the fire started in the parking lot of the complex.

The winds were pushing the fire up toward the mountain.

The fire was first reported at 5 acres. It grew to about 150 acres.Crews said the fire was contained at about 4 p.m.
A hotspot developed at about 3 p.m. off Forest Lawn Drive near the Toluca Lake Tennis Club. Ground crews responded to the spot fire.Forest Lawn Cemetery canceled services for the day. The cemetery was not threatened, fire officials said.

One firefighter was sent to the hospital for lacerations to the ear and neck.

No structures burned.

Fire crews arrived at the location at about 1 p.m.

Two hundred firefighters were on the ground.

Helicopters and engine companies staged atop Mount Lee, site of the landmark Hollywood sign. The fire was about a half-mile from the sign.

No evacuations were ordered.


Police: Two Teens Admit To Starting Hollywood Hills Fire -

Two boys admitted that they started the fire. The boys, who were visiting from another state, were staying in an apartment complex near the origin of the blaze, Villaraigosa said.

'There was a witness who watched them do what they (did) or at least saw the incident, so that's a good thing,' Villaraigosa said.

Two boys turned themselves in to the Burbank Police Department, according to police. Their identities were not released.

Investigators did not term the fire an arson case. Deputy Police Chief Michael R. Hillmann characterized the case as "an irresponsible act.

Two maintenance workers attempted to stomp out the fire.

Early alert for forest - Dry winter poses wildfire risk

Earlier this month, officials celebrated cutting down the one millionth bug-killed tree in the San Bernardino National Forest.

It was a moment of understandable celebration because of the vast scope of the work: Trees had been dying at a high rate over the past decade, filling the overgrown forest with what are essentially standing matchsticks ready to explode.

For more than three years, dead and ailing trees have been coming down at a rate of 750 per day, boosted by a $70million grant from the federal government.

But as the sun shined brightly on another uncommonly warm March afternoon, the circumstances of that day's weather caused some concern.

'Normally, firefighters would be packing sandbags right now,' said David Stuart, a mountain resident and leader of the nonprofit group Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Minds, which was born out of the devastating 2003 Old Fire that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes. 'Instead, they are filling up their pumper engines.'

There's been little reason to make sandbags for residents to place around their homes for protection against heavy rainfall.

People used to talk about the region's fire season.

Traditionally"

Fire truck from Casa Loma Volunteer Fire Association found in creek

Stolen Fire Truck? A possibly stolen fire engine was found overturned in a creek today.
The engine was discovered overturned on it's roof at about 0430 or so this
morning. It belongs to Casa Loma Volunteer Fire Department engine found in a creek near Casa Loma Road.

CDF, San Jose Fire and Casa Loma Responded.

No injuries
Driver was not at scene
Investigation is underway.

---

Fire truck from Casa Loma Volunteer Fire Association found in creek.

By James Hohmann
Mercury News
Article Launched: 03/24/2007 11:09:17 AM PDT

A fire truck used by the Casa Loma Volunteer Fire Association in unincorporated Santa Clara County went off the road and into Llagas Creek early Saturday morning, and now investigators are asking questions about how the engine got out of the station without being dispatched.

The report of an overturned fire engine was received at 5:44 a.m. and no one was at the scene when rescuers arrived at the accident site on Casa Loma Road and found the engine in the water.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Captain Jim Crawford said the engine had not been dispatched and that he didn't learn it had left the station until after it was discovered in the creek.

Casa Loma Volunteer Fire Association Chief Kylee Vicha said she could not say when the fire truck was last seen at the station because of the ongoing investigation but acknowledged that it could have been stolen.

"I'm waiting for the powers that be that do their investigation to come up with a plan," she said, speaking by phone from the accident site. "They're investigating. It's a possibility."

The CDF, along with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's office, the California Highway Patrol, the San Jose Fire Department and the Uvas Fire Department, were at the accident scene Saturday.

Vicha said the volunteers have had the truck for about five years. The engine is one of four the association has.

