DEC. 8: LOS ANGELES, CA – Arson was determined as the cause of a massive fire that reduced an unfinished apartment complex to charred wood, resulting in $20 to $30 million in damage. The intense heat also melted a freeway sign and cracked or shattered hundreds of windows in nearby office buildings.
DEC. 19: COAL COUNTY, OK – Two people were killed and three others injured in a drilling rig fire OSHA officials continue to investigate.
DEC. 31: LAS VEGAS, NV – Eight people were displaced and a pet dog was killed in a house fire that was suspected to be electrical in origin. Firefighters entered and found the house full of thick smoke with intense heat. It continued to intensify and when flames broke through the roof, all firefighters were withdrawn from the interior. Damage was estimated at $150,000 to the one-story wood-frame home.
JAN. 7: FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA – Damage was estimated at $75,000 after a house fire started by an electrical anomaly in an outside electrical meter. Two adults and two children awoke to a loud noise and escaped unharmed as smoke alarms began to sound.
Thanks to contributors: Donald Bain, Jay K. Bradish and Timothy R. Szymanski.
