Nov. 4: Staunton, VA – A grass fire consumed part of a Native American exhibit at the Frontier Culture Museum. Two wigwams caught fire when a spark blew from a nearby smoldering fire where a canoe was being formed from a log.
Nov. 18: Ventura County, CA – An unstable chemical mixture exploded at a waste-treatment facility in Santa Paula, sending about 30 people to the hospital for decontamination and prompting an order to evacuate for a mile around the plant. No burn injuries were reported, but two drivers on a vacuum truck, three firefighters, hospital medical staff members and residents were washed down or treated for complaints such as breathing problems, red eyes and skin rashes.
Nov. 27: San Bernardino County, CA – Firefighters responded to a two-alarm commercial fire at a pallet yard in Fontana. Upon arrival, firefighters found numerous stacks of pallets, some as high as 30 feet, encompassing about four acres, fully engulfed in fire. The business was surrounded on two sides by approximately 30 tractor trailers containing various types of cargo. A tractor-trailer was burning close to a single-story residence and fire was spreading toward an adjacent business. Within 2½ hours, over 65 firefighters from six agencies had the fire under control. The Thanksgiving Day blaze caused one non-life-threatening injury to a firefighter. A Fontana police officer arrived on scene shortly after the fire erupted and alerted the sleeping occupant of the residence.
Thanks to contributors: Don Bain, Jay K. Bradish, Stephen J. Grepps Sr. and Tracey Martinez.
