FORGOTTEN HEROES OF THE ROAD
'MAYDAY': The largest organization of independent truck drivers is demanding that Trump provide masks, testing, and quarantine zones for truckers

Truckers are asking President Donald Trump for "urgent and immediate action." 

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File ASSHOLE BEHIND THE WHEEL

America's largest organization of independent truck drivers is demanding that President Donald Trump act quickly to protect drivers.

There are nearly two million truck drivers in the US, and they have been deemed as "essential" workers while much of the nation has been told to stay home. 

Truckers are at an increased risk for contracting the coronavirus.

In a letter that begins "HELP – MAYDAY – 9-1-1," America's largest organization of independent truck drivers is demanding that President Donald Trump act quickly to protect drivers.

Rachel Premack BUSINESS INSIDER Apr 4, 2020

Todd Spencer, the president and CEO of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, wrote in a letter dated April 3 that truck drivers are key to the nation's supply chain and have been deemed "essential" workers, but they're at more risk than ever as the coronavirus sweeps across the US.

"Right now, professional drivers are busting their butts to care for the nation," he wrote in the letter to Trump. "Their hard work and personal sacrifice should not include their health or even their lives if at all possible or preventable."

There are nearly two million truck drivers in the US, and they move around 71% of the nation's freight by weight. If truck drivers got sick en masse, that would put at risk Americans' abilities to buy groceries, go to the ATM, get gas, and, of course, get online orders delivered.

Spencer argued that this critical service could be at risk. "Once word spreads that drivers are testing positive, we could very well see a tremendous reduction in drivers willing to risk everything for the rest of us," he wrote.

Here are the three safeguards Spencer wrote that Trump needs to make available to truck drivers immediately:
Access to personal protective equipment, like masksTesting on truck routes that show results within hoursA place for truck drivers to quarantine or seek treatment if they test positive for the coronavirus

The massive trucking companies that employ drivers have not made clear if they have paid time off for truck drivers, or what infrastructure they have for drivers who have the coronavirus. Business Insider contacted 10 of the largest public trucking companies in the US, and few revealed policies for what happens if a truck driver gets sick.

One large public trucking company is even asking truck drivers with symptoms of the coronavirus to self-quarantine in their trucks for several days, according to emails sent to Business Insider.
 

A truck driver in Luling, Texas in 2015. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

As Americans buy more and more cleaning goods and food, and hospitals require quick shipments of key medical supplies, the country's trucking network is getting pushed to the limit to ensure those items are delivered on time, experts say. During the week of March 22, for instance, trucking shipments to grocery stores jumped by 81% compared to the same week last year, and by 16% from just the week before, according to freight data company project44.

Meanwhile, truck drivers are at a greater risk than other Americans to get the coronavirus and to experience complications from it.

Truck drivers are twice as likely as the average working American to not have health insurance, according to a 2014 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Paid sick leave is also not a common benefit across many trucking jobs.

More than half of truckers smoke cigarettes, according to the CDC. Epidemiologist Saskia Popescu, who practices at the Honor Health medical group in Arizona, previously told Business Insider that those with a history of smoking may be more vulnerable to coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the American Diabetes Association has warned that people with diabetes should expect more complications with coronavirus should they contract it. Truckers are twice as likely as the general population to have diabetes, according to the CDC.

Read more about how coronavirus is affecting America's 1.8 million truck drivers

In an unprecedented move, the Trump administration suspended an 82-year-old road safety law for some truck drivers, showing how much coronavirus is pressuring retailers and hospitals to maintain cleaning and medical supplies

America's largest trucking companies won't reveal how — or if — they'll get their drivers home if they get coronavirus, and truckers are terrified

Leaked memo reveals trucking giant mistakenly distributed faulty sanitation wipes to its 10,000-plus drivers

Walmart leadership is urging its 9,000 'Elite Fleet' truck drivers to buy cleaning supplies with their company cards amid coronavirus fears

After weeks of silence amid the coronavirus outbreak, Amazon tells its giant network of truck drivers to stay home if feeling sick

 

Dozens of Taiwanese celebrities endorse Beijing's claim on island

More than 70 repost a state media comment about 'unification' between Taiwan and China.

