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 Local News

08/07/09

By JESSE DUNSMORE

Times Herald  

Kimball Township fire damages apartment

KIMBALL TWP. -- An apartment fire in Kimball Township on Friday night destroyed one unit and forced several people to find another place to stay for the night.

The fire started in a second-floor apartment at the building at 5299 Gratiot Ave. , said Battalion Chief Harold Shands of the Kimball Township Fire Department.

He said it was too early to be sure what caused it, but he said he believed it was an electrical fire.

The department was called shortly after 10:30 p.m.

The Marysville and St. Clair fire departments, St. Clair County Sheriff Department, Michigan State Police and Tri-Hospital EMS also responded. St. Clair Township Fire Department staffed Kimball Township 's station.

No tenants were injured, but one Kimball Township firefighter injured his ankle on the stairs leading to the second-story deck.

Utilities were being shut off for the night, Shands said, and tenants were being told to stay elsewhere.

Tenant Gordie Moreland, 19, lives on the second floor two doors from the apartment where the fire started.

He was alerted when another tenant pounded on his door, then he and some friends began knocking on other doors.

He said he could see a small fire inside the apartment that quickly grew.

"It was just a little flame, and then we were standing here and (said) 'Wow, that fire's getting kind of big.'"

07/19/09

By LIZ SHEPARD

Times Herald  

Trooper injured in crash

A trooper from the Michigan State Police Richmond Post was injured in a car crash shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday.

Trooper James Koveck, 40, was responding to a domestic assault call when he swerved to avoid a van at the intersection of Rattle Run Road and Gratiot Avenue, said Michigan State Police Richmond Post Sgt. Mark Sulkowski.

Sulkowski said it appeared a van traveling southeast on Rattle Run Road had stopped at the stop sign but started to proceed into Koveck's path.

Koveck, who was traveling northeast on Gratiot Avenue, swerved to avoid hitting the van, he said.

Koveck lost control of his vehicle and hit a pile of rocks before striking a parked semi trailer.

The trooper was responsive when emergency crews arrived at the scene, Sulkowski said.

Koveck suffered a laceration on his head and was transported to Port Huron Hospital and later released.

A news release from the post identified the driver of the van as a 78-year-old Memphis man who told police he didn't see or hear Koveck's vehicle. The driver of the van was interviewed and released at the scene.

Alcohol was not a factor in the crash, according to the release.

Sulkowski said the incident remains under investigation. He didn't know at what speed the trooper was traveling or if any citations were going to be issued.

Koveck has been with the Michigan State Police for nearly 11 years, Trooper Brenda Hoffmann said. He is a Persian Gulf War veteran and was a police officer in Capac for two years before joining the state police, according to past Times Herald reports.

Firefighters from Kimball Township, officers from the Marysville Police Department and St. Clair County deputies responded to the scene. A Port Huron Township firefighter passing the scene also assisted, Sulkowski said.

Carly Walkowski, 16, of Columbus Township said she was at a gas station near the intersection when the crash occurred.

"When I saw him swerve, I just started running (toward the car)," she said.

She said his lights and siren were on. When she approached the vehicle, the trooper was talking, but witnesses were unable to get his door open, she said.

After another witness called police, she said she called her father.

"It's the scariest thing I ever saw," she said, as her dad, Jon Walkowski, comforted her at the scene.

06/18/09

By JESSE DUNSMORE
Times Herald  

Floodwaters halt bus

BWAT vehicle tries wading through flooded road, strands passengers

Less water fell from the sky Thursday, but Wednesday's water stuck around on the ground.

On North Pine River Road in Kimball Township , water swirled around the feet of 16 passengers on a Blue Water Area Transit bus that was driven onto a section of road covered by the overflowing Pine River .

BWAT general manager Jim Wilson said Thursday he didn't know why driver Judith Rumptz drove the bus into more than 3 feet of water a little before 9 a.m.

He said his drivers are trained to avoid driving through standing water.

"(She's a) very outstanding driver and employee, but still expected to not be careless, so we'll have to investigate to see if there was any carelessness involved," Wilson said.

There could be disciplinary action taken against Rumptz if she's found to have been negligent, he said. He wouldn't be more specific.

Kimball and Port Huron township fire departments unloaded the passengers using a rowboat, brought them south on Pine River Road and had them checked out by Tri-Hospital EMS before loading them on another bus to finish their trip to the Arc of St. Clair County.

The bus was pulled out of the water by S & S Towing of Port Huron.

The road will remain closed between Ravenswood and Smiths Creek roads through at least part of today, along with Brennan Road between Bricker Road and M-19 in Kenockee and Emmett townships, and Rynn Road between Duce and Fargo roads in Kenockee Township .

Ponds overflowed at a business near Sturdevant and Griswold roads in Kimball Township , affecting a handful of homes and properties in the area.

The flooding originated at Simple Dynamics LLC, which owns the former Evans Mining Corp. property at 1900 Richman Road .

Alice Kaminski, whose Sturdevant Road front yard was flooded to knee-level in spots, said the damage will be extensive.

"My yard is totally flooded and my driveway is washed away," she said.

The water began flowing on to her property at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Water also filled the neighboring roadways.

Dianne Justa, who also lives on Sturdevant, had water in her yard as well.

"I've never seen anything like this," Justa said.

Several other roads had water on them but were not closed Thursday, said Kirk Weston, general manager of the St. Clair County Road Commission.

The northwest part of the county took the brunt of the storm, Weston said, adding he didn't have to close any roads in the southern half of the county.

Water flooded two businesses Wednesday in Capac.

Daniel Bell, manager of the Capac Community Historical Society, said the water damaged the carpeting of the society's building on Kempf Court . Some historical wedding announcements and receipts that were stored in boxes were damaged, but Bell didn't think the papers were valuable.

No one could be reached for comment at the Main Street Villa, the other flooded building, though Mussey Township Fire Chief Don Standel said Wednesday he didn't believe the damage was extensive.

Reporter Jason Alexander contributed to this report. Contact Jesse Dunsmore at (810) 989-6276 or jdunsmore@gannett.com.

02/17/09

By JASON ALEXANDER

Times Herald  

Crash sends truck into Wadhams Country Kitchen

WADHAMS -- A three-vehicle crash Tuesday night sent one vehicle into a Kimball Township restaurant.

Deputy William Black of the St. Clair County Sheriff Department said a pickup stopped to turn left into the Marathon gas station while traveling west on Lapeer Road at Wadhams Road .

Another pickup stopped behind it, and a Dodge Durango, which police estimated was going 40 mph, struck the second truck, which crashed into the first truck.

Black said the female driver of the Durango may have tried to avoid the collision at the last second, as it veered right and crashed through a wall and window at Wadhams Country Kitchen, 5340 Lapeer Road .

The restaurant was closed, but there were two workers inside. They were not injured.

The crash took out part of the wall and a window and knocked over several tables. Nearly the entire vehicle was inside the building.

"I was counting at the cash register, and I heard an explosion and that was it," restaurant employee Vicky Spencer said. "It was very loud."

The driver of the Durango was taken to an undisclosed hospital, but police did not know the extent of the injuries late Wednesday night.

Sandusky resident Chris Ball was in the first truck. He said his vehicle went up in the air and came down, but didn't have too much damage.

"I got woken up pretty good," Ball said. "It happened real fast."

Port Huron resident Bruce Hartman was in the second truck.

"She was going pretty fast when she hit me," Hartman said. "I didn't see she went inside the building until I stopped."

Police did not know if alcohol was a factor.

The incident is still under investigation.

Contact Jason Alexander at (810) 488-7741 or jalexande4@gannett.com. 

02/18/09

By LIZ SHEPARD

Times Herald  

Police suspect alcohol in crash

 Restaurant could be closed for weeks after SUV plows through storefront

Wadhams Country Kitchen may reopen in a matter of weeks after a Tuesday accident sent a sport utility vehicle careening through the front of the restaurant.

"We'll be up and running again (in the next few weeks), maybe sooner if we can get the ball rolling," said Cheryl Michels, who manages the business at 5340 Lapeer Road for her grandmother, Marvel Van Norman.

Police said a 45-year-old Clyde Township woman driving a westbound Dodge Durango crashed into the restaurant after hitting a vehicle stopped in front of her at Wadhams Road about 8 p.m. and causing a chain-reaction accident that involved a third vehicle. 

The woman, who police estimated was driving about 40 mph, may have tried to avoid the collision, veering right and driving through the front of the restaurant.

Two employees were inside the building at the time of the accident, but neither was injured. The restaurant was littered Wednesday with scattered cinder blocks and salt and pepper shakers.

St. Clair County sheriff Lt. Matt Paulus said alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the accident. The woman driving the Durango was taken to Port Huron Hospital after the accident and was released Wednesday, he said.

Police are waiting for the results of toxicology tests, which could take about two weeks to be completed, to determine if the driver will face charges. Her name has not been released.

Michels said an insurance adjuster was at the restaurant Wednesday, but a dollar figure had not been placed on the damage.

"There's extensive damage," she said. "You can't even believe the mess inside." John Dondineau, a Kimball Township resident and regular at the restaurant, said he's going to be at home a lot more for the next few weeks.

He has frequented Wadhams Country Kitchen, where he often meets friends and family, at least once a day since it opened about 20 years ago.

"If the wife didn't talk me into watching 'American Idol' last night, I probably would have been sitting at that table where it went through," Dondineau said.

It's the second time this year one of his favorite eateries has met with disaster. Dondineau also was a regular at the American Grill in Port Huron Township , which burned down in January.

"It's a shame, you know. (There are) two good restaurants here in town, and to have something major happen to both of them. And the way the economy is right now, it's just rough on them," he said.

Contact Liz Shepard at (810) 989-6273 or lshepard@gannett.com.

02/23/08

By BOBBY AMPEZZAN

Times Herald  

Man dead in Kimball crash

Robert Edward Laturno Jr. of Port Huron died just after 2 a.m. Sunday when he lost control of his car and slammed into two mobile homes in Somerset Meadows mobile home park in Kimball Township.

Accident investigators from the St. Clair County Sheriff Department were at the scene at 1900 block of Meadowlark Sunday investigating a fatal accident that happened that morning.

Laturno, 22, and another man were visiting Laturno's sister at her boyfriend's house, and they were drinking. They left to pick up food at a nearby, late-night restaurant, and Laturno was driving at an unusually high rate of speed through the subdivision when he lost control of the car and caromed off the corner of one mobile home parallel to the street, then another, before the car came to rest in front of a house on the other side of the street. His body had been partially ejected out the driver's side window of the vehicle after the first strike when he hit the second house.

St. Clair County Sheriff Lt. Tim Donnellon said the passenger was a younger man who also had been drinking and may have panicked and fled after the accident. He made contact with family members, and police will not release his name pending an interview, Donnellon said.

Laturno was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sunday, accident reconstructionists took measurements, and Donnellon said Sunday morning that an autopsy likely will be performed and toxicology reports made out, despite the fact that the deceased is the responsible party in the incident.

"It's a private-property fatal accident," he said. "It's not a normal accident by any means."

