Surveillance cameras inside a Santiago, Chile hotel capture the moment the 8.8 magnitude quake struck on February 26 2010.

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Google Street View of Kleen Energy Plant on River Road east of Middletown, CT and just west of Dart Island State Park.

UPDATE SUNDAY FEBRUARY 07 2010 5:40 PM ET:
No threat in the atmosphere and no threat of another explosion. Terrorism has been ruled out.
Five killed, 12 injured from ‘massive explosion’ that occurred 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time Sunday. At the time of press conference it is unknown how many people are missing. A fire that broke out after the explosion is under control. A search and rescue operation is underway.

It felt like an earthquake.
I thought a car crashed into my house.
There was a huge orange flame between the two stacks at the power plant.

– Nearby witness accounts

Middletown Connecticut Fire/Rescue personnel and mutual aid fire departments (up to 100 units) responded about 11:30 a.m. Sunday to the Kleen Power Plant in Middletown, Connecticut. Medical evacuation helicopters have also been called to the scene. The power plant is just east of the city of Middletown on River Road. The power plant, which was reported offline to the electric grid, suffered a ‘massive explosion.’ The gas-fired power plant is supplied by a major natural gas line.

Search and rescue dogs are on the scene to search in rubble for victims. About 50 construction workers were reported to be onsite during the Sunday disaster.

Smoke was seen rising into clear, blue skies.

The explosion was felt as far as 15 miles from the blast site. Some homes near the power plant are reported damaged.

Kleen Energy Power Plant is a 620-megawatt gas-fired electric power generation facility. A blowdown procedure was underway with gas being purged off a line, according to an early account of what was happening at the plant immediately before the explosion.

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According to O&G Industries website, the Kleen Energy Power Plant is listed as ‘In Progress’ construction project managed by O&G Industries. O&G Industries is a privately-owned company headquartered in Torrington, Connecticut that was founded in 1923 and grown to become one of the largest diversified construction materials and services companies in the Northeast United States The O&G company website describes the Kleen Energy System Gas-Fired Energy Plant as a 620 MW Combined Cycle Electric Generating Facility that is located in Middletown, Connecticut. O&G is overseeing all local, state, and federal permitting, engineering, and construction of this project. Responsibilities include the overview of all environmental site engineering for air, noise, water and electrical interconnect; the design basis configuration for all mechanical, electrical, and civil/structural engineering; the construction execution plan; cost estimate; and schedule. The project consists of two Siemens SGT6-5000F dual fuel combustion turbines, one high-pressure Siemens SST-5000 steam turbine, heat recovery steam generators, cooling towers, DCS instrument and control system, and a 345 kV gas-insulated switchyard with step-up transformers.

SOURCE:
O&G INDUSTRIES, INC. Kleen Energy Power Generation Facility

MORE INFO …
MIddletown Press 4:31 PM ET Two dead, several injured in power plant explosion

Report from Salvation Army worker Bob Poff the first night after the earthquake — pleas for help.

Possibly hundreds of thousands killed from earthquake and aftermath. Most of Port-au-Prince’s major landmarks were significantly damaged or destroyed in the earthquake, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, the main jail and at least one hospital. The United Nations reported that headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, collapsed and that a large number of UN personnel were unaccounted for. The Mission’s Chief, Hédi Annabi was confirmed dead on Wednesday by Haiti’s President.

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A Canadian National Railway freight train transporting thousands of gallons of ethanol derailed and ignited at a railroad crossing near Sandy Hollow Road and South Mulford Road in Cherry Valley, Illinois near Rockford at about 8:30 p.m. Friday June, 19, 2009. The woman who died of thermal injuries was identified as Zoila Tellez, 41, of Rockford. She was the first car in line stopped at a railroad crossing. Two members of the train crew were not injured. Nine people were injured — two with serious injuries.

The local 9-1-1 center used their reverse 9-1-1 capability to call about 590 residents to notify people to evacuate their homes. They also gave safe instructions on how to proceed.

The train was pulled by two locomotives with 114 train cars. Eighteen of the cars derailed and 14 ignited. Some cars were still on fire Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The fire alarm for the train fire was raised to a six-alarm level with over 20 departments responding to the fire. About 70 cars were carrying ethanol, which is also known as ethyl alcohol and is the alcohol component of alcoholic beverages. Hydrous ethanol is 95% ethanol and 5% water can be used as fuel in most of the cars operating in the United States.

