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Groton Daily Independent
Saturday, June 09, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 330 ~ 36 of 59
In one fire in Mendocino County last fall, investigators said Potter Valley experienced wind speeds up to 67 mph, causing many tree branches to fall, triggering numerous 911 calls reporting fires, according to Cal Fire’s report.
“An arc from a conductor was witnessed along with the start of a vegetation fire,” the report said. A second fire also was “from an overhead conductor.” The two sparked a third, merged, and burned 10 miles (16 kilometers), the report said.
A responding firefighter said the smoke was blowing sideways and he had to veer around numerous tree branches to get to the fire.
Another property owner told Fire Captain Specialist Eric Bettger that “he saw a flash to the east and saw the conductors come down.
“He said the fire crossed the road within seconds,” Bettger said.
Sen. Bill Dodd, a Democrat who represents the Napa area, called the report’s findings “disappointing and deeply concerning.” He has introduced legislation that would require electric utilities to update wildfire plans to determine when they need to cut power to lines during harsh weather and boost infrastructure.
Cal Fire investigators are still probing other fires in October and December, including the deadliest blaze in Napa and Sonoma Counties, which PG&E has argued was started by wires belonging to a private homeowner.
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Associated Press writer Amanda Lee Myers contributed to this report from Los Angeles and Thompson contributed from Sacramento.
Grim task as forensic experts ID Guatemala volcano victims By SONIA PEREZ D., Associated Press
ESCUINTLA, Guatemala (AP) — Forensic experts worked Friday on the grim task of identifying dozens of bodies charred beyond recognition by the eruption of Guatemala’s Volcano of Fire, a disaster that has left at least 110 confirmed dead and nearly 200 still missing.
Even as search and recovery efforts were suspended for a second day amid dangerous new volcanic flows and dwindling hopes of finding survivors, about 15 forensic experts worked at a makeshift morgue in a warehouse in the southern city of Escuintla.
The corpses arrive wrapped in sheets and plastic, blackened and often missing extremities, filling the cavernous, metal-roofed warehouse with the unmistakable stench of death. Some still had hair; others did not.
First, the experts check for anything that could help identify the bodies, such as clothing that hasn’t been burned off by flows said to have reached temperatures as high as 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit (700 C). Later, they will take genetic material from the bones — the only option available — and compare it to blood drawn from people with missing relatives. The bones can also yield information to help determine
age and gender.
“We are extracting the samples from bones to do DNA tests,” forensic expert Miguel Morales told The
Associated Press, which was allowed access to the morgue to witness the work. “The tissues are in very bad shape.”
Morales said the bodies were essentially mummified, cooked by the extreme heat.
On one table lay the body of someone frozen statue-like in death, the stomach distended and a hand jutting stiffly outward. A woman took notes, and another worker took photographs.
Dozens more bodies were shrouded in white plastic on wooden pallets, and workers used fans and dry ice to cool the space. In all, there were about 40 corpses.
At one end of the cinderblock warehouse, dozens of coffins lay waiting to receive identified bodies that would be handed over to relatives and quickly buried as mandated by health authorities.
National Institute of Forensic Sciences director Fanuel Garcia Morales said the process can take several days and workers are trying to get the dead to their families as quickly as possible.