Page 4 - aruba-today-20240723

A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 23 July 2024
Wildfires plague the West amid a scorching heat wave. Homes

burn in Southern California

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — depending on conditions
Three homes lay in ruins such as the terrain, weather
Monday after one of many and temperature. The col-
dangerous wildfires in the umns can collapse when the
West suddenly swept into a amount of heat over the fire
Southern California neigh- drops — from changing fuels
borhood during a blistering or weather — and reduces
heat wave. the updraft, or when strong
The homes were ravaged winds sheer off the top of the
when the fire erupted Sun- column.
day afternoon in a hilly area In the most extreme cases,
of Riverside, a city about 60 smoke columns can be
miles (95 kilometers) east topped with "fire clouds," or
of Los Angeles. Four other pyrocumulus clouds, that
structures were damaged, look much like the thunder-
Riverside Deputy Fire Chief heads that develop before
Steve McKinster said. a big thunderstorm.
The cause of the fire, which It's not unusual for a smoke
had scorched just under a column to collapse, and
square mile (2.6 square kilo- some fires go through mul-
meters), was under investi- Firefighters hose down hot spots at Noel Piri's home that was destroyed by the Hawarden Fire in tiple cycles of column col-
gation. Riverside, Calif., on Sunday, July 21, 2024. Associated Press lapse and regeneration in
Resident Noel Piri and his a day, according to the
wife were away when they expected to last through amid extremely dry and hot I-84, the Baker County Sher- Southwest Fire Science Con-
got a call about a fire in the much of the week. conditions. The largest blazes iff's Office said in a Face- sortium.
neighborhood, rushed home Many other fires were also were active in rural areas of book post announcing the Authorities in Utah, mean-
and rescued their dog. Un- burning throughout the eastern Oregon and Wash- "go now" evacuations. while, lifted evacuation or-
fortunately, their house was state, including one that ington, where smoke im- By Monday, I-84 had re- ders for a wildfire in Salt Lake
in flames when firefighters started Saturday and rapidly pacted air quality. opened and the town was City that threatened neigh-
arrived, The Press-Enterprise expanded to more than 4 Authorities evacuated the still safe, but evacuation or- borhoods near the state
reported. square miles (10.3 square ki- town of Huntington, Oregon, ders remained in place and Capitol over the weekend.
"It was kind of sad to see the lometers) on the border of with a population of about extreme fire behavior was The blaze began Saturday
house was gone," Piri told the Lake and Colusa counties, 500, and closed a stretch expected again, authorities and grew to about 200 acres
newspaper after rummaging northwest of Sacramento. of Interstate 84 late Sunday said. The fire covered more (80 hectares). The evacua-
through the remains of the Containment reached 25% after thunderstorms caused than 272 square miles (704 tion order was lifted late Sun-
newly remodeled house. on Monday. a massive smoke column to square kilometers) with no day, but officials cautioned
Riverside hit 102 degrees More than two dozen fires collapse. containment. that residents needed to
(38.9 Celsius) on Sunday were burning in the Pacific The implosion of the plume Large wildfires can gener- remain ready to evacuate,
amid a heat wave that has Northwest and Idaho, where sent winds of 50 mph (80 ate huge plumes of smoke with the fire only partially
been largely focused on the lightning ignited more blazes kph) in every direction, rais- and ash that can rise more under control as of Monday
interior of California and is in Oregon over the weekend ing fears the fire would jump than 5 miles (8 kilometers), morning.q

No prison for a nursing home owner

who sent 800 residents to ride out a

hurricane in squalor

frustration in a news release roughly 70 miles (110 kilo- uees, five of them classified
that Dean didn't get any meters) northwest of New as storm-related.
prison time. Orleans. By the time Dean was ar-
"We asked specifically that Authorities said conditions at rested on state charges in
he be sentenced to a mini- the warehouse deteriorated June 2022, he had lost state
mum of 5 years in prison, and rapidly after the powerful licenses and federal funding
not be given only probation. storm hit on Aug. 29, 2021. for his nursing homes.
I respect our judicial system They found ill and elderly According to Murrill, Dean
This undated image provided by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's and that the judge has the bedridden people on mat- pleaded no contest to
Office shows Bob Glynn Dean Jr. ultimate discretion over the tresses on the wet floor, eight counts of cruelty to
Associated Press
appropriate sentence, but I some crying for help, some the infirmed, two counts of
By KEVIN McGILL criminal counts Monday remain of the opinion that lying in their own waste. Civil obstruction of justice and
Associated Press and was sentenced to three Dean should be serving pris- suits against Dean's corpora- five counts of Medicaid
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A years of probation. on time," her statement said. tion said the ceiling leaked fraud. Judge Brian Abels
Louisiana businessman who Bob Dean Jr. also must pay Dean, 70, owned seven nurs- and toilets overflowed at the sentenced Dean to a total
sent more than 800 elderly more than $358,000 in res- ing homes in New Orleans sweltering warehouse, and of 20 years in prison, but de-
residents from his seven nurs- titution to the state health and southeast Louisiana. there was too little food and ferred the sentences in favor
ing homes to ride out Hur- department and more than As Ida approached, Dean water. of three years of probation.
ricane Ida in a crowded, $1 million as a monetary moved hundreds of resi- Within days after the storm The plea was entered in
ill-equipped warehouse penalty, but state Attorney dents into a building in the hit, the state reported the Tangipahoa, north of New
pleaded no contest to 15 General Liz Murrill expressed town of Independence, deaths of seven of the evac- Orleans. q