The glow of the fire could be seen as far away as Interstate 39 and Interstate 90.

The derailment is thought to have been caused by a washed out railroad bed under the rails caused by three to four inches of rain Friday.

View Larger Map Google Street View at the train derailment and ethanol fire.

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View Larger Map of the California November 2008 fires …

Map showing fire California fires (Sayre fire, Sylmar fire, and more) and the evacuation area (in blue) north of the San Fernando Valley.

A PROCLAMATION

OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY

            WHEREAS on November 14, 2008, a wildfire started in Los Angeles County and continues to spread; and

            WHEREAS the fire has burned approximately 2,600 acres with no containment; and

            WHEREAS the fire has damaged or destroyed over 165 homes and threatens the electric power supply for the area; and

            WHEREAS the fire has required mandatory evacuations and road closures, and residents have been forced to seek emergency shelter; and 

            WHEREAS the fire has caused the evacuation of patients from Olive View Hospital; and 

            WHEREAS I requested, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency granted, a Fire Management Assistance Grant for this fire; and      

            WHEREAS on November 15, 2008, Los Angeles County declared a local emergency and requested that I declare a state of emergency; and

            WHEREAS the circumstances of this wildfire, by reason of their magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single county, city and county, or city and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat; and

            WHEREAS under the provisions of section 8558(b) of the California Government Code, I find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist due to the fire in Los Angeles County.

            NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the state Constitution and statutes, including the California Emergency Services Act, and in particular, section 8625 of the California Government Code, HEREBY PROCLAIM A STATE OF EMERGENCY to exist within Los Angeles County.

            IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that all agencies of the state government utilize and employ state personnel, equipment and facilities for the performance of any and all activities consistent with the direction of my Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the State Emergency Plan, and that OES provide local government assistance under the authority of the California Disaster Assistance Act.

            I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this proclamation be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this proclamation. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 15^th Day of November 2008.

______________________________

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

Governor of California

Copy of the proclaimed state of emergency in Los Angeles County after the Sayre fire and two other major fires has injured four firefighters, evacuated more than 10,000 California residents and burned more than 6,500 acres.

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An Air Angels, Inc. Bell 222 Helicopter en route to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago from Valley West Community Hospital in Sandwich, Illinois crashed in a field in Aurora early Thursday morning between midnight and 1:00 a.m.

The medical helicopter was transporting a 1-year-old girl with epileptic seizures when the airport dispatchers lost contact with the helicopter crew. Aurora Police contacted Air Angels when they found the helicopter had damaged a radio tower for WBIG-1280 AM, just northwest of the intersection of Eola Road and Liberty Street in Aurora and crashed on the east side of Eola Road (about 75-100 yards). The patient, pilot, flight nurse and paramedic employed by Air Angels were killed in the crash. The helicopter was reported to be well-involved with fire upon arrival of police and fire department first responders. Aftermath images show impact marks in the field with heavy destruction of the helicopter, which was reported to be lying in a field on the east side of Eola Road — across the road from the radio tower. Very little of the helicopter structure remains and the concentrated crash scene debris is scattered over a 75 square-foot area around the impact site. Victims were not found inside the destroyed helicopter. A witness reported that debris was scattered as far north as Indian Trail and as far south as New York Street on either side of Eola Road. The Air Angels helicopter was based at Clow Airport in Bolingbrook.

Air Angels medevac helicopter crash victims …

Patient Kirstian Blockinger, 13 months-old, lived in Leland, Illinois

According to Aurora Fire Department Assistant Chief John Lehman, the radio tower is reported to be 750 feet tall appears to be out of plum by about 15 feet at the top. There is concern that there is extra stress on the guy-wires, therefore sixteen units of a nearby condominium building were evacuated as a precaution. It is unknown if lights were functioning before the crash, but the lights are not functioning after the crash and a no-fly-zone has been declared near the tower today.

Aurora Police Department and the NTSB are involved in the investigation. Traffic is re-routed in the area in order to protect accident scene evidence.

Video of Air Angels crew at work at an accident scene (earlier video file from Todd Sherman). According to videographer Todd Sherman, the front helicopter is the same medevac chopper that crashed in Aurora early Thursday.

See also …
airangels.com
wbig1280.com