Sunday morning, Tony Porritt and Wayne Webster, both 42 and from Port Huron, drove to the accident scene to see first-hand what had happened to their friend.

"Whatever happened here last night was not indicative of what (Laturno) was about," Porritt said. "He was a good and caring young man."

Porritt said Laturno had been living with him recently. A 2004 graduate of Port Huron High School, the 22-year-old was employed in Richmond at one of his family's adult-care homes, Porritt said.

Known as 'Ralphie' to people close to him, he was a hunter and fisherman loyal and attentive to his friends who was quick to help out.

"He was mechanically inclined, and ... more times than he wanted, his phone rang (from friends) needing help," Webster said.

01/31/08

By CRAIG DAVISON
Times Herald  

Fire burns at county landfill  

KIMBALL TWP. — Firefighters from multiple fire departments were battling a blaze early this morning at the Smiths Creek Landfill. The fire was reported at about 11 p.m. by Richard Meinhardt, who lives across the street from the landfill and works there on Saturdays.

Billowing smoke blew west from the landfill as firefighters from departments as far away as Memphis helped fight the blaze on the top of a hill at the landfill on Smiths Creek Road. The cause of the fire is unknown.

Meinhardt said it was the same hill that burned in the last fire at the landfill.

In May of 2006, it took eight fire departments to put out a fire at the landfill. Meinhardt estimate this fire was larger than the previous one. He estimated its size at 500-by-500 feet. He said he moved one piece of equipment on site out of the way for fire trucks but said none of the equipment is in danger.

Meinhardt said it appeared the firefighters had the fire contained by about 12:30 a.m. Firefighters continue to battle blaze

Firefighters from departments as far away as Memphis are fighting a blaze on the top of a hill at the county landfill on Smiths Creek Road.

The fire was reported at about 11 p.m. by Richard Meinhardt, who lives across the street from the landfill and works there on Saturdays.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

10/02/07

By CRAIG DAVISON and MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

Fire destroys Kimball Township home

KIMBALL TWP. - Local firefighters and an official from the Michigan State Police are investigating a fire that left little standing of a house at 5246 Dove Road.

Neighbors reported the house was engulfed in flames about midnight Tuesday.

Kimball Township Assistant Fire Chief Ed Gratz said the fire at the 2,200-square-foot home had been burning for quite some time before it was he home's owner, whom authorities have not identified, was out of town when the fire happened and has not yet returned. Gratz said the man lived in the home by himself.

Sgt. Jim Bush of the Michigan State Police said he will be at the scene today. He said it is not yet known if the fire was suspicious.

The house sat nearly 2,000 feet away from Dove Road and was surrounded by trees. Some neighbors reported that part of the surrounding woods caught fire during the blaze.

One neighbor reported hearing what seemed to be an explosion.

"The house, garage, everything's gone," John Swinson, who lives west of the house, said early Tuesday morning.

Twenty-four firefighters from Kimball Township, Marysville and Port Huron Township fire departments responded to the fire.

One of the Port Huron Township firefighters suffered either a pulled muscle or strained a ligament, Gratz said, but it appears to be minor. reported.

8/22/07

By MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

An overturned truck blocks traffic Wednesday morning on eastbound I-69 just west of Taylor Road.

KIMBALL TWP.- Traffic was blocked briefly Wednesday morning while crews righted a tractor-trailer that tipped on eastbound Interstate 69 about a mile west of Taylor Road.

The tractor-trailer, hauling pancake mix, syrup and barbecue sauce, rolled on its side about 7:45 a.m. and slid about 100 feet down the shoulder of the highway. None of the products inside spilled but emergency crews cleaned up a small fuel leak.

Police said the driver, Zacharias Sakellis, 64, of London, Ontario, overcorrected after he swerved onto the right shoulder while reaching for a water bottle. Sakellis said he was taking a load of food from Chicago to Toronto. He owns an independent food-distribution business in Ontario.

"I tried to reach my water bottle, and I just hit the grid on the side of the road," he said.

The left lane of I-69 near the accident was closed for most of the morning because the tractor-trailer had to be emptied before crews could clear the truck from the scene. Both lanes were closed as the tractor-trailer was hauled away.

St. Clair County sheriff Deputy Mike Berger Jr. said the driver most likely will not be cited. No one was injured.

06/28/07

Officials still investigating suspicious fires

By MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP.- The Michigan Arson Prevention Committee is offering up to $5,000 for information about suspicious fires at a former adult foster-care home at 6531 Lapeer Road.

An April 22 fire destroyed the home on the property, and a June 6 fire destroyed a cinder-block garage behind it.

The home, which used to be Pine Hill Adult Foster Care, was vacant at the time of both fires. The state Department of Human Services ordered that residents of the foster-care home be removed on Feb. 9 after police discovered a methamphetamine lab in the garage.

Raymond Archie Laturno, 41, of Kimball Township was sentenced earlier this week to 56 months to 30 years in prison for operating a methamphetamine lab in the garage. He was dating the home's owner at the time of his arrest.

Arson evidence found at the scene of the garage fire has been sent to the Michigan State Police's forensic lab in Sterling Heights.

St. Clair County Sheriff Department Detective Colleen Titus said it's unknown when test results will be available.

Few details about the fire, including where it started, have been released.

While officials still believe the house fire was suspicious, extensive damage at the scene prevented state police investigators from determining a cause.

06/27/07

House 'unlivable' after kitchen fire

Times Herald

Firefighters put out a kitchen fire in the 5100 block of Lapeer Road in Kimball Township Tuesday afternoon that left the house unlivable. 

Fire officials said the cause of the 3:52 p.m. fire was accidental. 

There was smoke damage, as well as fire and water damage, mostly to the kitchen. 

Residents were home at the time but no one was injured in the blaze. 

Kimball Township firefighters will be at the scene today to continue the investigation. 

Port Huron and Clyde townships and Marysville firefighters assisted Kimball Township Fire Department.

06/18/07

Family saved in fire

By SHANNON MURPHY

Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP. — Firefighters continued to battle a blaze early this morning at 345 Lincoln Ave. The fire started at about 12:45 a.m. today.

Kimball Township Fire Chief John Gorski said the cause of the fire is not yet known, but 

believes it began in the roof or the second story of the home. Gorski said firefighters will continue to investigate today to try and determine a cause.

The homeowners, James and Andrea Vail, were able to escape the home. Their two children were camping in a tent outside the home when the fire began.

“The smoke alarm didn’t go off until the fire was well under way,” Andrea Vail said.
Heather Priestman of St. Clair was driving west on Interstate 94 when she saw the flames shooting from the roof of the home, which sits just off of the highway. Priestman pulled over and called 911 and drove to the home.

“I started banging on doors and windows,” she said. “I kept yelling ‘Wake up, your house is on fire.’”
Priestman was able to wake up the Vails, who came running outside.

“I saw bikes in the yard, so I knew there were kids there,” Priestman said. “I just wanted to make sure everyone got out OK.”

The fire destroyed the top floor of the home and spread to parts of the bottom floor.

“All our stuff is in there, everything we own,” James Vail said as he watched firefighters battle the blaze.

Kimball Township was assisted by fire departments from Marysville, Port Huron Township and Clyde Township.

02/10/07

Residents of home removed

State agency acts after raid finds meth lab

By SHANNON MURPHY

Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP.- A state agency moved all residents out of an adult foster-care home Friday after police said a meth lab was found on the property Wednesday.

The state Department of Human Services ordered residents be moved while an investigation continues into Pine Hill Adult Foster Care home, 6531 Lapeer Road.

Raymond Archie Laturno Jr., 41, of Kimball Township was arraigned Thursday for operating the lab from a garage on the property. He also faces weapons charges.

"To ensure the safety of the residents, all of them will be moved out today," said Maureen Sorbet, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Human Services.

She said the agency has had people at the home for the past few days conducting an investigation and working to find other places for the residents to live. Pine Hill is licensed for 14 people. Sorbet was not sure how many people were living there Friday.

Pine Hill owner Kellie Lauer on Thursday said Laturno was her boyfriend and that she and residents did not know anything illegal was going on in the garage.

She could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. People at the home declined to comment.

Sorbet said Lauer's license has not been revoked. This is the fourth time in about a year Pine Hill has been under state scrutiny.

The Department of Human Services investigates foster-care homes any time a complaint is filed.

Since January 2006, the department has investigated several allegations at Pine Hill, including claims that a member of the household had a criminal record. According to the complaint, an investigator found that a member of the household with a criminal record failed to notify the state that he or she was living at the home. The complaint does not state who the person was.

In November, Pine Hill again was investigated after a complaint was filed saying a resident was not being cared for properly. The investigation found no violation.

In September, a complaint was filed that stated Lauer and a live-in friend were drinking and using illegal drugs and the home was unclean.

The inspector found no evidence of drinking or drugs but found violations of some unsanitary conditions, such as a dirty bathroom and a yard with broken equipment, unused cars, refuse and litter.

Sorbet said during an investigation the owner typically is asked to put forth an action plan to fix any problems. An investigator then follows up at the site.

"We have licensing people that go in and investigate specific complaints to see whether or not the provider is out of compliance with program rules and regulations," she said. "Depending on what they find, they can take any range of action, up to suspension or revocation of the license."

02/09/07

Man faces charges in meth bust

Kimball resident charged with running lab in garage of adult foster care home

By SHANNON MURPHY

Times Herald

A 41-year-old Kimball Township man was arraigned Thursday on charges he was operating a meth lab from a garage at an adult foster-care home.

Raymond Archie Laturno is charged with possessing a controlled substance, second offense, two counts of carrying a concealed weapon and driving with a suspended license. He was arraigned by St. Clair County District Court Magistrate Stephen Thomas.

A preliminary examination is scheduled Feb. 20.

Police discovered the methamphetamine lab about 3 a.m. Wednesday in the garage outside Pine Hill Adult Foster Care, 6531 Lapeer Road. The Times Heraldlearned the lab was on the foster-care home property through a post in the StoryChat forum at thetimesherald.com.

Police found the lab after Laturno was arrested Tuesday on outstanding warrants for possession of methamphetamine and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Laturno had meth ingredients and a gun in his possession when he was arrested. Police said they don't expect to charge anyone else at the home in connection with the meth lab.

Kellie Lauer, owner of Pine Hill Adult Foster Care, said Laturno was her boyfriend, but she didn't know he was doing anything illegal in the home's garage. She said he didn't live there, although he listed Pine Hill as his address in court records.

Lauer said she let police into the garage early Wednesday. Inside the garage, Lauer said police found a small padlocked toolbox from which they took items. She said she didn't know what was in the box.

Lauer said the state Department of Human Services now is investigating the foster home. Department officials did not return a phone message left Thursday afternoon.

Lauer said she has operated the foster home for about two years, but elderly people, some with mental illnesses, have lived there for several years.

"These people (that live here) are just as innocent as I am," Lauer said. "I'm real worried about it."

02/08/07

Task force busts second meth lab

Man arrested in another Kimball drug investigation

By CRAIG DAVISON

Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP.- A 41-year-old township man will be arraigned today in St. Clair County District Court on multiple felony charges after police found a working meth lab in a garage behind his home.