By Hsia Hsiao-hwa for RFA Mandarin, Alice Yam for RFA Cantonese
2024.05.27

Taiwanese celebrities from left to right: journalist Patty Hou, singer and actress Nana Ouyang, TV host and actress Dee Hsu are pictured in this combination of file photos. (Photos by AFP and AP)

 Photo: RFA

Dozens of artists and actors from Taiwan have been lining up on social media to endorse Beijing's territorial claim on the island by retweeting a Chinese state media post in support of eventual "unification."

More than 70 artists and celebrities including journalist Patty Hou, singer and actress Nana Ouyang and TV host and actress Dee Hsu reposted a statement from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on the Weibo social media platform which said that independence for Taiwan, which has never been ruled by Beijing, was "a dead end."

"The unification of Taiwan with China cannot be stopped," said the May 22 statement, local media reported, citing a social media spreadsheet.

CCTV's post was in response to the inauguration speech of Taiwan's elected President Lai Ching-te, who called on Beijing to stop threatening his country, and respect the will of its 23 million people, the majority of whom have no wish to be ruled by the Chinese Communist Party.

"Taiwan has never been a country and will never become one,” the post said, adding “Taiwanese independence is a dead end. Unification with the motherland is unstoppable! China will eventually achieve complete unification.” 

Other artists appeared to be offering their support less directly, by claiming a "Chinese" identity, a view that isn't shared by most of their compatriots.

Lead singer Ashin of the Taiwanese band Mayday told fans at a concert at Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium on Saturday that "We Chinese, when we come to Beijing, must eat roast duck! What else should we eat?" in a statement similar to the saying, "When in Rome."

And singer Jolin Tsai, who has had an LGBTQ+-themed song deleted from her concerts by Chinese censors, told concert-goers that residents of "our Chinese city of Nanchang" were the most passionate fans.

Ashin of Taiwanese band Mayday performs in Kuala Lumpur in 2013. (Lai Seng Sin/AP)

One fan commented on Nana Ouyang's re-post that they were unhappy about her support for Beijing.

"I’ve been your fan for a long time, but I love Taiwan more," the fan wrote in comments reported by the Taiwan News. Another told Ouyang to go live in China: "Don't come back to Taiwan."

Some Hong Kong artists also followed suit, including martial arts star Donnie Yen, who sparked controversy when he was a presenter at last year’s Oscars despite protests over his pro-Beijing stance on the Hong Kong protests of 2019.

Resisting pressure

Not everyone piled onto the bandwagon, however.

Taiwanese actor Yang Hsiu-hui told reporters on Sunday that she identifies as Taiwanese, and doesn't want to make money from China.

"Some people told me I would lose access to the market in mainland China," Yang said, adding that she had turned down jobs in China for political reasons.

"I gave up on that market a long time ago," she said.

Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai is pictured in Milan in 2017. (Marco Bertolrello/AFP)

President Lai expressed empathy for the artists in a statement on Sunday, saying he could understand how much pressure they were under "in another person's house," and that they may privately feel very differently.

Ruling Democratic Progressive Party Mayor of Kaohsiung Chen Chi-mai said China should honor freedom of speech rather than coercing Taiwanese entertainers into taking a political stance, while the Kuomintang, the largest party in Taiwan's parliament, said putting pressure on Taiwan's artist doesn't "build goodwill across the Taiwan Strait," local media reported.

The island's Ministry of Culture said the artists were forced into taking a position by "unavoidable circumstances," and that such coercion would never happen in democratic Taiwan.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te wears a hat given to him by Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, in Taipei on May 27, 2024. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

"To the artists taking a public stance under unavoidable circumstances, we extend our understanding," the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. "Taiwan ... will never ask anyone to take a public stance, nor will anyone be punished for taking, or not taking, such a stance."

"The lack of political coercion is the most valuable thing about a free Taiwan," the ministry said.

‘Divide and conquer’

Chinese dissident Gong Yujian, who now lives permanently in Taiwan, told RFA Mandarin that the artists' statements are part of a campaign to wage "cognitive warfare" on Taiwan.

"I am certain, and can say without hesitation, that this is a case of the Chinese Communist Party's divide-and-rule tactics and cognitive warfare being waged against Taiwan," Gong said.

"The aim is to split supporters of independence, with the ultimate aim of benefiting the Chinese Communist Party and its 'fifth column' in Taiwan," he said.

Kang Kai, chairman of the Taiwan Performing Arts Union, told RFA that he had no problem with President Lai's approach. 