The association provides fire protection for about 175 residents in a 5,500 acre area and assists in nearby Loma Prieta.

"Our volunteers can respond in a matter of minutes," the association's Web site says, "where professional emergency agencies make take one or more hours to respond.

NewsDaily: Science -- Analysis: The heart of firefighting

NewsDaily: Science -- Analysis: The heart of firefighting:

Analysis: The heart of firefighting

By ED SUSMAN

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., March 21 (UPI) -- When firemen are putting out blazes, their risk of dying from a heart attack is as much as 100 times greater than when they are hanging around the firehouse waiting for an alarm to ring.

"We think the combination of psychological stressors and the physical stressors take a toll on the fireman's heart when he is actually fighting a fire," Stefanos Kales, assistant professor of medicine at the Harvard School of Public Health told United Press International.

Kales and his colleagues scrutinized records of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the causes of deaths of firemen, estimating the amount of time they spend in any one activity and correlating that with heart disease-related deaths.

"We estimated that about 1 percent to 5 percent of the time, firefighters are suppressing blazes, yet that is the time when 32.1 percent of the heart disease deaths occur," Kales said.

Many previous studies have found a relationship between heavy exertion and heart attack deaths, Kales said, noting snow-shoveling deaths of men.

He said that when a firefighter goes into battle he carries heavy gear, he suffers from heat stress from both the fire and his protective clothing, and he is exposed to toxic gases and particulate matter in addition to climbing ladders and stairs and lugging high pressure hoses. On top of those physical stressors are the mental stress of entering a dangerous situation --the "fight or flight" adrenalin boost.

Kales said that the risk of dying while suppressing a fire, depending upon what analysis is used, is 12.1 to 136 times higher when compared with having a fatal heart attack during non-emergency duties.

Kales also found that among all cardiovascular deaths suffered by firemen, 13.4 percent occurred while responding to an alarm, 17.4 percent when returning from an alarm, 12.5 percent during training exercises, 15.4 percent while performing non-emergency duties, 9.4 percent while performing emergency medical services or non-fire emergency services.

"Our study shows that firemen should -- from the time they are recruited until the time they retire from the force -- have cardiovascular risk reduction training and activities." Kales said. "It is also important that physicians who treat firefighters make them aware of the potential risks involved in their jobs if there are cardiovascular concerns."

The researchers looked at 11 years of data kept by the government on deaths among firefighters, excluding the more than 300 deaths that occurred in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

During that time 1,144 firefighters died, and 449 of those deaths were classified as being caused by coronary heart disease.

Kales said that 144 of the deaths occurred while the firefighter was actively attempting to suppress a fire. Another 138 deaths occurred while on the way to a fire or returning from a call.

"This study shows that cardiovascular disease is an important cause of mortality among firefighters," commented Neil Coplan, associate director of cardiovascular medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. "Fire departments need to be vigilant in performing yearly physical examinations among their firefighters, and should attempt to reduce risk factors by engaging the firemen in physical activity, proper diet and encouraging smoking cessation."

Coplan told UPI that fire departments also need to make sure that if possible cardiovascular issues are discovered, these problems are promptly evaluated.

In an editorial accompanying Kales' research, Linda Rosenstock, dean of public health, and John Olsen, chairman and professor of public health epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, concurred:

"The implications of this study for firefighters is clear. Modifiable risk factors, whether or not they are related to occupation, should be aggressively addressed." They suggested mandatory annual medical examinations, annual physical performance examinations and implementation of wellness and physical fitness programs aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk factors.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Firefighters prepare for wildfires in U.S.

NewsDaily: TopNews -- Firefighters prepare for wildfires in U.S.:

SANTA CLARITA, Calif., March 18 (UPI) -- Due to unusually dry conditions, firefighters in California are bracing for a fierce season of wildfires."Santa Clarita Valley, just north of Los Angeles, has received just 4.34 inches of rain since the rainy season began Oct. 1. Surrounding areas have seen similar conditions.