Police discovered the meth lab at 3 a.m. Wednesday in the 6500 block of Lapeer Road.

The lab was found after police arrested the man Tuesday evening on outstanding warrants for possession of methamphetamine and assault with a dangerous weapon, said Lt. Ronald Muxlow with the St. Clair County Sheriff Department Drug Task Force.

The man's name has not been released pending his arraignment, scheduled for 12:30 p.m. He is being held in the St. Clair County jail in Port Huron Township.

Police said the man faces charges of felony firearm possession, carrying a concealed weapon, transporting a loaded firearm, operating or owning meth-lab chemicals, committing a felony while possessing a firearm, driving with a suspended license and violating his probation.

When police arrested the man on the warrants, they found chemicals used to make methamphetamine and a rifle.

Police went to the man's house where they got permission from another resident to search the garage.

"We searched that garage, and we did find a meth lab and several other firearms," Muxlow said.

The chemicals present in the lab and the man's car were enough to make between 2 and 5 grams of meth, Muxlow said. Muxlow said police did not know how long the lab had been in operation.

He said the lab produced meth using red phosphorus.

According to a Web site from the International Association of Firefighters, the method reduces ephedrine or pseudoephedrine using red phosphorus and hydriodic acid. Red phosphorus is highly unstable and, once ignited, can release a deadly gas, according to the site.

Police found a similar meth lab Jan. 5 in a Kimball Township barn at 4737 Griswold Road.

Almyron Dobson, 50, has been charged with operating the lab. His brother, Timothy Dobson, was charged with frequenting a drug house.

02/04/07

Firefighters brave heat, cold

Officials aren't sure what caused fire at vacant house; no one hurt

By MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

ST. CLAIR TWP. - Firefighters will be seeking help from Michigan State Police fire investigators to determine the cause of a Sunday afternoon fire that destroyed a house at 7373 Frith Road.

Kimball Township Fire Chief John Gorski said firefighters have not determined a cause of the fire, which was reported at 1:26 p.m. by neighbors.

Crews from Memphis and St. Clair joined Kimball firefighters at the scene, fighting bitterly cold temperatures as well as the fire.

No one was home at the time of the fire, Gorski said.

Firefighters were told the house was vacant, although debris was inside the house, and some cars were parked in front of the garage.

"We're not really calling it suspicious yet, because we haven't had the chance to talk with a homeowner," Gorski said. "He can't be reached at this time."

He expected a state police fire investigator would visit the scene today to determine what caused the blaze.

At this point, Gorski said burn patterns indicated the fire started in the southwestern or western side of the house.

"Due to the extensive burning at that end of the house, we've determined that's probably where the fire started," he said.

Temperatures hovered around zero Sunday afternoon, making extra precautions necessary in the extreme conditions.

Gorski said firefighters' gear offers some protection, but a rescue truck was parked and left running so the firefighters could climb inside and warm up.

1/17/07

SUV crashes into farm agency; no one hurt

By MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP.- No one was injured Tuesday when a sport utility vehicle veered off Wadhams Road about 1 p.m. and crashed into an office building.

Police said a medical condition caused Stuart H. Coleman, 71, of Kimball Township to black out and crash his GMC Yukon into the U.S. Department of Agriculture Service Center at 2830 Wadhams Road.

The center houses the Farm Service Agency and the National Resources Conservation Service. The Farm Service administers programs that include federal loans for farmers.

The SUV broke through the northwest wall of the service center and careened into a Farm Service Agency office, knocking an employee's desk 5 feet and hurling a filing cabinet out of the office, said Dean Forrester, executive director for the Farm Service Agency in St. Clair and Macomb counties.

The vehicle hit the building at a slant, Forrester said, with about 10 feet of the SUV inside the employee's office. The impact split the door in two. "It shoved (the county director's) desk five feet and threw books and wood all over the place," Forrester said.

Forrester credited a heavy file cabinet and a pine tree for minimizing damage and injury. "I think that tree slowed him down, plus the file cabinets were pretty heavy," Forrester said.

1/15/07

Police seek arson charges Capac man, Kimball woman 

suspects in fires

By MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

Police have requested felony arson charges against two St. Clair County residents for unrelated fires in Capac and Kimball Township .

Michigan State Police Fire Investigator Sgt. Mike Waite said a Capac man is expected to be charged with arson of an occupied dwelling in the Capac area. A Kimball Township woman is expected to face multiple charges for an unoccupied structure fire in Kimball Township .

The woman could face charges of arson of real property and arson of insured property.

Waite would not identify the fires or the suspects because those responsible have not yet been arrested. Both fires occurred in late 2006, he said.

"I don't want to say anything until after they've been arrested," Waite said.

Neither of the two suspects has a history of arson crimes. Waite also believes they acted alone.

One of the suspects is expected to turn himself or herself in Tuesday. Police are searching for the second suspect.

No one was injured in either of the fires.

Waite said he did not believe the suspects were involved in any of the other unsolved St. Clair County arson fires he is investigating.

He and other authorities are investigating several arson fires that happened last year in St. Clair County and in the city of Port Huron .

Rewards still are being offered for a pair of December arson fires in Port Huron .

# A $5,000 reward is being offered for information about a Kern Street home that was firebombed Dec. 29. Fire officials said Molotov cocktails were thrown against the front of the house.

# A $10,000 reward is being offered for information about a pair of vehicle fires set Dec. 23 inside the AT&T vehicle storage facility at 2020 Bancroft St .

1/8/07

Man arraigned in meth-lab bust Police believe illegal facility was producing

By CRAIG DAVISON

Times Herald

A 50-year-old Kimball Township man was arraigned Sunday after authorities found a meth lab Friday in a barn on Griswold Road.

Almyron Dobson is charged with possession and intent to deliver methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, drug manufacturing, felony firearms violation and maintaining a drug house, St. Clair County Sheriff Sgt. Tom Buckley said.

Dobson's preliminary examination is scheduled for Jan. 16 in St. Clair County District Court.

Dobson's brother, a 53-year-old Kimball Township resident, was questioned and released pending issuance of warrants.

"We're going to do more checking to see if he had any involvement," Buckley said.

Buckley said he at least will be charged sometime this week with frequenting a drug house .

Dobson's brother lived in the house with his sister, while Dobson lived in the barn where the lab was set up, Buckley said.

This is the first working lab discovered in the county in two decades. A lab was discovered in 1986 in Greenwood Township.

The lab was set up to produce a batch of about $2,800 of the illegal drug, which police believe was happening at least every other day.

The department's drug task force found methamphetamine, marijuana and drug packaging materials.

The task force also found products, including hazardous materials, used to make meth, such as camping fuel, gas-line antifreeze and muriatic acid.

Neighbors told police they suspected the men had been producing meth for about a year.

1/7/07

Kimball meth lab busted

  By MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP. — A 50-year-old township man is expected to face multiple drug charges today after authorities discovered a meth lab Friday afternoon in a barn on Griswold Road.

St. Clair County Sheriff Lt. Ron Muxlow said the discovery was significant, because it was the first working meth lab discovered in the county. The lab was set up to produce a batch of about $2,800 of the illegal drug, which Muxlow believes was happening at least every other day.

The 50-year-old man will be charged with possession and intent to deliver methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, drug manufacturing, felony firearms violation and maintaining a drug house.

He is set to be arraigned today in St. Clair County District Court in Port Huron.

Authorities plan to seek charges against a second man, a 53-year-old Kimball Township resident. The man was questioned and released pending issuance of warrants.

The department’s drug task force found methamphetamine, marijuana, drug packaging materials and hazardous chemicals used to make methamphetamine. Task force members also found several products used to make meth, including camping fuel, gas-line antifreeze and muriatic acid.

After the raid, neighbors told police they suspected the men had been producing meth for about a year.

The raid is part of an increasing methamphetamine presence in St. Clair County, Muxlow said.

“We’ve been receiving recent intelligence on increasing methamphetamine use in St. Clair County,” he said.

Muxlow said the lab produced meth using the red phosphorus method.

According to a Web site from the International Association of Firefighters, the method reduces ephedrine or pseudoephrine using red phosphorus and hydriolic acid. Red phosphorus is considered highly unstable and once ignited can cause a deadly gas, according to the site.

“Some of the chemicals and the gases that they produce could kill you,” Muxlow said. “If it ignited, you could have a huge explosion.”

Meth lab chemicals are so dangerous local police called in a Drug Enforcement Administration crew from Kalamazoo to clean up the site.

10/11/06

Blazes destroy garage, damage home's roof Kimball fires not considered suspicious

By CRAIG DAVISON

Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP.- Firefighters are expected to continue investigating the causes of fires Tuesday and Wednesday in a garage attached to a home at 191 S. Allen Road.

The first fire started about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, destroying most of the garage and causing minor damage to the house's attic, township Fire Chief John Gorski said.

At 8:21 a.m. Wednesday, firefighters received a call to return to the house for another fire that started in the garage and damaged the home's roof.

Gorski could not confirm if the original fire rekindled Wednesday. The fires are not believed to be suspicious. No one was hurt.

"It's just one of those sparks," Gorski said. "It could have been something electrical that caused today's problem, we don't know that yet."

The homeowners were at the house when both fires started. They will not be able to return to the house immediately because of damage, Gorski said

"There's some damage to the house and smoke damage," Gorski said. "When they had the fire (Wednesday), there was some damage to the roof of the house."

The Marysville Fire Department assisted at both fires. The St. Clair Fire Department also was at the scene Wednesday.

9/22/06

Man faces 9 charges in arsons

Accused tells magistrate, 'I don't think I'm a danger to the people'

By MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

A 23-year-old Marysville man was arraigned Thursday on nine criminal charges, including assault with intent to murder, for setting six Sept. 9 fires in Clyde Township.

  While about 30 people watched via closed-circuit television, John Jay Searles was arraigned in

Searles, who was arrested Wednesday, faces up to life in prison. He was charged with seven felonies and two misdemeanors.

The fires on McLain Road included a barn fire that killed 18 horses at Classic Quarter Horses, a porch fire set while a family slept and one that burned a pick-up truck.

Magistrate Stephen Thomas set Searles' preliminary examination for 9:30 a.m. Oct. 3. He is in the St. Clair County jail in Port Huron Township on $750,000 bond.

"I don't think I'm a danger to the people and the community," Searles said when Thomas asked him what bond amount should be set.

County Prosecutor Mike Wendling asked Thomas to set a high bond, saying Searles received fire training while in the U.S. Coast Guard and could set more fires if not in jail.

Petty Officer Matt Scholfield, with the U.S. Coast Guard's district headquarters in Cleveland, said Searles is not in a database of active servicemen. Scholfield did not have access to past records, but said some servicemen are trained to fight fires on boats.

Beverly McCollum, owner of Classic Quarter Horses, said she had mixed emotions after the arraignment.

While she is glad Searles has been caught, McCollum said the fire ruined the horse-breeding program she'd been nurturing for 18 years.