"Everyone has their own opinion," Kang said. "The most important thing is that they work hard to support their families and do a good job."

"I don't like to see artists getting involved in politics. Neither side wants a war," he said. 

Chinese dissident Gong Yujian poses for a photo in New Taipei City in 2015. (Pichi Chuang/Reuters)

A spokesperson for a foundation run by former Kuomintang President Ma Ying-jeou, who recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a trip to Beijing, told RFA Mandarin that "bullying" can work both ways.

"It seems that you are expected to say you're Taiwanese and not Chinese, if you want to be respected ... in Taiwan," Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen said. "That's just another form of suppression and coercion."

But Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan said there would be no repercussions for the Taiwanese artists who supported Beijing's claim on the island.

"We are a free and democratic country, and Taipei is a diverse and open city, so how can we stop them from performing?" Chiang said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

Baltimore's bridge collapse recalls lessons of Florida tragedy decades ago

In 1980, a ship crashed into Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay, killing 35


The Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, Fla., was rebuilt in 1987 after the original bridge collapsed in 1981. A freighter struck a support post during a storm, collapsing the southbound span. A Greyhound bus and seven other vehicles were plunged into the water, killing 35 people.

 File Photo by Robert Neff/Wikimedia Commons

March 27 (UPI) -- The catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday over Baltimore's Patapsco River, where six people remain missing and presumed dead, is drawing tragic comparisons to a similar bridge collapse in Florida 44 years ago.

On the morning of May 9, 1980, a freighter slammed into the support columns of the old Sunshine Skyway bridge over Tampa Bay during a violent thunderstorm, causing a 1,300-foot section of the southbound span to collapse. A Greyhound bus and seven other vehicles plunged into the water, where 35 people died. Only the driver of a pickup truck survived the drop.

In Baltimore, a Singapore-based cargo ship is reported to have issued a mayday Tuesday morning after losing power. Crews performing pothole work on the bridge alerted drivers to stop the flow of traffic as the ship crashed into a support column, collapsing much of the span and sending eight people into the water. Two were rescued as a search continued for the other six until late Tuesday, when it was called off.

Both bridge collapses involved freighters hitting support columns, collapsing much of the span, and plunging vehicles and people into the water below. Both bridge collapses cut off a major artery for drivers and for shipping. And both spans that collapsed opened in the 1970s.

Related

Six construction workers presumed dead in Baltimore bridge collapse as search called off

As investigators gather in Baltimore to determine what happened Tuesday, the question is what lessons learned from Florida's tragedy decades ago could have made a difference this week.

Post-disaster findings

In Florida's bridge collapse, the pilot of the ship, John Lerro, ultimately was cleared of negligence and the collision was deemed an accident. During months of hearings, Lerro maintained that he had no control over the freighter and was at the mercy of the 70-mph winds as he navigated through the 800-foot-wide opening under the twin bridge spans.

"We believe he made a reasonable decision of attempting to transit under the bridge, in view of his fear of slamming into the bridge broadside," Douglas Rabe, chief National Transportation Safety Board investigator, said in 1981. Investigators ultimately determined the National Weather Service should have warned mariners of the severe storm and that Lerro should have abandoned his attempt to navigate under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

While Tuesday's bridge collapse is still early in the investigation, there are reports that the crew aboard the cargo ship Dali issued a "mayday," saying the vessel had lost power, before it slammed into one of the support piers of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Engineering protective barriers

On Tuesday, engineers and bridge designers raised questions about the structural safety of Baltimore's bridge and whether protective barriers around the support columns would have prevented the tragedy.

British structural engineer and bridge designer Ian Firth told The Baltimore Sun that protective barriers include cable systems, pontoons, caissons and submerged islands. Firth said the most commonly used protection for bridge support columns are bumpers or "dolphins," which are filled with sand or concrete to protect the bridge from cargo ships.

When the Sunshine Skyway was rebuilt in 1987 at a cost of $240 million, engineers added dolphins mounted to artificial islands to protect the bridge from "potential water-traffic collisions." The six piers, closest to the shipping channel in Tampa Bay, are protected and the two main piers are flanked by 60-foot dolphins, which can withstand an impact of up to 30 million pounds.

Maryland's Francis Scott Key Bridge opened 10 years earlier in 1977. Codes for building bridges and their structures have changed over the years and vary state by state to accommodate vehicle traffic above and maximum access for water traffic to traverse underneath.