Firefighters are warning residents that such dry conditions are fertile ground for the spread of fire, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

"Basically, anywhere in the Santa Clarita Valley (has) potential for significant fire hazard," said fire inspector Jason Hurd.

The Santa Clarita Valley normally has only 54 firefighters, but 23 additional firefighters have recently been brought onboard to address the wildfire threat.

Fire damages several rooms at Ventana Inn

Monterey County Herald | 03/22/2007 | Fire damages several rooms at Ventana Inn:

"Fire damages several rooms at Ventana Inn

Fire engulfed several rooms in the Ventana Inn and Spa in Big Sur late Wednesday, California Department of Forestry officials reported.

The blaze, which began about 5 p.m., took more than an hour to contain. Firefighters from the Big Sur Fire Brigade, the Mid-Coast Fire Brigade and Los Padres National Forest assisted.

The fire consumed a group of rooms, a forestry department official said, but the number of rooms damaged was not known Wednesday evening.

The official said the CDF sent three engines and an investigator to the scene, which by 9:30 p.m. was in the 'mop-up' stage.

Ventana Inn staff contacted by telephone said they were busy assisting guests and declined to comment.

Officials said the cause of the fire is under investigation."

City Hall wrestles with fire resources

SignOnSanDiego.com City Hall wrestles with fire resources

Chief sparked debate on costs of upgrades

By Mark Arner
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER CORONADO – A two-page letter from National City's fire chief is still reverberating in Coronado nearly a year later.

Chief Roderick Juniel wrote last April that his South Bay department was having trouble providing a ladder truck to help Coronado fight its frequent fires. Juniel recommended that his neighbors get one of their own.
In response, Coronado Fire Chief Kim Raddatz went to work reviewing his department's vehicles, staffing and number of fire calls. Statistics from five fire departments in South Bay and East County show Coronado has had more fires than its similarly sized neighbors since 2005, and that it has invested more money per capita on firefighters and equipment.
In January, nine months after Juniel wrote his letter, the Coronado City Council agreed to spend nearly $1 million to buy more equipment and hire more firefighters. A new truck – a Quint, which can carry water and holds a 100-foot ladder – will take about a year to arrive. Raddatz and his staff still need to agree on its exact size and specifications.
But the debate over fire protection, spurred by Juniel's letter, has continued at City Hall. Two council members wanted the city to spend more on fire protection, but were unable to sway the three-member majority when it came time to decide what to buy at the Jan. 16 council meeting.
Councilwoman Carrie Downey is particularly alarmed that Coronado has more than 1,000 buildings whose roofs can't be reached with the fire department's tallest portable ladders, which are 24 feet high. Until the Quint arrives next year, Coronado will have to rely on ladder trucks from other cities to effectively fight fires in buildings with three or more stories.
“My fear is what if we have a fire in a taller building, and San Diego and National City both need their ladder trucks?” Downey said in a recent interview. “How would we provide the equipment needed to put a large fire out?”
When Juniel wrote that cash-strapped National City was having a tough time providing mutual aid to Coronado, he suggested the fire department establish a ladder truck company in addition to its two engines and one ambulance. That would make the city more self-sufficient, he said, when dealing with its soaring daytime population and a coverage area of about 9 square miles.
The total cost would be about $1.6 million: $1.4 million to buy a new ladder truck and replace an aging engine, plus $1.2 million to hire nine more firefighters to staff the truck. Juniel, a former Denver fire chief with several decades of experience, also urged both cities to jointly plan equipment purchases.
The letter was released to the public by the Coronado city clerk after litigation was threatened a few days before the Jan. 16 meeting.
Raddatz said the more costly plan was “not sustainable . . . with existing revenue sources.” Councilman Casey Tanaka was in favor of spending more on fire protection, and noted a key problem raised by Juniel: Vehicles from other cities take too long to reach Coronado fires. Tanaka said the council should decide if public safety was its top priority. “Fires double with a certain frequency,” Tanaka said. “The chief from National City mentioned that the jump from four minutes to eight is a significant one.”
Tanaka and Downey insisted that Coronado had the money. The city has an annual budget of $34.5 million with nearly $37 million in cash reserves. “We can't throw out the excuse that we can't afford it,” Tanaka said.