Among the horses that died in the fire was Lets Go First Class - a 14-year-old stallion that was a two-time reserve national champion. The fire also killed a promising young stallion, XS Class, who was 6.

"There was a breeding program out there in that barn that I've been working on for 18 years," McCollum said. "Three generations have been wiped out."

Wendling said Searles later could be charged with animal cruelty. The horses' monetary value was taken into consideration when assessing the damage done to McCollum's barn, he said.

Rachel Leveille, who lives on McLain Road, said she was disappointed Searles wasn't charged with animal cruelty.

When the barn caught fire, she and her daughter rushed across the road, desperate to free the horses.

"It was just cold and calculated and terrorism of a neighborhood," Leveille said

9/21/06

Arson suspect arrested

Marysville man expected to be arraigned today

By SHANNON MURPHY and MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

A 23-year-old Marysville man is expected to be arraigned today in St. Clair County District Court on charges of setting several Sept. 9 fires in Clyde Township, including one that killed 18 horses.

The man, whose name has not been released, was arrested late Tuesday, after the St. Clair County Sheriff Department received an anonymous tip, Sheriff Dan Lane said. Police believe the man, who was arrested in Clinton Township, set several fires on McLain Road, including garbage cans, a truck, a dog kennel, a porch and a barn at Classic Quarter Horses farm.

The Michigan Arson Prevention Committee and private residents offered an $8,500 reward for information leading to an arrest in the fires.

"We're still in the infancy stage of interviewing him," Lane said. "We don't have a motive yet."

Police still are searching for suspects in several other area arsons, including those in Wales and Kenockee townships on Sept. 4.

and others affected by the fires said they're relieved the man was arrested. However, many, such as Classic Quarter Horses farm worker Kelly DeJean, said the arrest can't take away the horror of the fires.

DeJean cared for the horses that died in the fire and had to take firefighters and investigators through the burned barn.

St. Clair County Prosecutor Mike Wendling said the suspect could face assault charges and several arson charges, including arson of a dwelling, arson of a building and arson causing damage. He also could be held responsible for the value of the 18 horses that died.

Depending on the charges, the man could face up to life in prison, Wendling said.

McLain Road resident Rebecca DuChene, whose truck was burned in the fires, said she's glad the suspect will have to answer for the damage he committed.

"They're going to need a ruler and a calculator for all the counts against him," she said.

DuChene said she hasn't been able to sleep well since the arsons and probably still will have problems. She said she expects several of her neighbors feel the same way.

Lights shine all night from windows in almost every nearby house, DuChene said.

"We don't feel secure," she said. "I probably never will."

Relief is still tinged with anger for horse owner Dave Campbell of Wales Township. Snickers, a horse that belonged to his 15-year-old daughter, died in the fire.

"If it is the person, it's a big relief," Campbell said. "I kind of wish we would've caught him first, but I'm glad he was found."

09/09/06

Arson string turns violent

Barn blaze kills 18 horses as 6 fires hit Clyde Twp. road

By MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

CLYDE TWP. - Authorities are investigating six fires Saturday morning on a short stretch of McLain Road, including one that killed 18 horses.

Firefighters were called at 4:30 a.m. to the 3100 block of McLain Road, where they found a barn at Classic Quarter Horses in flames. While en route to the farm, firefighters also received calls to vehicle, garbage can, shed and porch fires farther down McLain Road.

St. Clair County Sheriff Lt. Tim Donnellon called the string of fires "suspicious." He said they could be related to several other suspicious fires set in recent weeks in Wales, Kenockee and Kimball townships.

The McLain Road fires were more dangerous and brazen than the prior arsons, Donnellon said.

"(Burning) abandoned barns are a lot different than burning a barn full of animals or somebody's porch," he said.

Sgt. Mike Waite, a fire investigator with the Michigan State Police, wouldn't speculate Saturday about a possible cause, but agreed the fires were suspicious.

"Any time you have more than one fire in the same area, it's suspicious," he said.

Authorities used an arson-detecting dog to check for accelerants at Saturday's fires. A string of fires

Clyde Township Fire Chief Gary May said the barn fire was so intense firefighters could not get inside to free the horses.

"There was no saving the horses," he said. "We just put the fire out."

The fire was most likely started inside the barn, May said.

One horse did escape the barn but was so badly burned it had to be euthanized. It is unclear how the horse escaped.

Horse owner Kay Lehvonen was devastated when she learned of the news. Her horse, Nick, died in the fire. "We came over and it was gone," she said. "It was just gone. No horses ... no everything."

Family and friends said Bev McCollom, longtime owner of Classic Quarter Horses, was too distraught to speak.

Farm worker Kelly DeJean and several others expressed sympathy for a woman they say was always willing to help other people.

"(McCollom's) a wonderful person and she doesn't deserve this," she said.

In addition to breeding her own horses, McCollom boarded horses for other horse owners. Many of the owners were at the scene Saturday, doing their best to comfort each other.

Sue Campbell of Goodells had to wake up her 15-year-old daughter to tell her that Snickers, her quarter horse mare, was dead.

It was one of the hardest things Campbell said she'd ever had to do. She said her daughter visited the farm almost every day and had planned to ride Snickers in the homecoming parade.

  "This is her life," Campbell said. "If you don't own a horse, you don't understand." Hitting home

Several other neighbors were affected by fires, including a porch fire burning outside a teenager's bedroom.

Smoke drifting through a window set off a fire alarm and allowed the family to escape.

Sixteen-year-old Jeremy Heath and his father used a garden hose and shovels to put out the fire and keep the rest of their house from burning.

After they doused their own fire, the Heath family's attention moved across the road, where their neighbors' truck was engulfed in flames.

The truck, owned by Rebecca and Jeff DuChene, was for sale and had been parked next to the road at the end of their driveway. The vehicle was completely burned out.

The neighbors couldn't imagine who would set the fires but hoped they were caught soon, before somebody gets hurt. "We've got a freak on our hands," Jeff DuChene said. "Somebody that's really sick in the head." 

SUSPICIOUS FIRES

·  AUG. 30: Firefighters battle a fire about 12:29 a.m. at the empty former Victorian Inn, 1229 Seventh St., Port Huron. Police suspect arson.

·  MONDAY: About 24 Kimball and Port Huron township firefighters battle a fire in an abandoned house at 4725 Lapeer Road in Kimball Township. Firefighters received the call at about 5:40 p.m. and were at the scene for almost five hours. The house was destroyed and the fire was deemed suspicious.

·  TUESDAY: Police believe a barn was set on fire at 9505 Sparling Road in Wales Township. At 7:04 a.m., a barn at 8817 Bryce Road in Kenockee Township caught fire, causing two other barns also to burn. About 10 minutes later, the Wales Township Hall at 1372 Wales Center Road began burning. Each of the barns were destroyed. The fires are being called arsons.

·  SEPT. 5: Firefighters respond about 11:16 a.m. to heavy black smoke and flames in a vacant home at 2036 Goodells Road. It is being called suspicious.

   

09/06/06

Officials: House fire may be arson

Damage to abandoned structure the 4th suspicious blaze in 2 days

By DANIELLE QUISENBERRY and MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

WALES TWP.- Police and firefighters are continuing to investigate a suspicious fire Tuesday at an empty house on Goodells Road, not far from the sites of three suspected arsons Monday morning.

Firefighters responded at 11:16 a.m. to a report of a fire at 2036 Goodells Road, south of Sparling Road, said Ed Gratz, Kimball Township assistant fire chief.

A south corner of the long-unoccupied and dilapidated house was black from flames that were quickly squelched by firefighters from several departments. The blaze was contained to a front room of the house.

The fire broke out the day after firefighters battled three fires at empty barns in Wales and Kenockee townships and at the Wales Township Hall on Wales Center Road. Each of the fires is being investigated as an arson.

As a result of the township hall fire, township employees on Thursday will move operations to the Memphis City Hall.

Michigan State Police Sgt. Mike Waite, who is with the state police's fire investigation unit, was at the Goodells Road fire Tuesday afternoon.

He also is investigating the Monday fires but said it's too early to tell if the incidents are related.

"There have been a rash of (suspicious fires) in this area," he said, as he packaged two small, plastic containers he found in the home.

The place, time and circumstances surrounding the Tuesday fire are similar to the Monday fires, said St. Clair County Sheriff Lt. Tim Donnellon.

The Monday fires were within six miles of the Tuesday fire and were set in vacant buildings sometime before noon.

Michelle Bailey of Wales Township, who owns the Goodells Road house with her husband, said she was "definitely suspicious" about the fire's origins.

She said the house, which sits out of sight from nearby homes, probably is a good target for arsonists.

Bailey said she and her husband were trying to sell the house. If it didn't sell, they were going to build on the property, she said.

"The house isn't worth a lot, so this is more irritating than heart-breaking," Bailey said.

TO REPORT INFORMATION

# Anyone with information about recent fires in Wales, Kenockee and Kimball townships can call the St. Clair County Sheriff Department at (810) 985-8115, the Michigan State Police Richmond post at (586) 727-0231 or the arson hot line at (800) 44-ARSON.

# Anyone with information about a suspected arson Aug. 30 at the former Victorian Inn, 1229 Seventh St., is asked to call the Port Huron Police Department's CAPTURE secret-witness tip line at (810) 987-6688 or (800) 44-ARSON.

RECENT FIRES

# AUG. 30: Firefighters battled a fire about 12:29 a.m. at the former Victorian Inn, 1229 Seventh St., Port Huron. The fire is being investigated as an arson.

# FRIDAY: About 24 Kimball and Port Huron township firefighters battled a fire in an abandoned house at 4725 Lapeer Road in Kimball Township. Firefighters received the call about 5:40 p.m. and were on the scene for almost five hours. The house was destroyed, and the fire has been deemed suspicious.

# MONDAY: Police believe barns at 9505 Sparling Road in Wales Township and at 8817 Bryce Road in Kenockee Township, along with the Wales Township Hall, 1372 Wales Center Road, were set on fire about 7 a.m. The fires are being investigated as arsons.

# TUESDAY: Firefighters responded about 11:16 a.m. to heavy, black smoke and flames in a vacant home at 2036 Goodells Road in Wales Township. The fire has been deemed suspicious.

09/01/06

Suspicious fire destroys vacant house in Kimball

By MOLLY MONTAG

Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP. - Officials are investigating a suspicious fire that destroyed an abandoned house Friday evening on Lapeer Road in Kimball Township.

Assistant Kimball Township Fire Chief Ed Gratz said Kimball will work with the state fire marshal to determine the cause of the fire at 4725 Lapeer Road. The fire's cause has not been determined.

Flames were already shooting through the roof when firefighters arrived on scene. Gratz said the house was completely destroyed.

More than 24 Kimball and Port Huron Township firefighters responded to the fire at about 5:40 p.m. and were at the scene for almost five hours.

Gratz said the house's abandoned nature and construction style made the fire harder to control. Firefighters do not enter abandoned houses because they don't know if the structure is secure, he said.

"It's a safety issue, because there could be holes in the floor or other unsafe conditions," Gratz said.