Benjamin Schafer, a professor of civil and systems engineering at Johns Hopkins University, told the Sun that protecting the bridge piers, in the unlikely event that a large freighter is unable to navigate, could have made a difference Tuesday.

"This sort of protection is what FSK did not have, and we can see now that it may -- may -- have helped," Schafer said.

Scenes from Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore

A damaged container ship rests next to a bridge pillar in the Patapsco River after crashing into and destroying the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the entrance to Baltimore harbor on March 26, 2024.

 Photo by David Tulis/UPI | License Photo

Mayday, mayday: a warning from the labour movement

VERONICA NILSSON

SOCIAL EUROPE

1st May 2023

Having battled one crisis after another, a fresh round of austerity could be the last straw for workers.

The Covid-19 crisis upended norms on social esteem—no longer monopolised by men in suits, now typically attached to women in uniforms

 (Cryptographer/shutterstock.com)

In Britain the economist and commentator Grace Blakeley recently observed:

The problem for the government is that working people have been subject to so much suffering over the last decade that many feel they have little left to lose. When you can barely heat your home and put food on the table, not demanding wage increases in line with inflation seems like a greater risk than doing so.

Much the same could be said of the mood of many workers worldwide—including in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Canada where there has been an unprecedented rise in strike action for higher wages in response to the cost-of-living crisis. It is also true in France, even if worker fury is more directed at the pension ‘reform’ pressed by the president, Emmanuel Macron, which will force millions to work longer and pay more towards their retirement.
Series of crises

The current crisis is only the latest in a series since 2008. And working people are organising in unions because they don’t want to pay the price for another crisis caused by a greedy elite.

The latest, cost-of-living crisis was triggered by spikes in energy prices caused by sanctions against Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine—’triggered’ in the sense that inflation was subsequently driven by companies exploiting energy-related cost increases to add further price increases to boost their profits. That is not just a trade union view: it is expressed by the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, among others. Economists are now discussing the profit-price spiral and ‘greedflation’.

Before there was the Covid-19 crisis. Many workers were required to continue their ‘normal’ work in what had become a life-threatening context. When the lives of the public were at stake, the nurses, shop workers, lorry drivers and cleaners who provided key services were rightly acknowledged as essential—rather than the far more highly remunerated business managers and bankers lionised in the era of the ‘heroic CEO’. Job losses were stemmed but not stopped by government support for businesses and real wages declined.

The period before the pandemic was dominated by the austerity following the financial crisis. The cuts in the United Kingdom were savage—precipitating the slowest recovery in recorded British history—and the fiscal straitjacket imposed on Greece, Spain, Portugal and other countries by the European Union Stability and Growth Pact caused damage from which workers have not yet fully recovered. Greece in particular is still worse off than before the financial crisis.

Regressive policies

Despite inflation being driven by profits, and the absence of evidence that wages are to blame, some politicians and economic bodies, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, are promoting regressive policies—such as supporting interest-rate increases, cautioning against wage rises and calling for more ‘flexible’ labour markets (which usually means more insecure work for less pay).

Restrictive fiscal policies are the last thing needed after a period of decline in the range and quality of public services in most countries. Education, childcare, long-term care and health services—and access to affordable housing—demand more expenditure, not less.

Moreover, public investment is urgently needed to save our planet from climate change and to abandon fossil fuels for clean, green energy. Investment is also required to equip working people with the skills for an era of digitalisation and artificial intelligence.

Postwar settlement

The OECD of all organisations should be alive to the dangers of the situation facing workers today. Set up after the end of World War II, it is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

The OECD is widely credited with the Marshall plan for recovery and is closely associated with the postwar settlement, when ruling elites were terrified by the fear that workers supported Communism. The result was nationalised industries, the birth of welfare states and important elements of workers’ democracy, including widespread collective bargaining and ‘social dialogue’ (of which the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD is an example).

Support independent publishing and progressive ideas by becoming a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month. You can help us create more high-quality articles, podcasts and videos that challenge conventional thinking and foster a more informed and democratic society. Join us in our mission - your support makes all the difference!Become a Social Europe Member

That postwar settlement began however to be dismantled in the 1980s—with privatisation, tax cuts for the rich, attacks on trade unions and collective bargaining, allied to cuts in public spending and an explosion in CEO salaries. And with austerity, the pandemic and now a cost-of-living crisis caused by excessive profits, things really have gone too far.