San Francisco Apartment Arson Fire Suspect Sought

Silver Warner Arson suspect
San Francisco Apartment Arson Fire Suspect Sought

(CBS 5 / BCN) SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco police are searching for a man they said set a three-alarm fire Monday evening that gutted the Hayes Valley apartment building where he lived.

Police and fire department officials, working together as a Joint Arson Task Force, said Tuesday that they believe Silver Warner, 33, started the blaze at 52 Page St. near the intersection of Market and Gough streets.

Warner, a local artist whose photographs have been published in prominent local publications like Hamburger Eyes, has not been seen since the blaze erupted around 5:08 p.m.

Police describe Warner as a white man just over 6 feet tall with a slim build and collar-length brown hair. He was last seen wearing a black stocking cap, a tight jacket, blue jeans, tennis shoes and black-framed glasses. He was also carrying a bike-messenger bag.

Seventeen people were displaced and a firefighter was hurt after leaping from a fourth-story window during the containment of the fire, according to fire officials.

San Francisco fire Lt. Ken Smith said advancing smoke inside the residential four-story building forced a firefighter out of a window and onto the roof of an adjoining building 12 feet below. The firefighter sustained ankle and knee injuries in the fall but was able to rejoin his unit, Smith said.

All residents were accounted for and unharmed, though someone's cat went missing. Burning on both the third and fourth floors, flames eventually caused sections of the roof to cave in, and the rear stairs caught fire, making access more difficult, Smith said.

He also called the blaze "stubborn" and said 125 firefighters were summoned to extinguish it during the three-alarm response.

The fire was contained within the hour, but smoldering hot spots kept crews busy afterward. An estimate is still not available and water damage in lower units made the entire building unfit for immediate occupation.

The fire appeared to threaten the neighboring Kanbar Performing Arts Center, but its concrete exterior acted as an effective buffer against the fire spreading, Smith said.

Suspect Arrested In Deadly Santa Clara Duplex Fire

Marco Berrios
(CBS 5 / AP / BCN) SANTA CLARA

A Santa Clara man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder and other charges in connection with a deadly fire at a duplex Monday, police said.

Marco Berrios, 39, was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on charges of suspicion of murder, suspicion of continued sexual abuse of a child and a probation violation, according to police.

Berrios lived in the fire-damaged duplex at 4630 Snead Drive with his wife, Victoria Rojas, and her 9-year-old daughter.

The 9-year-old girl reported the fire to authorities and was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital. The girl had told police that her mother and stepfather were still inside the burning duplex.

Firefighters later located the charred body of an adult inside. Authorities have not yet identified the person killed in the fire because the body was badly burned, but family members believe the victim is Rojas.

Berrios, believed to be the stepfather mentioned by the girl, was not home at the time of the blaze, according to police.

Meantime, Santa Clara police officer Mike Garcia was credited with getting a family of three out of the duplex's back unit.

Garcia knocked on a bedroom window, while avoiding flames, and made contact with a man who assisted in the rescue of two additional family members from the back unit of the duplex, including an infant, fire officials said.

Fire chief extinguishes his career

Fire chief extinguishes his career

By Kymm Mann/Appeal-Democrat

Kymm Mann/Appeal-Democrat Retired Sutter County Fire Services Manager Chuck Vanevenhoven, right, chats with a guest at his recent retirement party at Hillcrest Plaza. The chief was in the fire service 34 years.

He's had two hernias, plummeted through a ceiling, overturned a water tender truck and fallen off a roof.

So maybe it was good, after 34 years in the fire service, that Chuck Vanevenhoven finally called it quits.

The Sutter County Fire Services manager retired in January after serving seven of those 34 years as chief. He mingled and laughed at his recent retirement dinner at Hillcrest Plaza in Yuba City, greeting people at the door and swapping stories with new and veteran firefighters alike.