The fire forced many motorists to find a detour, because Lapeer Road was closed to through traffic for several hours.

Harold Grice of Port Huron was driving by when he saw the the house burning and dialed 911. Grice was concerned somebody might be in danger.

"We didn't know if there was anybody in there," said Grice, 37.

No one was injured by the fire.

05/27/06

Firefighters battle county dump blaze

By DANIELLE QUISENBERRY
Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP.- Firefighters from eight St. Clair County departments responded to a fire Saturday at the St. Clair County landfill.

The blaze began about 10:30 a.m. and consumed about three acres of garbage at the landfill on Smiths Creek Road. Smoke rising from the burning garbage could be seen miles away.

Firefighters had the blaze under control by noon and quenched by 1:30 p.m., said Kimball Township Assistant Chief Ed Gratz.

"It didn't take long to get it knocked down once we had an established water supply," Gratz said.

Because of the holiday weekend, Gratz called in extra departments to ensure adequate manpower.

He said he had no idea what started the fire, which was contained to the surface of the landfill.

Once the fire was out, a landfill worker used an earthmover to check for hot spots, Gratz said.

Darlene Sylvia, who lives across from the landfill, said she didn't notice the fire until she saw about a dozen fire trucks pass her house.

"I didn't know what was going on out there." 

10/29/05

Pilot burned in small-plane crash  

By SHANNON MURPHY

Times Herald

Home-built craft destroyed at county airport

KIMBALL TWP.- A 63-year-old Southfield man was badly burned Saturday afternoon after his plane crashed and burst into flames at the St. Clair County International Airport.

Robert May was attempting to land his home-built single-engine plane when he encountered difficulties about 1:20 p.m., St. Clair County Sheriff Lt. A.J. Foster said.

May tried to get the plane back into the air, but the left wing touched the ground, causing the plane to roll several times.

Foster said the plane then exploded into flames on the main runway, about 100 feet from the airport's main terminal building.

May was able to get out of the plane, but his clothing was on fire. Foster said an airport employee helped the man to a grassy area and put the flames out with a coat. May was the plane's lone occupant, and no one on the ground was injured.

Airport employees declined to comment Saturday.

May was taken to Mercy Hospital in Port Huron, then flown to a University of Michigan Health Systems hospital in Ann Arbor, where he was in critical condition Saturday night. Police said he sustained burns over about half of his body.

The airport was closed for about two hours and planes were diverted to other airports while crews cleaned up the runway.

Ed Gratz, Kimball Township's assistant fire chief, said it took firefighters about 20 minutes to extinguish the plane, then about an hour to clean up and make sure there was no fuel spilled on the runway.

Foster said the Federal Aviation Administration was called to investigate, but he wasn't sure when that would happen. The plane was not registered with the FAA since it was a home-built model.

The last reported local plane crash was Aug. 26 when a Croswell-area man crashed his home-built plane near a private landing strip in Lexington Township. He suffered head injuries.

On June 26, a twin-engine Piper was forced to ditch in Lake Huron near Fort Gratiot, slightly injuring the pilot. The five passengers weren't hurt.

Contact Shannon Murphy at (810) 989-6274

3/28/05

County landfill to harvest methane

$1.5 million project first in nation to turn septic waste into energy
By CHRIS SEBASTIAN

Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP.- Sarah Sylvia and her family for the past few years have watched Smiths Creek Landfill workers burn off methane gas collected from decomposing trash.

The family lives directly behind the St. Clair County-owned landfill and Sylvia, 24, always has wondered why the methane isn't collected and used for energy.

Construction will begin this spring on a $1.5 million system to do just that: harvest the methane so the county can sell it to developers for a profit.

While collecting landfill methane isn't new, the Smiths Creek site will be the first in the nation to add residential septic waste to the garbage to crank out more gas.

Accepting liquid waste also gives septic haulers another place to deposit residential waste, and environmentalists hope it cuts down on illegal septic dumping. No facilities exist in St. Clair County to handle septic-tank solid waste or septage. The closest plant is in Mount Clemens in Macomb County. Septic haulers long have wanted a closer dump site.

Using septic waste speeds up methane-producing decomposition. Quicker decomposition also means workers can recover landfill space sooner than without the septic waste.

Sylvia said she wouldn't mind the new waste because she won't smell it.

"There is no odor," landfill manager Larry O'Keefe said. "Everything is buried; it's similar to a person who has a septic tank in the ground."

Crews will start construction by June 1 and should have work completed by about Dec. 1, O'Keefe said.

Before any septic waste is accepted, the landfill needs to build up a layer of garbage for the system to work. That could take a few months, O'Keefe said.

The state Department of Environmental Quality has approved the plans but must give final approval once construction is complete.

The landfill wouldn't convert the gas into energy but rather sell the gas to developers.

Sylvia also wouldn't mind more trucks coming into the landfill to deposit septic waste. It's worth it to collect the gas and make money, she said.

"You're going to have that with any business," she said of the truck traffic. "That would be a great idea."

2/1/05

With more training needed to become a volunteer firefighter, local departments are finding it difficult to get enough people to give their time.

"It used to be just a few hours of training; now the classes are getting more and more," said Ernie Kilgus, fire chief in Sanilac County's Elk Township, which relies solely on volunteers. "We've got seven to eight classes, and our people are working two jobs and with kids. It's like that all over."

Most departments in St. Clair and Sanilac counties have staffs made up mostly of volunteers. Local fire chiefs said most of them continually are short of volunteers because not many people want to commit to the time needed.

Volunteers were called on heavily during January for four local fires, including one where a woman died Jan. 17 in Lexington Township.

Almost all local volunteer departments are seeking more firefighters. And it's not easy because many departments are in sparsely populated rural areas.

Typically, volunteer firefighters, sometimes called paid on-call, are paid $10 a run, although some are paid more and some, such as those in Grant Township, aren't paid at all.

"You miss birthday parties and Christmas," Kimball Township firefighter Steve Kwasniewski said. "When the (alarms) go off, you're expected to be there. You put a lot of hours into it, but you get a lot back."

Nationwide, 74% of all firefighters are volunteer and close to 88% of departments are mostly or all volunteer, said Craig Sherman, director of government relations for the National Volunteer Fire Council. The council is a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that represents the interests of the nation's volunteer firefighters and emergency medical responders.

The challenge

Most volunteer firefighters in the Blue Water Area have to take about 155 hours of training once they start at the department. Ongoing training is monthly for most departments, plus a number of departments require medical first-responder classes for volunteers going on emergency medical runs.

"I think the challenge of recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters is something that is seen nationwide," Sherman said. "The biggest reason is time. Whether it's people living farther away from where they work or the fact that these days in most families both spouses work, so there's more share of responsibility around the house. That all gives someone less time to be involved in volunteer activities."

Firefighters in Sanilac County said they spend between 10 and 20 hours a week in extra training in addition to responding to calls.

"It has a lot to do with time," said Steven Schmidt, 22, an Elk Township firefighter who is going through training. "A lot of people have families and jobs. Squeezing in firefighting is a lot. I'm married with two kids, and leaving them during a storm is quite hard to do."

Schmidt, who has been with the department for about two years, is glad for all the training. He said it prepares him well for when he's on a scene.

"The first time I went out, it was really different," he said. "Going through and not knowing what is going to happen is the scary thing in the back of your mind. You have to do the training, otherwise you'll lose yourself."

Helping out

Firefighters in St. Clair and Sanilac counties said they have to rely on other departments when going to fight a fire. With fewer volunteers -- and many of them working other jobs during the day -- firefighters said they need to call other departments for backup.

Most townships, cities and villages have mutual-aid agreements, not only for volunteer shortages but for large fires where more water, equipment and manpower is needed. For example, a Jan. 15 fire in Kimball Township required help from seven other departments.

Kimball Township Fire Chief John Gorski said his department has 31 volunteers but is seeking nine more. He said the township makes good use of its mutual aid from other departments.

"Being down and short on people definitely puts more of a strain on people that are there," he said. "They have to make more runs and devote more time, basically."

Elk Township firefighter Ted Thayer said many fire scenes in Sanilac County are short-staffed because a lot of volunteers work day jobs in other cities.

"During the day it's hard to get people out there," he said. "We might call four or five departments and only get 10 guys from each one."

Some departments, such as Fort Gratiot, make it a requirement that most of their volunteers are available during the day.

"We usually average 11 to 12 people on during the days, then depending on what time it is, it pushes it up to 14 to 16," Fort Gratiot Fire Chief Ron Nichols said.

"It makes it so we have people on during the day."

Contact Shannon Murphy at (810) 989-6274 or semurphy@gannett.com.

                                               
                                                          SUITING UP: 

                                                                   Two fire- fighters get ready to go back into 

                                                           a burning house last month at 685 N.

                                  Third St. in St. Clair.

RESPONDING TO A CALL:

Fire Lt. Patrick Paradise 

of the Berlin Township Fire Department

 heads to a structure fire Monday

 in Macomb County's Armada Township. 

Firefighters from five townships

 were called to the fire at 76955 Romeo 

Plank Road. In the top photo, Don Barron

 of the Armada Fire Department 

tugs on a collapsible water tank to

 empty it. As training demands and

 time constraints increase, the number 

of volunteer firefighters is decreasing.

LOCAL VOLUNTEERS

ST. CLAIR COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENTS

GLOSSARY

KEY TERMS

PARAMEDIC: The most advanced in the area of medical responders. They can administer medication, do cardiac monitoring and advance airway skills, such as inserting tracheal tubes. Requires about 14 months of schooling.

1/15/05                                                                    

Blaze burns Kimball home

Firefighters will investigate cause today                                 

By SHANNON MURPHY

Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP. -- Firefighters today were to continue investigating what caused an eight-alarm fire Saturday night that destroyed most of a home here.

The fire at 1840 Sturdevant Road began about 5 p.m. and is believed to have started in or around the attic, township Fire Chief John Gorski said.

"We don't have any real idea how it started," he said. "It was well involved when we got here, and the whole roof was in flames."

A man, who said he was the homeowner but wouldn't give his name, said nine family members lived in the large, two-story, white home. He said only one person was home at the time, and firefighters said no one was hurt. Some pets were unable to escape. Other pets were carried out of the home and put in waiting cars and ambulances.

"This is bad," the man said as he watched firefighters fight the blaze.

Other friends and family members at the scene also declined to comment. Firefighters at the scene hadn't yet talked to the family members to get their names.

Flames could be seen shooting out the top of the home, and firefighters cut holes into walls to get to the fire. Smoke could be seen from more than two miles away.

Representatives from the St. Clair County Chapter of the American Red Cross were on hand to help the family, and a representative from a disaster recovery company was at the site to help secure the scene and eventually rebuild the home.

Gorski said most of the damage was contained to the second floor of the home. "The first floor is still pretty much intact," he said.

Kimball Township firefighters fought the blaze for more than four hours with help from Clyde Township, Emmett, Kenockee Township, Marysville, Memphis, Port Huron Township and St. Clair firefighters.                       

