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EDM Friday Briefing: A California Firefighter Dies Fighting The Thomas Fire

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Emergency and disaster management briefing for December 15, 2017: A firefighter dies in a major California wildfire, UAVs/drones help fire officials fight wildfires, Puerto Ricans migrate en masse to Florida following Hurricane Maria, the Thomas Fire is only 35 percent contained amid increased wind forecasts, a Miami daycare closes voluntarily after two children die, Connecticut police officers shoot three carjacking suspects, killing one, a study reveals pregnant women living near fracking sites deliver lower birth-weight infants, the driver of the vehicle that killed one during the clashes in Charlottesville now faces first-degree murder charges.

  1. Cory Iverson, 32, a firefighter for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CalFire, [link url=”https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/firefighter-killed-battling-powerful-california-wildfire-n829886″ title=”died Thursday while fighting the Thomas Fire”]. Iverson was a fire apparatus engineer and a member of a CalFire strike team. An investigation into the [link url=”http://beta.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-thomas-fire-santa-ana-20171214-story.html” title=”circumstances surrounding his death”] is being conducted by a serious accident review team. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/can-we-actually-protect-our-first-responders/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/is-communication-our-excuse-for-competence-pt-1-3/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/hazard-mitigation-where-do-public-policy-and-public-safety-intersect/”]
  2. Fire departments are now [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/12/13/los-angeles-fire-dept-dispatches-drones-for-first-time-in-wildfire-fight.html” title=”implementing the use of various drones”] in the effort to fight and contain raging wildfires. For only the third time, the U.S. Secretary of Defense approved the use of a Reaper MQ-9, just 36 hours after the Thomas Fire began, in order to assist incident commanders with operational efforts. The [link url=”https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/12/14/reaper-drone-shooting-real-time-wildfire-videos/950904001/” title=”unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)-drones-are able to transmit timely information from five-miles above”], including spot-fire detection, helping prevent some areas from being burned. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/drones-emergency-management/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/drones-emergency-management-2/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/how-the-pentagon-is-preparing-for-the-coming-drone-wars/”]
  3. [link url=”https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-13/beyond-disney-world-a-new-florida-takes-shape-in-wake-of-maria” title=”Mass migration to Florida from Puerto Rico”] has continued following the island’s devastation by Hurricane Maria. At least 231,000 residents from the island have arrived into the Miami, Orlando, and Tampa airports, with at least 8,500 new students being enrolled in school districts statewide, including some from the Virgin Islands. Florida is struggling to accommodate the new students in a school system that is [link url=”https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-13/beyond-disney-world-a-new-florida-takes-shape-in-wake-of-maria” title=”already short of math, science, and English teachers”]. https://twitter.com/PRicoReport/status/941366931285856257

  4. Firefighters took advantage of a [link url=”http://beta.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-thomas-fire-santa-ana-20171214-story.html” title=”two-day decrease in winds to try to get ahead of the Thomas Fire”] burning in Santa Barbara County. The blaze has already exceeded the size of the Zaca Fire, which scorched Santa Barbara in 2007, but fire officials fear that could change with an uptick in winds predicted for Friday. The Thomas Fire has [link url=”http://beta.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-thomas-fire-mainbar-20171215-story.html” title=”consumed nearly 250,000 acres, is now the fourth largest fire in history, and is only 35 percent contained”]. Fire officials stated that they are looking at full containment near January 7–over three weeks away. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/wildfires-how-to-prepare-and-protect-homes-and-families/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/california-wildfires-social-media/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/northern-california-may-need-years-to-recover-from-wildfires/”]
  5. Officials are working closely with a Miami daycare center that [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/12/14/miami-day-care-closes-after-2-suspected-meningitis-deaths.html” title=”voluntarily closed after two of its enrolled children, ages 22 months and 2 years, died”]. The 22-month old died of pneumococcal meningitis, and an investigation into the death of the 2-year-old is still being conducted. Officials have stated that [link url=”http://people.com/human-interest/meningitis-deaths-two-children-miami-daycare/” title=”they are unsure if the deaths are related”], but that they will inspect the daycare center before they clear it to reopen. 

  6. Police officers in New Britain, Connecticut [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/12/14/police-officers-shoot-3-carjacking-suspects-killing-1.html” title=”shot at three carjacking suspects”] while trying to stop the vehicle they believed was involved in a series of recent incidents. The armed carjacking incidents have occurred over the last two weeks across the city with the suspects pistol-whipping one individual and pulling a gun on another victim. Officials have stated that [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/police-officers-shoot-3-carjacking-suspects-killing-1/2017/12/14/65ad7314-e14f-11e7-b2e9-8c636f076c76_story.html?utm_term=.ab0cd20f02bc” title=”one of the carjacking suspects was killed”] while the other two are expected to survive, and at least one firearm was recovered from the vehicle by police.

  7. A new study released indicates that women who become pregnant that live [link url=”http://www.techtimes.com/articles/217032/20171215/pregnant-women-who-live-near-fracking-sites-more-likely-to-have-underweight-babies.htm” title=”close to fracking sites are 25 percent more likely to delivery low birth-weight babies”]. The births of over 1 million babies in Pennsylvania spanning from 2004 to 2013–before and after fracking–were analyzed. Those [link url=”https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/51182/title/Study–Fracking-Linked-to-Low-Birth-Weight-in-Newborns/” title=”women living closest to fracking sites (.64 miles) were found to have the largest impacts”], with about 25 percent of babies being born at or below 5.5 pounds. [relink url=”https://amuedge.com/from-fossil-fuels-to-fracking-to-renewables-what-have-we-learned/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/study-fracking-fluids-found-in-wyoming-groundwater/” url3=”https://edmdigest.com/adaptation/do-we-want-water-or-gas/”]
  8. Charges against the driver of the vehicle that plowed into protestors during clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia [link url=”https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/us/charlottesville-fields-white-supremists.html” title=”have been upgraded to first-degree murder”], indicating that prosecutors believe the act was premeditated. The vehicle attack was carried out by James A. Fields, Jr., 20, from Ohio, who drove his car into a group of counter-protestors, [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/14/us/charlottesville-james-alex-fields-court-appearance/index.html” title=”striking and killing Heather Heyer”], and injuring 35 others. The protest, held on August 12, 2017, was organized to protest the removal of Confederate statues from public parks. 

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