Preventable Fire Stories

Modesto resident Jack Benenati and his wife…
Benenati realized a massive fire was burning in the tortoises’ greenhouse when the heat cracked his bathroom window.

Barefoot, in underwear and a T-shirt, he raced outside. He found a wall of orange heat blasting at him like a furnace. He grabbed a garden hose and aimed it in the tortoises’ direction. Benenati said fire officials believe the fire started in a light fixture and could have been smoldering for hours before the flames engulfed the greenhouse.

…

Over the eight days the tortoises stayed at UC Davis, the animals received many of the same burn treatments that humans would. Their burns were cleaned twice a day and the animals were given fluids to keep them hydrated. After eight days of treatment, the Benenatis took the tortoises home to Modesto. Of the 12 that were burned in the fire, seven are still alive.

Benenati doesn’t know how many of the tortoises will survive.more at LINK

Police seized a ventilation system, 40 grams of marijuana, heat lamps, fans and paraphernalia used to ingest marijuana in a Meadow Street home. (HANDOUT / MILFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT / August 7, 2008)

MILFORD - Smoke billowing from the walls of a Meadow Street home Tuesday led firefighters to an altered closet where marijuana was being cultivated, authorities said.

Police arrested four residents of the home and seized 40 grams of the drug, a ventilation system, heat lamps, fans and paraphernalia used to ingest marijuana.

xxx xxxx, 29, yyyy yyyy, 33, zzzz  zzzz, 33 and zzzzz zzzz, 32 are charged with operating a drug factory, cultivation of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and conspiracy.

zzzz and xxxx are also charged with possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana within 1500 feet of public housing.

More at LINK

Although I don’t condone illegal activities, my power strip could have prevented this fire.  It would have shut off the grow light and sounded an alarm at the first sign of smoldering.

Firefighters Discover Grow House In Guest House

No One Was Injured In The Fire

MIAMI (CBS4) ? Miami firefighters suspect a faulty lamp sparked a fire in a marijuana grow house.

Fire crews were called to a fire in a guest house in the 26-hundred block of Southwest 17th Street just after 1 a.m. on Wednesday. Arriving firefighters noticed smoke coming from the back of the house and discovered a lamp on fire. After knocking down the fire they also noticed containers with the plants and called police.

“Once they arrived and made entry they realized that it was a fully operational hydroponics lab,” said Kenya Alfonso with the Miami Police Department. “From what we know right now, there is no hazardous material on the scene.”

more at LINK

Pot growing scheme may have sparked Antioch apartment fire

By Malaika Fraley

ANTIOCH– Two young Antioch residents were arrested Sunday night after their apartment was set afire by what police suspect was a small marijuana growing operation. A lamp used to grow marijuana in a closet likely sparked the fire that led firefighters to evacuate the several apartments in a complex at 1000 Claudia Court at 8:40 p.m. Sunday, police said.

Fire damage was contained to one apartment. Police said they found evidence of a small marijuana growing operation. The residents, Ana Lara and William Simpson, both 22, were arrested at the fire scene on suspicion of marijuana cultivation.

more at LINK

Too bad. #1 they should have got a medical permit. Aren’t those easy to get in California? #2 lamps in a closet are a bad idea. #3 my power strip would make all grow lights safer, legitimate or not.

Ceramic Heaters Blamed For Fire That Destroyed Home

POSTED: 4:47 pm EST January 10, 2007
UPDATED: 5:26 pm EST January 10, 2007

LINK
TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Eyewitness News has new details about a fire that destroyed a three-story home in Titusville. The woman who lived there had ceramic heaters and those heaters somehow started the fire. She used the special heaters to protect her orchids.

An insurance adjuster was at the scene surveying the damage to the $670,000, waterfront home. The inside has partially collapsed and the back is virtually gone.

Firefighters helped the Ward family move some of their belongings out of their home to keep the antiques and valuables from getting any more damaged inside the charred remains of what was a picturesque home.

Fire investigators believe the blaze started with an electrical fire. Authorities said it appears heat lamps used to keep orchids warm in the cool temperatures were at the root of the fire.