2/21/04

County likely will ask voters for radios

By DAVID JESSE

Times Herald

When Capac Police Chief Raymond Hawks is patrolling his village's roads, he has to have his cellular phone.

That's because in five or six locations in the village and inside most buildings, his radios don't work.

"We've got to hope and pray nothing happens," he said. "We all carry Nextel phones. That's our backup."

Hawks is among local police, fire and emergency responders hoping a new 800-megahertz communications system is headed quickly to the area. The new system would fix the communications problems in Capac and allow local agencies to talk directly with each other, something not possible now.

The St. Clair County Board of Commissioners is expected to vote in March on forming an authority to run the new system. Local governments then would have to vote to join. A public vote on paying for part, or all, of the system could come this fall.

The new system is expected to include all of the county's cities, villages and townships except for the city of Port Huron and Clay Township. Those two municipalities have their own dispatch centers and don't wish to join a centralized dispatch.

The $12.4 million system would replace a system installed in the 1970s. County officials hope to get $7.2 million in federal money but plan to ask residents to cover the rest. The county already has $750,000 in federal money for the project.

"All our plans are in place," County Administrator Troy Feltman said. "It's just a matter of pulling the trigger."

The problem

The biggest problem with the 1970s system was illustrated by a January snowstorm, county Sheriff Dan Lane said.

As local fire departments from several townships and the sheriff department responded to 12 different accidents along Interstate 94, communications quickly broke down.

"In order to talk to them, we had to call dispatch, and they had to relay it to the fire department and then the departments had to talk to dispatch and have it relayed to us," Lane said. "If we had the new system, we could have set up different communications groups and kept it straight."

The 800-meghertz system, which the state police uses, allows for up to 10 different groups to be set up so they can talk directly with each other while allowing other radio traffic to use other frequencies.

Capac also has problems communicating with other departments.

"A lot of times we're trying to talk car-to-car with the county, and we can't," Hawks said. "It's almost to the point where we have to go up the street and get to a higher spot so it will work."

The new system would require three radio towers placed throughout the county to improve coverage and an updated county dispatch center in Port Huron.

The money

Coming up with the $12.4 million likely will involve going to county residents and asking for either a telephone surcharge or a property-tax increase.

How much depends on federal funding. The county has asked for $7.2 million in homeland security dollars.

Local residents hope the federal money comes.

"From what I hear, there's a need for it (the system)," said Tim Holtz, 44, of Marysville. "I'm interested to see how they're going to pay for it. Hopefully, they'll get most everything from the state or federal government."

Trevor Smith, 32, of Kimball Township agrees.

"Twelve million dollars is a lot of money to ask us to pay," he said. "I think to pass a vote, they need to have money already lined up and ask us for only part of (the total cost)."

Another solution?

If federal money doesn't come through or voters reject a request for money, the county could look at phasing in the system, Feltman said.

That could include buying one tower at a time and providing service to just a small section of the county.

Another option could involve buying a mobile tower and several radios, Feltman said. The county could use the $750,000 in federal homeland security dollars it already has to pay for it.

"Of course then there's questions about how many radios to buy," Feltman said. "It's not going to solve all our issues."

Residents escape house fire; garage, kitchen damaged

By JOSEPH DEINLEIN

Times Herald

1/29/04

KIMBALL TWP. -- Jeremy Kowitz was surprised he didn't smell the smoke sooner.

Shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday, the garage at the rear of the 18-year-old's grandparents' house at 1924 Allen Road caught fire. The blaze gutted the garage and caused some damage to the kitchen that connected to it, Kimball Township Fire Chief John Gorski said.

About 25 firefighters from the Kimball and Port Huron township fire departments had the blaze under control within 15 minutes, the chief said. They remained on the scene at 11:15 p.m. A cause had not been determined.

Kowitz, who lives in the house with his grandparents, cousin and two dogs, was playing a computer game when he noticed the kitchen clock start to flicker.

"We had a lot of fuses blowing lately," he said. But when he went to the back of the house, he heard what sounded like firecrackers going off in the garage.

When he opened the rear door, black smoke poured in, he said.

He and the rest of the family went out the front door after calling 911. A neighbor, who saw the flames, also called 911.

The garage held most of the family's canned and dry goods, Kowitz said.

The family will stay in a camper parked in the driveway, assuming the power was turned back on at the house. If not, they were to go to Kowitz's aunt's house nearby.

Gorski said the Port Huron Township Fire Department was called because of the bitterly cold weather and the state of the fire.

"There were flames coming out when we got here," Gorski said.

"We didn't want to lose the house, so I figured we should call for help first."

1/10/04

Times Herald

MICHIGAN-BOUND GARBAGE: Photographers for Canadian news media photograph a truck carrying trash from Toronto as it passes though a Blue Water Bridge inspection lane Friday. The truck, one of an average 200 a day, crossed the bridge just before Tom Ridge arrived.

Michigan's U.S. senators used Friday's visit by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to lobby for help in stopping Canadian trash from crossing the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.

Sens. Debbie Stabenow of Lansing and Carl Levin of Detroit, both Democrats, gave Ridge 165,000 names of people who have signed an online petition to stop the trash imports.

Stabenow and Levin said Ridge should have seen how serious a problem the trash trucks are during his Friday afternoon visit to St. Clair County and the Blue Water Bridge.

"We're going to do everything in our power to stop it," Levin said. "It creates a security risk."

Ridge said the problem needs to be solved jointly with the Canadian government.

"It's one of those nagging problems that we as partners and neighbors have to keep discussing," Ridge said during a news conference at the Thomas Edison Inn, as trash trucks passed to and from Michigan on the bridge behind him.

About 200 garbage trucks from Ontario cross the Blue Water Bridge each day.

Most of the trash trucked into Michigan goes to the Carleton Farms landfill in Sumpter Township in southwest Wayne County. The landfill takes all of Toronto's trash and some of its sewage sludge.

Trash also goes to the Pine Tree Acres landfill in Macomb County's Lenox Township.

The senators said the trash imports represent a security risk.

In September, U.S. Customs inspectors found 1 ton of marijuana hidden in the back of a Canadian trash truck.

Untreated medical waste, which is banned from Michigan landfills, also has turned up in some shipments of Canadian trash.

Stabenow said increasing security measures for trash trucks should become a priority of the Department of Homeland Security.

"The way to do that is to stop the trucks," she said.

Port Huron resident Joseph Alloway unsuccessfully tried to organize a protest along Interstate 94 at the Fred Moore Highway about the Canadian trash issue. Alloway said area residents should be more concerned about the trash imports.

The trucks damage St. Clair County roads and carry potentially hazardous material on roadways.

"If you're driving behind them, that's coming up on your windshield or coming in your air intake," Alloway, 49, said.

"That wouldn't happen anywhere else. We're just letting it happen."

1/5/04

Times Herald

'Quiet zones' will muffle train noise at crossings
Local communities can silence use of whistles

They've been heralded for years as an effective tool of warning while at the same time being an irritant for those who live near them.

Now the residents who must endure frequent blaring of train horns may see relief.

A new rule issued by the Federal Railroad Administration could allow communities to establish quiet zones, essentially ending the use of horns as trains approach certain intersections.

"I'd love it," said Scott Card of Kimball Township. He, his wife, Laura, and their two children have lived in their Birchwood Lane home along a railroad track for three years.

"We knew there'd be trains," he said. "We never realized the whistle would be going."

Putting up with the loud horns, sometimes late at night, are something to which the family has grown accustomed.

Under the new rule, which takes effect Dec. 18, communities can choose to end the use of horns at intersections which have undergone safety upgrades, including added gates and signal lights.

The rule also has provisions for sounding horns closer to intersections.

"The expectation even in localities that choose not to establish a quiet zone, is that this rule will serve to reduce the level of noise and horns will sound for less time," said Warren Flatau, a spokesman for the railroad administration. "We think it's a win-win."

The federal government, however, has not allocated any money for those improvements, Flatau said.

The impact on St. Clair County railways isn't clear. Jim Warner of the St. Clair County Road Commission wasn't aware of the rule.

Robert Clegg, Port Huron city engineer, also hadn't heard of the new rule, but described it as intriguing.

Both said they've never heard complaints about loud train whistles.

Few worries

Terry Blashill, who lives on 16th Street in Port Huron and Card aren't worried that removing horns will increase risks to drivers.

The horns, Blashill said, aren't what catch a motorist's attention.

"I think (they) pay more attention to the lights," he said. "If they do get rid of (the whistles), I don't think anyone would notice."

Card has seen one accident at the railroad crossing near his home in the three years he and his family have lived there.

Operation: Lifesaver, a national railroad safety education group, is satisfied the rule won't add any safety dangers.

"If information in the (rule) is followed, there wouldn't be that much of a safety factor," spokeswoman Marmi Edwards said. "I think they're trying to give people options."

Because whistles can't be banned unless a stringent battery of safety requirements is met, Edwards doesn't think many areas will change their thinking on whistles.

Those requirements include having gates blocking the entire length of a crossing on both sides, road dividers or other devices that channel traffic through an intersection or establishing one-way streets at intersections with gates across the road.

The Allen Road crossing the Cards live near has gates and warning lights, but the gates don't stretch across the entire length of the crossing.

An Ohio rail safety organization sees the proposed changes as bad.

"I think they need to keep every aspect of rail safety in effect," said Debbie Klostermeier, director of Hands Across Rails. "I don't think it should be compromised."

Klostermeier's daughter was killed at a railroad crossing.

"I can't believe there's towns that don't want the safety," she said.

Jack Burke, a spokesman for Canadian National Railway, said it's too soon to react to the new rule.

"We're studying it, that's all I can tell you," he said.

Fact of life

Blashill doesn't even blink when a train's horn starts blaring near the 16th Street crossing. That crossing has three gates and warning lights protecting the two tracks.

"It's become so ordinary, you don't pay attention," Blashill said. "If you live in this area, it's part of your everyday life."

Blashill's home is within eyesight of the Amtrak train station and a railroad crossing that links with the tunnel to Canada.

"Ever since the new tunnel opened and the crossings were doubled, you probably get a train going through every 40 minutes," he said.

Sitting in his home last week watching television, Blashill didn't stop speaking as a train whistle wailed in the background. He didn't acknowledge the noise at first.

Card said he's grown accustomed to the noise and doesn't let it alter his daily life.

"There's really no way around it," he said. "You never know when a train will come through."

Card's wife, Laura, calls the whistles white noise.

"It's the same as living next to a freeway," she said.

The couple has noticed differences depending on who is driving the train.

Some engineers start blowing whistles far from the Card's Kimball Township home, while others will do a few short blows and are done.

"Sometimes, Scott and I will look at each other and say 'That was a nice honker,'" she said. "If it was consistent, it wouldn't be that bad."

12/01/03

Fire ripped through a Lambs Road mobile home

Times Herald

WALES TWP. -- Fire ripped through a Lambs Road mobile home Monday morning, sending one person to the hospital and gutting the home's interior.

Fire crews arrived about 7:45 a.m., shortly after the St. Clair County Sheriff Department received two 911 calls to report the flames. Neighbors said were leaping well above the trees that nearly surround the dwelling at 7902 Lambs Road.