“I was a little overwhelmed,” he said. “But the really special thing, was, my old captain from CDF, Paul Burks, was there. He's 85 and came to the party.”

The event was organized by Live Oak Fire Capts. Dan Yager and Dan Root, along with the Sutter County firefighters.

“It's good, I'm ready,” Vanevenhoven said with a smile between greeting guests. “It's been a good, long time in the field, and because of the statistics that show the stress factors of fire service are very high, they allow you to retire at 50.”

Vanevenhoven overdid his time by nearly two years and said he has bittersweet feelings about the retirement.

“It's going to be sad leaving all my good people, lots of friends and really good co-workers; What I'm going to miss is working with the family,” he said. “It's cliched, but working with those guys, we're a family. But I'm definitely ready for the next chapter of my life.”

While the former chief relaxes and spends some well-deserved time fishing, hunting and spending time with his daughter, Paige, and girlfriend, Pam Sullivan, various captains will fill in until the hiring of another chief, according to Root.

“We all just pull a little extra duty until we find a replacement,” he explained. “Chuck's dedication to Sutter County and to the fire service has been an inspiration to many of us in the Fire Department. All of us who have worked with him over the many years ... wish him well in his retirement.”

Root, a captain for eight months, has been with Sutter County for 24 years.

Vanevenhoven began his career with the Regional Occupational Program, or ROP, at Yuba City High School in 1972.

“It was called the fundamentals of firefighting and was held at (former) Walton Fire station,” he recalled.

He still remembers missing his high school graduation night party because he was working with California Department of Forestry in Dobbins and got called to a fire at the Colgate Power House.

“I had friends come by the station and say, ‘Man, you missed a really good party,'” he said with a hearty laugh. “But I really, really wanted to work in fire service.”

Vanevenhoven did it all, including serving as fire chief and fire marshal before they were separate positions, as well as fighting fires.

His sharpest - and scariest - memory is overturning a truck at an intersection just six months after he got hired.

“It was June 1975, and I was responding to a mutual aid ... we

were going through an intersection Code 3 and I was in a great big water tender carrying 1,500 gallons of water, and a car hit me and knocked the water tender over on its top, and we skidded across the intersection,” he recalled.

“We were banged up a little bit, but the vehicle that hit us was smashed up pretty good. The guy was pinned and the car's engine compartment was on fire. We found the fire extinguisher, which had been thrown into a nearby orchard, and then helped the rescue squad cut the guy out.”
Vanevenhoven said he received accolades for his assistance “above and beyond the call of duty.”

“I just knew my fire career was over,” he said with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Man, I wrecked the fire truck!' But it worked out well.”

Vanevenhoven will continue to teach the fire academies at Yuba and Butte colleges, which he has done for 10 years. He also wants to visit his stations and former employees as often as possible.
Some of the former chief's greatest accomplishments, he said, are upgrading the emergency vehicle fleet, which included 10 new pieces of equipment, including a water tender, and Type 4 engines.

His biggest achievement was building the new fire station and Emergency Operations Center in Sutter in 2003.

“That was huge, because that was where everyone went to for high ground during floods, and that little Quonset hut from World War II, that just wasn't cutting it,” he said.

One of things Vanevenhoven said he will not miss is the inability to leave work at work.

“That's one luxury you don't have in a chief position,” he said. “You're always on call, so it's hard to have much of a personal life, even though I decided a long time ago that this isn't going to be my life, it's part of my life, but I need to do other things.”

For now, Vanevenhoven he still has rarely a dull moment, even three months after officially retiring. His parents, Tom and Peg, live in Tierra Buena, and his brother Nick runs Van's Bike Shop in Yuba City.

“I guess retirement just kind of snuck up on me,” he said. “I had some things I wanted to do for the department and all of a sudden, I woke up one morning and realized that I was the old guy. It's young man's job, and I'm not young any more.”