Alarming growth

Even before the latest crisis, the social and political situation looked perilous. Certainly, decision-makers should show a lot more concern for those forced to live in poverty despite working long hours, spending a large portion of their income on basics such as childcare or unable to work because of lack of eldercare. But they should at minimum be concerned about the alarming growth of the far right and the threat it poses to democracy.

It takes little intelligence to grasp that the rise of populism has taken place against a backdrop of people feeling left behind: by globalisation, by delocalisation and outsourcing, by privatisation, by the decline of industry, public services, real wages and living standards—and by the parallel increase in inequality.

A fresh round of austerity to tackle inflation could be the last straw. What is needed instead is a new social settlement—a clear commitment to invest in a socially-just transition to a digital and carbon-neutral future, and in public services, social protection and jobs, while promoting social dialogue and collective bargaining.

That is what the OECD should be leading on in its 75th-anniversary year—along with every government and international organisation that cares about the future for working people and democracy.



Veronica Nilsson  is acting general secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

MAYDAY, MAYDAY

Lithium-ion batteries are fueling the fire on a burning cargo ship full of Porsches

MARINHA PORTUGUESA/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

All this water and nothing to put the fire out with.

Published February 21, 2022

The cargo ship Felicity Ace is aflame from bow to stern with a lithium-ion battery fire that can’t be put out with water alone.

The fire has been burning since Wednesday (Feb. 16), as the ship drifts in the Atlantic about 200 miles southwest of Portugal’s Azores Islands. Its 22-person crew abandoned ship and was rescued on Thursday.

The ship left Germany on Feb. 10 and headed for the US with about 4,000 Porsches, Bentleys and other luxury cars aboard, and some of those were electric vehicles. It’s not clear if the batteries contributed to the fire starting in the first place—a greasy rag in a lubricant-slicked engine room or a fuel leak are the usual suspects in ship fires—but the batteries are keeping the flames going now. A forensic investigation will take months to determine the cause.

On Saturday, João Mendes Cabeças, captain of the port of Faial, the nearest Azorean island, told Reuters that the batteries in the ship’s cargo are “keeping the fire alive.” Cabeças added that reinforcements with specialist equipment to extinguish the fire were on their way. At the time of the interview, the fire hadn’t reached the ship’s fuel tank, but was closing in.

Large quantities of dry chemicals are needed to smother lithium ion battery fires, which burn hotter and release noxious gases in the process.

Pouring water onto the Felicity Ace wouldn’t put out a lithium-ion battery fire, Cabeças told Reuters, and the added water weight could make the ship more unstable.
Lithium-ion batteries pose a special fire risk

Electric vehicle fires are rare, but pose their own kind of flammability risk, and one that becomes heightened as EVs go mainstream. Large numbers of EVs grouped together, as when they are transported by cargo ship, or electric buses parked in an overnight lot, raise the risk that one flaming battery could ignite a chain reaction in adjacent batteries. According to a research proposal at the National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board, “Lithium-ion battery fire risks are currently undermanaged in transit operations.”

There have been more than 35 large lithium-ion battery fires since 2018, Paul Christensen, an expert in lithium fires, told the Financial Times, including a 13-ton Tesla megapack storage battery in Victoria Australia that burned for three days. An electric ferry in Norway caught fire in 2019, and in April 2021, a battery fire at a Beijing mall killed two firefighters.

In addition, car-carrying ships and ferries can face higher risks from fires, according to insurer Allianz Global’s head of marine risk. Due to the internal areas not being divided to make it easier to transport cars, when a fire starts it can spread more easily.

Firefighters struggle to douse fire on luxury cars vessel off Azores islands


 Ship Felicity Ace burns more than 100 km from the Azores island

Sun, February 20, 2022

LISBON (Reuters) - Firefighters are struggling to put out a fire that broke out on Wednesday on a vessel carrying thousands of luxury cars, which is adrift off the coast of Portugal's Azores islands, a port official said, adding it was unclear when they would succeed.

The Felicity Ace ship, carrying around 4,000 vehicles including Porsches, Audis and Bentleys, some electric with lithium-ion batteries, caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday. The 22 crew members on board were evacuated on the same day.

"The intervention (to put out the blaze) has to be done very slowly," João Mendes Cabeças, captain of the nearest port in the Azorean island of Faial, told Reuters late on Saturday. "It will take a while."