The fire, which remained under investigation Monday afternoon, is believed to have started in the northeast corner of the home near a wood-burning stove, said William Rostine, a battalion chief with the Kimball Township Fire Department.

The house was destroyed, officials said.

"When we got here, it was too fully involved to tell how it actually started," Rostine said.

Kris Griffin -- the only person home when the fire broke out -- was taken by ambulance to Port Huron Hospital as a precaution.

He was treated Monday morning and released.

Griffin, whose age was unavailable, had escaped the burning mobile home when crews arrived, Rostine said.

"(Griffin) was acting kind of disoriented and confused," Rostine said, as thick white smoke continued to roll from the east side of the dwelling's roof and pieces of melted vinyl siding lay smoking in the front yard.

Sheriff Deputy Tim O'Boyle, who is handling the investigation, said the cause of the fire may never be known.

"When they get this much damage, it's rather hard to determine exactly how it happened," O'Boyle said.

"I don't believe we'll be able to tell for positive."

Emergency crews from Richmond-Lenox EMS and firefighters from Emmett, Memphis and Port Huron Township assisted at the scene.

Nov 11, 2003

Times Herald

Animal breaks into elementary school

Deer creates $2,500 mess in classroom                                       

WHO ME? A deer that crashed through a glass door Monday at Sparlingville Elementary School stares at the camera amid the damage it caused to a first-grade classroom.

By HANNAH NEWTON
Times Herald

KIMBALL TWP. -- Eight-year-old Nicole Hartfil went investigating after she heard a noise Monday night in a Sparlingville Elementary School classroom.

She was at the school with her parents helping with a PTA project, and she thought the noise was a janitor. Instead, what Nicole saw was a male deer running and jumping around the room and a shattered glass door leading to the outside. A computer was in pieces on the floor, and a television was "spun around."

"I didn't want to come into the room, so I went and told my dad to shut the door," she said.

About $2,500 in damage was done to the room, which is where first-grade teacher Lisa Bitonti has class.

The Port Huron Area School District has a $1,000 insurance deductible.

Shutting the door was the best thing the parents could have done, officials with the district said.

If the deer had escaped into the building, it could have destroyed other rooms or perhaps injured someone.

Martin Prout, the district's director of building operations, said the deer likely saw his reflection in the glass door and charged.

"He was like, 'Hey, what are you doing in my territory?'" Prout said.

A custodian opened the broken door and the deer ran out.

Other district custodians were brought to the scene for a cleaning job that lasted about five hours. The room was back to normal when students arrived at school Tuesday, except for the door, which was boarded up.

Prout said the immediate cleaning was the only option because the school has no classrooms to spare.

Principal Brenda Stevens returned to the school Monday night to survey the damage, which also included blood on the walls and floor, desks tipped over and papers strewn about.

"It was a lot worse than I dreamed it would be," she said.

May 23, 2003

April 23, 2003

April 16, 2003

February 1, 2003

By LORI PAIONK 

Times Herald

An old, but useful adage: Don't talk to strangers Marysville elementary school pupils got a lesson Friday on how to stay out of harm's way

MARYSVILLE -- The concept of a "stranger" can be difficult for children who, by nature, are trusting and don't think they have permission to say "no" to an adult.

A nationally renowned program called Escape School came to Washington Elementary School on Friday to teach children about misnomers of strangers, how to escape an abduction and how to avoid being victimized.

Parent Christy Evans said parents familiar with the program, which has been featured on TV shows such as Oprah and The View, became interested in bringing it to Marysville last year when some teenagers tried to entice young pupils to a vehicle.

Friday's program was led by Donald Lada, a funeral director from Flint. His parents' company, Dignity Memorial, performs the service nationwide free to schools as a community outreach program.

Lada reviewed the importance of using code words for children who need rides from people other than family, staying out of Internet chat rooms and what to do if approached by a stranger.

"Hang on to the bike and don't let go," he said to a fourth-grader sitting on a demonstration bike.

"It's going to be harder for (an abductor) to contend with you and the bike," said Lada, struggling with the bike in an effort to show that staying on may be better at times than running away.

Evans, who has two children in the school, said the program was effective because Lada used children in his demonstrations.

"He also used a few tricks to see if he could get them to fall for it," she said.

When Lada, who reminded them he was a stranger, asked the children what their phone numbers and addresses were, a few gullible boys and girls raised their hands to tell him the truth.

The pupils also got a quick self-defense lesson.

"When somebody grabs you, your first response is to pull away, but you're supposed to do a windmill thing," said fifth-grader Bradley Beaton, 11 of Marysville, demonstrating what he learned with a swing of his arm.

After the 45-minute program, Lada thanked the children and ended with a "treat."

He said a neighbor had just given him two puppies that were outside in his van. When he asked if anyone wanted to see them, a third of the fifth-graders eagerly raised their hands before feeling foolish about the lesson they'd just learned.

Principal John Fitzmaurice said the program came with a video that will regularly be shown to the young children.

January 29, 2003

By CHRIS SEBASTIAN

Times Herald

Noisy neighbor; Kimball Township residents are fuming 

over 24-hour drilling 'The constant humming, it gets on your nerves sometimes'

KIMBALL TWP. -- David Davenport is used to the trains that rumble behind his home on Griswold Road. It's the noise from across the street that's drilling into his head.

"The constant humming, it gets on your nerves sometimes," said Davenport, 34.

Davenport and neighbors said noise from crews drilling for oil south of Griswold Road is keeping them up at night. They said the oil rig, more than 60 feet tall, operates 24 hours a day.

"There's nothing we can do," said Regina Krajewski, whose Louks Road home is next to the drilling site.

Columbus 3 Productions of Kimball Township has approval from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to drill for oil on the land. The site is at the end of Louks Road, 500 feet south of Griswold.

Representatives from Columbus 3 did not return repeated phone calls.

Neighbor said crews have occupied the site for several months, and noise levels weren't too loud. Last week, however, crews erected a larger and noisier rig that operates throughout the night.

"They just put this big one up," said Krajewski, 30, as she peeked through the sparse tree cover separating her home from the rig. "They put these big flood lights on (after dark)."

Columbus 3 received its state drilling permit on Aug. 19, 2001, DEQ spokesman Tom Wellman said. The state allows the larger rig to operate 24 hours a day.

"They have the OK to do that," Wellman said.

The company requested a confidential status for their permit -- meaning Wellman couldn't disclose how deep Columbus 3 is drilling and how long they will occupy the site.

When the company applied for its permit, Wellman said it received permission from immediate neighbors to drill.

Neighbors said Columbus employees told them drilling would last only a few days. Wellman said the company's permit is valid until the well runs dry.

Township Clerk Joyce Shaffer visited the site Sunday and said she did not hear any loud noises.

The township has a noise ordinance. Shaffer said Columbus 3 is not in violation.

By FRED WOODHAMS
Times Herald

Blaze destroys Port Huron Township business

3 vehicles also lost in accidental fire on Saturday

NOTHING LEFT: A fire early Saturday morning in Port Huron Township destroyed Dr. Detail.

A police officer on patrol reported the structure at 2428 Howard St. was engulfed in flames about 2:40 a.m.

Port Huron Township fire officials called the fire accidental, saying improperly stored cleaning rags spontaneously combusted at the shop, Dr. Detail.

Also destroyed in the blaze were a Ford pickup, a Jeep Cherokee and a Freightliner semi tractor parked in or near the building.

Dr. Detail owner Bradford Teeple of Port Huron said the business will move to a previously established location that opened in the fall.

"We're going to be operating out of that shop for now," he said.

Teeple's business, which had been at the location for more than a year, cleans and reconditions vehicles.

Teeple leased the building from William Cummings of Marysville. Cummings owns the shop and two other buildings at the site.

The shop had about 3,200 square feet of floor space.

Cummings said he would wait to meet with representatives of his insurance company before deciding if he would rebuild the structure.

"I won't know anything until Monday," he said.

Firefighters from six area departments battled the fire. No one was in the building at the time, and nobody was injured.

Separately, a Port Huron house fire caused $45,000 in damage to a house on the 1500 block of 19th Street on Saturday.

Port Huron fire officials said the fire started in the second floor master bedroom. No one was at home when the fire started.

Fire officials continue to investigate the blaze, and had no other details Saturday.

January 23, 2003

Red Cross keeps soldiers in touch Agency prepares for impending war

By DAN HOCKENSMITH
Times Herald

As tensions increase in the showdown with Iraq, local Red Cross officials are marshaling their volunteer troops.

At the St. Clair County Chapter of the American Red Cross in Port Huron, Executive Director James Relken plans to double the 11 caseworkers assigned to handle military-assistance requests.

Little known outside U.S. military circles, the Red Cross' role of providing emergency communications between troops and their loved ones likely will be thrust front and center if military operations begin in the Middle East, he said.

"When the media starts reporting such-and-such a unit has deployed, the phones will begin ringing off the hook," Relken said.

The chapter's Port Huron office is one of only a handful in Michigan with people answering phones 24 hours a day, he said.

The Michigan National Guard on Tuesday said several hundred of the state's Army National Guardsmen -- although none from Port Huron's armory -- are being called to active duty this week.

A Michigan Air National Guard wing from Battle Creek is deployed in the Middle East, and jets from the 127th Wing at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township are expected to deploy to the region sometime this year.

are authorized by the federal defense and transportation departments to assist in verifying troops' requests for emergency leave, financial assistance, government benefits and other social needs.

One week before Thanksgiving, when their 87-year-old father Edmund S. Assaf was dying of cancer, Lynn Assaf of Port Huron went to the Red Cross for help getting her soldier brother home from South Korea.

"When that's going on in your life, you have enough to deal with," she said. "You don't want to deal with all the paperwork."

Within five hours, Red Cross volunteers had verified to the Army that Sgt. 1st Class Edmund A. "Ted" Assaf's request for six weeks' emergency leave was genuine.

Ted Assaf, then 40, arrived home in time to be with his father before he died.

AMERICAN RED CROSS

ST. CLAIR COUNTY CHAPTER

January 04,2003

Communications plan still in limbo

By FRED WOODHAMS
Times Herald

All that's left to start an integrated communications network for St. Clair County emergency workers is deciding how to pay for it and getting voters to approve that plan.

County leaders, concerned about a poor radio network for police, firefighters and paramedics, are finishing a proposal for a system that would allow all emergency workers in the county to communicate with one another as well as fill gaps in the radio coverage area.

The plan calls for creating a central dispatching center governed by an independent authority and paid for with a countywide property tax or telephone surcharge. Setting up a center would cost about $12 million for about 1,000 new radios, four additional radio towers and a location, County Administrator Troy Feltman said.

The county is pursuing federal grants to reduce the cost to local taxpayers.

The setup would use the Michigan State Police's statewide communications network, according to recommendations from the groups investigating a new system.

Feltman plans to present the proposal to the county Board of Commissioners at its meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 5. Before then, he and other county leaders will meet with a consultant to find the best way to pay for the network.

