Dutch firefighters tackle blaze at chemical plant

Dutch firefighters tackle blaze at chemical plant
The Hague,Netherlands - Local authorities are warning residents to stay indoors and keep doors and windows shut as dozens of Dutch Firefighters tackle a major blaze at a chemical storage and packing company. Television images show a towering plume of thick smoke churning out of the fire at Chemie-Pack Nederland BV in an industrial estate in the southern town of Moerdijk. Moerdijk municipality said in a statement Wednesday it is not clear if the fire is releasing toxic fumes. Police say none ...

Dutch firefighters tackle blaze at chemical plant
Local authorities told residents to stay indoors last night as some 150 Firefighters attempted to smother a huge blaze that had been raging for hours at a chemical storage and packing company. The fire started in the early afternoon at Chemie-Pack Nederland BV in an industrial estate in the southern town of Moerdijk, sending a towering plume of thick smoke into the air and causing several powerful blasts, apparently as storage tanks exploded. Police spokesman Willem van Hooijdonk told national...

Dutch firefighters tackle blaze at chemical plant
A plume of smoke billows from a burning Chemical Plant as Firefighters are seen outside the plant in the southern Dutch town of Moerdijk, Netherlands, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011. Local authorities warned residents to stay indoors and keep doors and windows shut Wednesday as a major blaze and Explosions ripped through a chemical storage and packing company. Local authorities warned residents to stay indoors and keep doors and windows shut Wednesday as a major blaze and Explosions ripped through a c...

Dutch chemical plant ablaze
MOERDIJK, Netherlands, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A huge fire erupted at a Chemical Plant in the Netherlands Wednesday, officials said. The blaze at the Chemie-Pack plant near Rotterdam prompted authorities to put the southern part of South Holland province on alert because of a large cloud of toxic black smoke that had reached the town of Dordrecht, Radio Netherlands reported. People in the area were being told to stay indoors and to keep their doors and windows shut. There were no reports of serious inj...

Chemical blaze sparks Dutch alert
The southern Netherlands is on its highest state of alert after a major blaze at a Chemical Plant in Moerdijk sent out a thick cloud of smoke. The cloud was floating towards the north and had reached the city of Dordrecht, Dutch media said. Some 400,000 litres of carcinogenic material are stored at the Chemie-Pack plant, De Telegraaf says. There were no reports of casualties and local officials said it was unclear if toxic fumes had been released. Troops were helping to tackle the flames, said t...

Chemical plant fire in Holland
Officials in the Netherlands have been put on high alert after a fire at Chemical Plant sent out a thick plume of smoke. People in the southern city of Dordrecht have been warned to keep their windows and doors shut amid fears of toxic fumes. Antony Weller reports....

1 killed in explosion at French chemical plant
Authorities say an Explosion at a chlorine plant in southern France has killed one person and injured another. The regional administration for the Bouches-du-Rhone region says a leak of water containing sodium prompted the explosion. The blast occurred Thursday at a plant run by Gazechim in the Mediterranean port of Lavera. The administration says in a statement that no gases have leaked outside the site. Traffic around the site has been restricted, and specialists in chemical accidents are ther...

Holland: Park blaze casts toxic cloud over Rotterdam
A HUGE fire broke out at an industrial park near Rotterdam yesterday, setting off chemical Explosions, releasing toxic smoke and disrupting shipping between the Netherlands' second-biggest city and Antwerp in Belgium. The fire started at a Chemie-Pack Chemical Plant in the Moerdijk industrial zone, about 30 miles south of Rotterdam. The cause of the blaze was unknown and police said there were no reports of any casualties. However, shipping traffic at the Holla ADVERTISEMENT nds Diep river, cl...

Dutch minister wants detail of Iran death sentence
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal called on Iran Wednesday to provide details of the case of a Dutch-Iranian woman whose daughter says she has been sentenced to death for Drug Smuggling. Rosenthal said in a statement he was "very concerned" about the fate of Sahra Bahrami after her daughter told a Dutch Radio Station Wednesday her mother was handed the death sentence. Bahrami has been jailed in Iran since December 2009. Dutch Diplomats have been denied access to her becau...

1 Killed In Blast At Tennessee Ammunition Plant
A series of Explosions ripped through an ammunition plant in Oakland, Tenn., on Wednesday, killing one worker and injuring a Firefighter while shells fired off for about an hour afterward. Ed Gaugh, emergency management director for Fayette County, said a 34-year-old male employee died in the blast and subsequent fire at the Kinematics Research plant, which makes shells for pistols and rifles. The worker's name was not immediately released. Oakland Police Chief Rick Jewell said at one point a la...

2 Package Bombs Explode at Maryland Office Buildings
Two package bombs exploded today at Maryland government buildings. Officials are investigating possible Explosions at the Maryland Department of Transportation’s headquarters in Hanover and a State Government building in Annapolis. Firefighters and HazMat crews were sent to the MDOT building in the 7200 block of Corporate Center in Hanover shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday. A source has told 11 News that two packages exploded, one at the MDOT building and another at the Jeffrey Building on F...

Explosion at Tennessee ammunition plant: reports
MEMPHIS | Wed Jan 5, 2011 4:13pm EST MEMPHIS (Reuters) - One person was trapped after an Explosion on Wednesday at an ammunition plant in Oakland, Tennessee, local media said on Wednesday. The blast occurred at the Kinematics Research plant at about 2 p.m., WMC-TV said on its website. The extent of the Victim's injuries was unknown. A Firefighter also was injured, local media reported. The cause of the Explosion was unknown. Oakland is located in southwestern Tennessee. The plant makes ammuni...