Lithium-ion batteries in the electric vehicles on board are "keeping the fire alive", Cabeças said, adding that specialist equipment to extinguish it was on the way.

It was not clear whether the batteries sparked the fire.

Volkswagen, which owns the brands, did not confirm the total number of cars on board and said on Friday it was awaiting further information. Ship manager Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cabeças previously said that "everything was on fire about five meters above the water line" and the blaze was still far from the ship's fuel tanks. It is getting closer, he said.

"The fire spread further down," he said, explaining that teams could only tackle the fire from outside by cooling down the ship's structure as it was too dangerous to go on board.

They also cannot use water because adding weight to the ship could make it more unstable, and traditional water extinguishers do not stop lithium-ion batteries from burning, Cabeças said.

The Panama-flagged ship will be towed to a country in Europe or to the Bahamas but it is unclear when that will happen.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony in Lisbon; Additional reporting by Victoria Waldersee in Berlin; Editing by Barbara Lewis)

UPDATED

12 Los Angeles firefighters recovering after explosion


AT ILLEGAL HASH OIL FACTORY


By STEFANIE DAZIO and FRANK BAKER

1 of 28

https://apnews.com/48a29168caab09da237d3cc56e6c2aa4/gallery/dd859627a6f94605b7fb89adb414311e

Los Angeles Police Department officers work the scene of a structure fire that injured multiple firefighters, according to a fire department spokesman, Saturday, May 16, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Eight firefighters remained hospitalized Sunday after being hurt in an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent crews running for their lives when a ball of flames shot out of the building and scorched a fire truck across the street.

The blast Saturday evening injured a dozen firefighters including some who ran out onto sidewalks, where they tore off their burning protective equipment including melted helmets, officials said.

“The was one of the worst scenes I’ve seen,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott.


He said “one significant explosion” shook the neighborhood around 6:30 p.m. Firefighters inside had to run through a wall of flames he estimated as 30 feet (9 meters) high and wide, and those on the roof scrambled down a ladder that was engulfed in fire.

Three firefighters were released after spending the night in the hospital, fire department spokesman Nicholas Prange said Sunday. Of the eight that remained hospitalized, two were in critical but stable condition, he said. Officials initially announced that 11 firefighters were injured but Prange said a 12th was treated and released for a minor injury.

All were expected to survive.

“The good news is everybody’s going to make it,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a late Saturday news conference outside the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center where all the injured were treated.

“Things could have been so much worse,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Medical Director Dr. Marc Eckstein, who works at the hospital and helped treat the injured.

Scott said people at the scene described the explosion as sounding like a freight train or jet engine.

Firefighters were called to 327 East Boyd St. in the city’s Toy District for a report of a fire at a one-story commercial building. There was light to moderate smoke when firefighters entered the building and went on the roof — normal procedures to try to quickly knock down any flames.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said one of the firefighters inside the building thought things didn’t seem right — the pressure from the smoke and heat coming from the rear of the building were increasing. He directed everyone to get out, and they quickly started exiting the building as it was rocked by the explosion.

Firefighters on the roof scrambled down ladders with their protective coats on fire. The wall of flames shot out the building and burned seats inside a fire truck across the street.

More than 200 firefighters rushed to the scene, and dozens of engines, trucks and rescue vehicles clogged the streets. The fire spread to several nearby buildings, but firefighters were able to douse it in about an hour.

The injured firefighters were rushed to the hospital. Those who remained at the scene, unaware of the seriousness of their colleagues’ injuries, were traumatized by what had transpired, Terrazas said.

“You can imagine the amount of emotional stress,” he said.

Scott said the building was a warehouse for SmokeTokes, which he described as a maker of “butane honey oil.” Butane is an odorless gas that easily ignites, and it’s used in the process to extract the high-inducing chemical THC from cannabis to create a highly potent concentrate also known as hash oil. The oil is used in vape pens, edibles, waxes and other products.

On its website, SmokeTokes advertises a variety of products including “puff bars,” pipes, “dab” tools, vaporizers, “torches and butane,” and cartridges. The company says it is “an international distributor and wholesaler of smoking and vaping products, and related accessories.” Founded in 2009, it offers “discounts to loyal customers, fast shipping, a huge catalog of products and customer service that is untouched.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

___
Associated Press writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Investigators open criminal probe into LA explosion that injured a dozen firefighters

by STEFANIE DAZIO and FRANK BAKER ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sunday, May 17th 2020A



VIEW ALL PHOTOS

Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters work the scene of a structure fire that injured multiple firefighters, according to a fire department spokesman, Saturday, May 16, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police and fire investigators launched a criminal probe Sunday into the cause of an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent firefighters running for their lives.

Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's major crimes division were working with the city Fire Department's arson investigators to determine what might have sparked the blast that shot a ball of flames out of the building Saturday night and scorched a fire truck across the street, police spokesman Josh Rubenstein said.
“We're in the very early stages of the investigation ... to understand what happened and figure out how to move forward,” he said.

The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was assisting local fire investigators, an agency spokeswoman said.

The blast injured a dozen firefighters including some who ran out onto sidewalks, where they tore off their burning protective equipment including melted helmets, officials said.


“The was one of the worst scenes I’ve seen,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott.

Firefighters first thought they were battling a routine structure fire, Scott told KNX Radio, but as they got a little farther in the building they started to hear “a loud hissing sound and a significant rumbling that you could feel vibrating throughout the area.”



Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters work the scene of a structure fire that injured multiple firefighters, according to a fire department spokesman, Saturday, May 16, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

He said “one significant explosion” shook the neighborhood around 6:30 p.m. Firefighters inside had to run through a wall of flames he estimated as 30 feet (9 meters) high and wide, and those on the roof scrambled down a ladder that was engulfed in flames.

Three firefighters were released after spending the night in the hospital, fire department spokesman Nicholas Prange said Sunday. Of the eight that remained hospitalized, two were in critical but stable condition, he said. Officials initially announced that 11 firefighters were injured but Prange said a 12th was treated and released for a minor injury.

All were expected to survive.

“The good news is everybody’s going to make it,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a late Saturday news conference outside the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center where all the injured were treated.

“Things could have been so much worse,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Medical Director Dr. Marc Eckstein, who works at the hospital and helped treat the injured.

There was light to moderate smoke when firefighters entered the one-story building in the city's Toy District and went on the roof — normal procedures to try to quickly knock down any flames.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said one of the firefighters inside the building thought things didn’t seem right — the pressure from the smoke and heat coming from the rear of the building were increasing. He directed everyone to get out, and they quickly started exiting the building as it was rocked by the explosion.

Firefighters on the roof scrambled down ladders with their protective coats on fire. The wall of flames shot out the building and burned seats inside a fire truck across the street.

More than 200 firefighters rushed to the scene, and dozens of engines, trucks and rescue vehicles clogged the streets. The fire spread to several nearby buildings, but firefighters were able to douse it in about an hour.

The injured firefighters were rushed to the hospital. Those who remained at the scene, unaware of the seriousness of their colleagues’ injuries, were traumatized by what had transpired, Terrazas said.

“You can imagine the amount of emotional stress,” he said.

Scott said the building was a warehouse for SmokeTokes, which he described as a supplier for makers of “butane honey oil.” Butane is an odorless gas that easily ignites, and it’s used in the process to extract the high-inducing chemical THC from cannabis to create a highly potent concentrate also known as hash oil. The oil is used in vape pens, edibles, waxes and other products.

A call to SmokeTokes went unanswered on Sunday and the company's voicemail was full.

On its website, SmokeTokes advertises a variety of products including “puff bars,” pipes, “dab” tools, vaporizers, “torches and butane,” and cartridges. The company says it is “an international distributor and wholesaler of smoking and vaping products, and related accessories.”



A local resident holds her dog as she watches Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters working the scene of a structure fire that injured multiple firefighters, according to a fire department spokesman, Saturday, May 16, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Prange, the LAFD spokesman, said carbon dioxide and butane canisters were found inside the building but that it was still not clear what caused the blast.

Adam Spiker, executive director of the cannabis industry group Southern California Coalition, said he didn't know what activities were taking place inside the building. However, if the business was using butane in cannabis extraction it would be illegal, since the city has never issued a license for that type of operation.

Because of safety concerns, such businesses are typically restricted to industrial areas and kept away from urban centers.

“If they were doing volatile extraction with butane ... they couldn’t be legal in the city of LA to do those types of activities,” Spiker said.

He said the coalition was unaware of the business having any type of license and “something about this doesn’t pass the smell test.”

Information so far “puts up a lot of alarm bells,” Spiker said.