The new dispatching center could mean closing the three existing dispatch centers, which are run by the county sheriff department, city of Port Huron and Clay Township. County leaders have discussed putting the new center on the planned jail facility campus in Port Huron Township.

What's needed

County leaders say the existing dispatch systems don't allow different departments to communicate. A number of "dead zones," or areas where radio signals don't go, also plague the systems.

"It's not safe," Feltman said.

County leaders cite how over the summer, area police and fire agencies took part in a mock disaster drill at Birchwood Mall in Fort Gratiot.

There, emergency personnel had to use runners and the mall's internal communications system to coordinate their efforts. With the new radio network, each of the departments would be able to talk to one another.

"We want (residents) to understand just how deficient our system is," said Port Huron Police Chief William Corbett.

While Corbett called the city's system excellent for the city itself, it doesn't allow officers to communicate with other police or fire agencies. And during situations such as a barricaded gunman, police need to be able to talk with other responding agencies, he said.

"We literally can't communicate with the sheriff's department," Corbett said.

What's next

A similar request for a telephone surcharge to pay for better equipment for Sanilac County's central dispatch failed with voters last year.

But county leaders have a supporter in Yale resident and former councilwoman Tracy Oldenburg, 40. Oldenburg said she's favored for years a central dispatching agency that has everyone paying equal amounts.

"I believe we'd get a lot better police coverage," she said.

Mike Pellerito, Clay Township's clerk, said township officials would support the proposal if its dispatch employees can maintain their pay and benefits and the new equipment is superior to the existing radios.

Pellerito said having networked computers in patrol vehicles would be a benefit to residents and law enforcement officers.

If a tax is approved by voters, Clay Township could be paying twice for dispatching if it decides to keep its own dispatch center under the new system, Pellerito said. However, discussions of the new system have included another dispatch center in the southern St. Clair County that would serve as a backup to the main center.

"Everybody seems to be on the same page with it," he said.

 STATE NEWS

 RECALL NEWS
Fire Extinguishers recalled 
In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), BRK Brands Inc., of Aurora, Ill., is voluntarily recalling about 600,000 First Alert® household fire extinguishers. The extinguishers can fail to discharge when the trigger is activated failing to put out a fire, which puts consumers at risk of fire-related injuries. CPSC and BRK have received five reports from consumers of the fire extinguishers failing to discharge when activated. No injuries have been reported. 
Only First Alert model FE1A10G with serial numbers
beginning with: RH, RK, RL, RP, RT, RU, or RW are included
in this recall. The serial number is located on the
extinguisher's label, above the model number in a
rectangular box. "First Alert" is written on the units' label and
pressure gauge. The fire extinguishers are either red or
white. Home centers, mass merchandisers, and hardware
stores nationwide sold the fire extinguishers from
September 1999 through September 2000 for between $9 and $15. 
Consumers with recalled fire extinguishers should
immediately contact First Alert at (866) 669-2736 anytime or
visit the First Alert web site to receive a coupon for a new
extinguisher. 
First Alert fire extinguishers with a "100% Quality Tested"
sticker attached to the fire extinguisher label are not included
in the recall, regardless of the serial number. 

CPSC, Home Interiors and Gifts Announce Recall of Tea Lights

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

For Immediate Release December 11, 2002  Release #03-DRAFT                                            Firm's Recall Hotline:(800)749-4545
CPSC Consumer Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: Mark Ross, (301) 504-0580 Ext. 1188
Home Interiors Media Contact: Cynthia Pharr, (972) 931-7576


WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Home Interiors and Gifts Inc., of Carrollton, Texas, is voluntarily recalling about 211,000 sets of tea lights. Flames from the tea lights can flare, and the excessive heat can cause the plastic holders to melt, posing a fire hazard.

Home Interiors and Gifts has received 22 reports of the tea lights flaring up and melting their plastic holders. These incidents have resulted in minor property damage. No injuries have been reported.

The recalled tea lights are packaged 12 candles per box with "Home Interiors" written on the top of the box. Each tea light candle has a clear plastic base and is either red or ivory in color. The tea light candles are imported from Hong Kong.

Home Interiors' direct sales associates exclusively sold the recalled tea lights from September 2002 through November 2002 for about $5 per box.

Consumers should stop using the tea lights immediately and return any unused tea lights by mail to Home Interiors at 2901 Trade Center Drive, Suite 100, Carrollton, TX 75007. Consumers should include their return address information to receive a retail gift certificate from Home Interiors for the full purchase cost and shipping cost of the tea lights. For more information, consumers can contact Home Interiors at (800) 749-4545 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.  
Report Unsafe Products

NATIONS NEWS

This is a message from the Federal Emergency Management Agency/U.S. Fire Administration.
Release No.:  03-047
Release Date: Feb. 28, 2003

ELIZABETH ZUCKERMAN
Associated Press

Updated: 02-22-2003

Firehouse

Rhode Island Nightclub Inferno Kills At Least 95

FEBRUARY 01 2003

THE CREW OF THE COLUMBIA WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN

Rick Husband   William McCool  Kalpana Chawla  David Brown  Mike Anderson  Laurel Clark  Ilan Ramon

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE UP TO DATE NEWS OF THIS TRAGEDY

Release No.: 02-004 Release Date: January 10, 2002

This is a message from the FEMA's US Fire Administration.

USFA RELEASES PRELIMINARY FIREFIGHTER FATALITY STATISTICS FOR 2001

EMMITSBURG, Md. - The United States Fire Administration (USFA) announced today that 441 firefighters died while on-duty in the United States in 2001. This total, which is more than four and one-half times the average annual number of firefighter deaths for the last decade, includes 343 firefighters lost at the World Trade Center on September 11. The loss represents the worst total since the USFA began tracking firefighter fatalities in 1977. USFA is a part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "2001 was a tragic year for America’s fire service," R. David Paulson, United States Fire Administrator, said. "In addition to the many local heroes who died serving their communities nationwide, the eyes of the world turned to New York City on September 11." "The USFA is committed to helping firefighters and fire departments respond more safely to emergencies that occur in their communities. Terrorism has changed our world forever but the traditional killers of firefighters are still around." In 2001, firefighter’s fatalities were reported in 86 communities in 33 states. These totals are provisional and may change as additional information about firefighter fatalities is received. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11 that claimed the lives of 343 members of the Fire Department City of New York (FDNY) is the worst single incident loss of firefighter lives in history. There were eight incidents in 2001 where more than one firefighter was killed; two of these tragedies occurred in New York City. In addition to the World Trade Center losses, three firefighters were killed in the explosion of a hardware store in New York City on Father’s Day. Other firefighters lost during the line of duty include the following: - Four wild land firefighters were killed in July when they were trapped by rapid-fire progress in a forest fire in Washington State. - Three firefighters were killed in the crash of a firefighting helicopter in Montana during August. - Two firefighters were killed when two firefighting aircraft collided in midair while fighting a wildfire in California during August. - A total of 14 firefighters died in association with wildfire incidents. - Two Illinois firefighters were killed when they were trapped in the basement of a burning structure in February. - Two Missouri firefighters were killed when they were trapped by rapid-fire progress in a residential fire in March. - Two Pennsylvania firefighters drowned as they attempted to recover the body of a boater. - 79 single firefighter fatality incidents.

On-Duty Firefighter Fatalities (1977-2001)

Year Number of Deaths

2001 - 441, 2000 - 102, 1999 - 112, 1998 - 91, 1997 - 94, 1996 - 95, 1995 -96, 1994 - 104, 1993 - 77, 1992 - 75, 1991 - 109, 1990 - 108, 1989 - 119,1988 - 136,   1987 - 131, 1986 - 121, 1985- 126, 1984- 119, 1983- 113, 1982- 125, 1981- 135,  1980- 140, 1979- 126, 1978- 171, 1977-157  

Career firefighters, those who are employed full-time as firefighters, comprised 370 deaths (83.9 percent) in 2001. Volunteer, seasonal, and part-time firefighters accounted for 71 deaths. Twelve of the 71 were seasonal or part-time wild land firefighters.

The vast majority of firefighter fatalities in 2001 occurred on the scene of a fire incident with 384 deaths in the category (343 were the result of the World Trade Center collapse). The balance of fatalities occurred as follows:

2001 Fatalities by Type of Duty

Duty                                                                                      Deaths           % of Total

Fire ground Operations                                                           384                  87.1%

Other On-Duty                                                                          22                   5.0%

Responding/Returning from Alarm                                            20                   4.5%

Training                                                                                   11                   2.5%

Non-Fire Emergencies                                                                3                   0.7%

After an Incident                                                                        1                   0.2%

Heart attacks continue to be a leading cause of firefighter deaths, killing 39 firefighters in 2001. The 39 deaths represent 8.8 percent of the 2001 total. This percentage rises to 40 percent when the massive number of FDNY firefighters is excluded from the calculation.

The largest number of firefighter fatalities by month occurred in September with 352 deaths. The lowest number of firefighter fatalities by month occurred in November and December with three deaths in each month.

The USFA contacts state fire marshals at the beginning of each year to verify the names of firefighters reported to have died on-duty during the previous year and expects to have the annual fatality report completed by early June.

Wildfire Photo Gains Fame 
John McColgan, 41, was assigned as a fire behavior analyst in Montana this
summer when he was faced with the best photo opportunity of his lifetime. 


The image was captured in the late afternoon of Sunday, August 6, from a bridge over the East Fork of the Bitterroot River just north of Sula, Montana. The elk sought refuge in the river bottom during what may have been the most extreme day of fire behavior on the Bitterroot in more than 70 years. "I do shoot some photography, but certainly that was a once in a lifetime, stunning opportunity," McColgan said. He was traveling to the Valley Complex along with the deputy incident commander of the Sula Complex.  "I was on that ridge for maybe 15 seconds," he said. "We just saw them [the elk], and I stopped and said, 'I'm taking 15 seconds here.'" McColgan said the photo does not fully convey the extreme weather conditions that day. "It was a fairly violent situation out there," he said. "It looks fairly serene, but the wind was really whipping." McColgan used a Kodak DC 280 digital camera, set at high resolution, but also at a medium to high level of compression to save on storage space. 
"I wasn't out shooting art photos. I was doing fire behavior documentation," he said. After the photo was taken, it circulated widely and anonymously until it got picked up by the Associated Press and the Montana newspaper "The Missoulian."I had given a copy to someone while I was down there [in Montana], and it inadvertently made its way into the e-mail system," McColgan said. He received e-mail from friends in Europe, sending the photo back to the US and asking him if he'd seen it, McColgan said. Although the photo originally went out with no credit information, a reporter from "The Missoulian" tracked the photographer down at home in Alaska, he said. McColgan, who normally works as a fuels management specialist for the Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service, doesn't mind the lack of credit, or that he can't use the photo to make a profit. "The best part about it was the opportunity to be there," he said. "And it's gotten far wider circulation than any copyrighted image ever would have. I'm glad people have enjoyed it so much." McColgan, originally from Massachusetts, has been working with wildfires for 20 years, including 10 as a smokejumper. 

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