Explosion at Tennessee ammunition plant: reports
The blast occurred at the Kinematics Research plant at about 2 p.m., WMC-TV said on its website. The extent of the Victim's injuries was unknown. A Firefighter also was injured, local media reported. The cause of the Explosion was unknown. Oakland is located in southwestern Tennessee. The plant makes ammunition, according to the Fayette County Sheriff's office. ...

Breaking: Explosions at Maryland State Buildings
Update: The WAPO’s coverage suggests that it was merely an “incendiary device” and not actually a bomb, and that it did not actually explode.  I guess we just have to sit back and see what develops. Not a lot is known right now.  In fact, bluntly if anyone knows more, please share.  Here’s some local coverage for now: The Anne Arundel County Fire Department is responding to a report of an Explosion in Hanover at the Department of Transportation headqu...

Ongoing Eruption of Tungurahua, Ecuador
© NASA Tungurahua Volcano. According to Ecuador's Instituto Geofisico, the Tungurahua volcano was active throughout the last weeks of 2010, with reports of ashfalls on towns near the volcano and Explosions that sounded like cannons. Steam and ash plumes were observed rising as high as 36,000 feet (11 kilometers) above Sea Level. These two images show Tungurahua as observed by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite on Jan. 1, 2011. The top view is a n...

The Daily News will save your job -- as long as you make a sugary, tasty, high-calorie middle-class consumer treat
I've been flipping through this morning's Daily News -- looking for my paper's crusade to save the jobs of dozens of salt-of-the-earth Philadelphians about to lose their jobs in this era of 10 percent Unemployment, when people without a highly specialized high-tech or knowledge-based skill, or of a certain age (i.e., over 50) may never be able to work ever again. I know some of these folks who work at my nearby Acme -- one of five Acme Supermarkets about to shut down. So it's a minor inconveni...

"Explosive" Debates Expected on House Homeland Security Committee
     Terrorist Threats targeting chemical facilities in densely populated urban areas remain a serious threat to U.S. security.      If newly appointed Chair to the House Committee on Homeland Security, Representative Peter King, (R-N.Y.), has his way, Legislation regarding this grave threat will move in the opposite direction from the last congressional session.      The last session of Congress saw the House Democratic majority advoca...

Hungary ready to change media law
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said his government is prepared to change the country's Controversial New Media law if required by the EU. Hungary's centre-right government has just taken on the EU presidency and the law has prompted sharp criticism from France and Germany. The European Commission has said it will sanction Budapest if necessary. Critics of the new Watchdog say it is dominated by figures loyal to Mr Orban and his centre-right Fidesz party. Commission Presiden...

Hungary under fire over new media law
BUDAPEST, Hungary, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Hungary's newly enacted law that places restrictions on media has met with criticism by European Union members and the European Commission. EC President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters the issue will be a priority Friday when he meets with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, the EU Observer reported. "Freedom of the press is a sacred principle, a fundamental value," Barroso said. Hungary holds the rotating presidency of the EU until July 1, an...

Crews battle 'substantial' house fire in Weymouth
BOSTON — Firefighters are on the scene at a two-alarm house fire in Weymouth. WCVB-TV reports that the fire on Sawyer Road is "substantial" but says it isn’t clear what caused the blaze or if there are any injuries. Some roads are reportedly closed in the area. WHDH-TV is reporting that one firefighter has been taken to a Hospital. No other details are available. ...

Deer Stranded On Floating Ice Rescued By Polish Firefighters
Warsaw, Poland (AP) — Polish Firefighters dodged treacherous sheets of ice in a risky after-dark rescue of a terrified deer stranded on a floe in the Baltic Sea, a spokesman said Wednesday. The rescue team faced serious hazards navigating among the sharp ice sheets but managed to save the drifting animal at the "last moment" after dark on Tuesday, Waldemar Bogatko told TVN24. TV footage showed the team of four steering through the plates by boat and using flashlights to find the deer, wr...

1 killed in Tennessee munitions blast
OAKLAND, Tenn., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- An explosion and fire at a munitions plant in Oakland, Tenn., Wednesday afternoon killed one employee, officials said. The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal said the 34-year-old worker was one of five employees in the Kinematics Research facility when the blast occurred about 1:45 p.m. CST. The four others escaped without being injured. Ed Gaugh of the Fayette County Emergency Management Agency said bullets were "popping like Popcorn" when Firefighters arrived. "It made...

4 Central Falls firefighters to be sworn in
The four men — John J. Garvey, 27, of West Warwick; Michael Grenga, 23, of Smithfield; Richard Haskins, 24, of Warren, and Brian Pettigrew, 28, of Warwick — will be sworn in by acting Public Safety director Stephen Bannon, a Rhode Island State Police major. With the addition of the new members, there will be 41 Firefighters on the force, all men. The public is welcome to attend the swearing-in ceremony. ...

Town's fire pact offer rejected
CHAMPION — "From what I can tell they don't give a rat's butt about us." That's how Champion volunteer Firefighter David M. Williams expressed his feelings about the Town Council on Wednesday night after the department unanimously rejected the limited-protection fire contract offered by the town. The rejection could lead to the dissolution of the department if the two groups cannot come to a Compromise. According to Champion Fire Chief Louis J. Waite, the contract returned to...

Dearborn firefighter responded to store explosion, lost wallet in theft
On Dec. 29, the lieutenant parked near the leveled William C. Franks Furniture store. He left his wallet and personal items in his unlocked vehicle -- including a piece of paper with his personal identification number on it in the wallet -- and discovered they were missing later, Westland police said. By 2:44 p.m. Dec. 29, someone was using his debit card to make three withdrawals for a total of $460 at a gas station ATM at 1810 S. Wayne Road, police s...