ENN 6/11/96 20:45CDT
Heavy smoke conditions sent about forty residents of the building to their windows. The dead victim apparently panicked and she and her 40-year-old daughter jumped from the window on the fourth floor. The daughter of the dead victim was reported to be in serious condition at San Francisco General Hospital. Eight other people, including five firefighters, were also injured in the blaze. It took 146 San Francisco firefighters with 27 pieces of equipment about three hours to bring the fire under control. The blaze which pretty much gutted the entire building went to five alarms in 40 minutes.
Arson investigators have determined that the fire was "maliciously set." If found, the arsonist(s) could face murder charges for the death of the victim. A spokesman for the SFFD told ENN, "We are now calling it an incendiary fire. We have ruled out all accidental causes and have determined that it was deliberately set."
NEW MEXICO (ENN) - A number of wildfires burning across the State of New Mexico is straining the state's firefighting resources and are forcing fire bosses to ignore several dozen smaller blazes. On Tuesday, fire crews were battling a brush fire that was threatening a small mountain town near the Carson National Forest. Another wildfire has reportedly burned about 5,200 acres of a national wildlife refuge in the central part of the state.
Terri Wildermuth, a spokesperson with the New Mexico Forestry Division, said, "If we have more fires, we're going to get to the point where we have to prioritize. It gets difficult telling someone that saving their home has less priority than saving someone else's."
In discussing the containment of one of the blazes, Carson National Forest spokesman Gary Schiff said, "Because conditions are as dry as they are, our plan of attack is to hit them hard and fast and heavy."
One fire destroyed a 100-year-old abandoned church and threatened homes in the town of San Pedro, before air tankers came in and dropped fire retardant on Monday.
More than 50 small fires have been left to burn themselves out in the Gila National Forest and other parts of the state. New Mexico is currently experiencing its worst drought in forty years.
Firefighters worked through the night pouring water on the blaze and nearby storage tanks. The main concern was to prevent the heat and flames from igniting nearby tanks. Fire officials were hopeful to bring the fire under control by Wednesday afternoon. A spokesman for the Middlesex County Hazardous Materials team said that the plan was to let the gasoline burn itself out and then pour foam into the storage tank.
(c) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996, All rights Reserved.