California wildfire death toll: 2 firefighters, great-grandmother, 2 children

REDDING, California — Two young children and their 70-year-old great-grandmother died in the wildfire that swept into the city of Redding with devastating speed, their family said Saturday, and a bulldozer operator who died working to contain the fire was identified as an 81-year-old man from a small community east of Sacramento.

A tearful Sherry Bledsoe confirmed the deaths of her grandmother, Melody Bledsoe, and her children, James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4.

The fatalities brought the death toll to five since the so-called Carr Fire started burning Monday. It exploded Thursday, jumped the Sacramento River and entered the Redding city limits.


The Shasta County Sheriff’s Department identified the bulldozer operator as Don Ray Smith of Pollock Pines. He was overtaken by flames while on the job and his body was found Thursday.

Authorities previously identified another firefighter fatality as Redding Fire Department Inspector Jeremy Stoke, who was killed on the job Thursday night. Details have not been released.

Donna Araiza, founder of the Alyssa Araiza “Wings of Angels” organization for seriously ill children, said Stoke regularly donated to her group, as well as the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“He and his wife, Alyson, were always supporting us,” Araiza told the Record Searchlight, Redding’s daily newspaper. “He was a generous and a good man.”

The Bledsoes lived near the Keswick Estates neighborhood, and their home, like many around it, was reduced to ashes. The tragedy leaves Ed Bledsoe without his wife and the great-grandchildren he doted on.

“He lost everything. Everything. You can’t lose more than family. And then you lose everything on top of that?” said Don Kewley, whose girlfriend is one of the Bledsoes’ granddaughters. “The man’s got the shirt on his back and the pants on his waist. Like that’s it.”

Ed Bledsoe had headed out for supplies Thursday thinking the flames were far away, but while shopping he received a desperate call from his great-grandson. The boy said he had to come back to the home. Flames were closing in.

“We need your help,” the boy said, according to Jason Decker, who is the boyfriend of another Bledsoe granddaughter.


Kewley said the family believed the area was not in imminent danger and Melody Bledsoe had no car.

Ed Bledsoe rushed home, but was turned back by police. The fire was raging and there were walls of flames.

Decker took the day off work Friday and drove his motorcycle to the home to look for members of the family but only found the smoldering remains of the house.

A day later, what remained of the Bledsoe property was surrounded with crime scene tape.

Decker said his own children played with James and Emily and they had trick-or-treated together.

“I don’t even have any more tears to cry,” Decker said. “But I keep finding them.”   /kga

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Roof of Bellagio mall burns near iconic fountains in Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Flames ripped across the roof of the Bellagio’s shops and restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip as tourists watched the nighttime fire reflected in the iconic fountain show at the hotel-casino, authorities said Friday.

No injuries were reported in the late Thursday blaze, which didn’t reach inside the Via Bellagio mall, Assistant Clark County Fire Chief Larry Haydu said. Damage was limited to the roof.

Gusty winds fanned the flames, forcing employees to evacuate tony stores such as Tiffany & Co. and Chanel. Pedestrian bridges to Bally’s and Caesars Palace closed, and busy Las Vegas Boulevard was shut down.

Operations were not interrupted in the posh Bellagio casino or the 36-story hotel with nearly 4,000 rooms, said Yvette Monet, spokeswoman for owner MGM Resorts International.

She said the shops were either closed or closing at the time of the fire.

Investigators were trying to determine what sparked the fire, which burned what appeared to be foam building material, Haydu said. No construction was going on in the area, hotel officials said.

Haydu said the 77 firefighters who fought the blaze had trouble reaching the roof of the shopping complex, which also features celebrity restaurants such as Todd English’s Olives and Lago by Julian Serrano.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the building material was the same type that burned in a January 2008 fire atop the Monte Carlo hotel-casino a few blocks away, Haydu said.

That fire was sparked by welders on the roof and forced the evacuation about 6,000 guests and employees and caused more than $100 million in damage and lost business at the 3,000-room resort.

Investigators found an improper type of resin had been used in two decorative elements near the top of the 32-story hotel, which caused the fire to spread faster than expected along the roof and facade. Some upper-floor rooms received water and smoke damage.

* * *

Associated Press writer Sally Ho contributed to this report.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Death toll from Romania nightclub fire soars to 43

BUCHAREST, Romania - Two more people succumbed Sunday to their wounds from a horrific nightclub fire in Bucharest that brought down the Romanian government, bringing the death toll up to 43, a hospital official said.

The chief of Floreasca hospital's plastic surgery department said the victims—a young Romanian woman and a Turkish tourist—died a day after nine other wounded lost their lives, including two who had been transferred to the Netherlands for treatment.

"The next seven days will be the most difficult with regards to treating the wounded," Health Minister Nicolae Banicioiu said Saturday. "We welcome any help, any medical teams coming from abroad."

Romanian media criticized the authorities for failing to transfer some of the wounded to hospitals abroad in time.

"Why has Romania not asked for international help before?" Gandul daily wrote, adding that the country's hospitals were struggling to treat more than 140 people wounded in the October 30 tragedy at the Colectiv nightclub.

Eighteen people were transferred abroad on Saturday—eight to Belgium, eight to the Netherlands and two to Austria. Two more will be flown to Britain and Hungary on Sunday, the defense ministry said.

Doctors say some 100 wounded remain hospitalized, among them 44 in critical condition.

The fire broke out when fireworks let off during a rock band's performance triggered a blaze and a stampede as panicked revellers tried to flee.

The tragedy sparked mass anti-government protests, with many viewing compromised safety standards at the club as emblematic of Romania's wider problem with rampant corruption.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who had been under pressure for weeks as he goes on trial on corruption charges, quit on Wednesday, saying it was right for top officials to take responsibility for the tragedy.

Initial investigations suggest numerous breaches of the safety rules at the club, including a lack of emergency exits and the fact that flammable materials were used for sound insulation.

The club's three bosses, detained since Tuesday on manslaughter charges, did not have the authorization to host concerts, let alone pyrotechnic shows.

Ponta's resignation has not stemmed the huge protests by Romanians demanding a "profound change" in the way the country is governed. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com