In 2016, there was another major fire at a business called Smoke Tokes at a nearby address. The Los Angeles Times reported at the time that it took more than 160 firefighters to put out the blaze and that they encountered pressurized gas cylinders that exploded in the fire.

No one was injured in the fire and it was unclear whether that business and the one that burned Saturday were connected.

Hash oil factory blast injures 11 

blast at a hash oil factory in Los Angeles has injured 11 firefighters who were caught by a ball of flame as they worked to put out a blaze.

The fireball shot out of the building and scorched a fire engine across the street when the explosion happened at 18:30 on Saturday (02:30 GMT Sunday).

Some of the firefighters had to run through a wall of flames 30ft (9m) high and wide to escape, an official said.

Three are in a critical condition but all are expected to survive.

All 11 firefighters suffered burns ranging from minor to serious, and two have been placed on ventilators.

Some of them were on fire as they ran out of the building and they ripped off their protective equipment, leaving it on pavement along with melted helmets, Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Erik Scott was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

It appears that butane gas was being used in the process to extract a chemical from cannabis to create hash oil, a powerful concentrate.

Los Angeles explosion: 11 firefighters hurt as 'hash oil factory' burns

Sam Levin Los Angeles correspondent and agencies

Sun 17 May 2020



Los Angeles explosion: 11 firefighters injured in 'major emergency' – video

An explosion in downtown Los Angeles has injured 11 firefighters, with scores more sent to put out the blaze in what was described as a factory making cannabis oil.

Captain Erik Scott of the Los Angeles fire department said “one significant explosion” shook the neighborhood around 6.30pm on Saturday and as first responders arrived they saw firefighters emerge from the building with burns and other injuries. Some of their uniforms were on fire.

Four firefighters were taken to a burns intensive care unit, two were put on ventilators due to signs of swelling airways and the other five who were hospitalized suffering a range of burns. The two firefighters on ventilators appeared to have inhaled superheated gases but as of around 10pm local time it seemed none of the injuries were life-threatening, said the fire department’s medical director, Marc Eckstein.

Firefighters were initially called to 327 East Boyd Street in the city’s Toy District for a report of a fire at a one-storey commercial building.

The LA fire department issued a “mayday” call, which means a firefighter is missing, down or trapped, and characterised the blaze as a “major emergency” with more than 230 firefighters responding. The fire spread to several nearby buildings but by 7.15pm appeared largely under control.

When the firefighters first entered the building before the explosion they saw “light to moderate smoke”, but also noticed that the pressure and heat was increasing inside, said fire chief Ralph M Terrazas: “Things didn’t seem right.” The firefighters moved to evacuate at this point and as they were starting to exit, the “explosion or flash” occurred, prompting the mayday call, he said. Some of their coats caught fire.

Scott described the business as a maker of “butane honey oil.” Butane is a flammable gas. Making the oil involves extracting the high-inducing chemical THC from cannabis plants to create a highly potent concentrate also known as hash oil. The oil is used in vape pens, edibles, waxes and other products.

Small butane canisters were later found on the street, officials said. The business where the explosion erupted may have been a wholesale distributor but the nature of the operation and the cause of the fire were still under investigation late Saturday evening.

“We have every expectation the firefighters will pull through,” Eckstein told reporters, noting that all firefighters were awake and alert upon arrival to the hospital. “It could’ve been much, much worse.”

Eckstein said there were no Covid-19 patients in the unit where the firefighters were being treated but the hospital was taking precautions to protect them.

Terrazas said the department was providing mental health services for the impacted first responders: “A lot of our firefighters were traumatized. You can imagine the amount of emotional stress.”

Jeralyn Cleveland told the Los Angeles Times she was on a roof of an apartment building a few blocks away when she saw the explosion: “Everyone in my building thought there was a bomb that went off. It was like a mushroom.”

The site of the fire was not far from Skid Row, a downtown LA neighborhood that is the epicenter of the city’s homelessness crisis.

Eleven firefighters injured in structure fire in downtown Los Angeles

May 17 (UPI) -- Eleven firefighters were injured, including three critically, in explosion at a commercial smoke shop in downtown Los Angeles, officials said.

During a news conference, Saturday night, officials said several firefighters were in the intensive care unit for burns at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, including at least two on ventilators. One injured firefighters will likely need skin grafts.

The incident was first reported at 6:26 p.m. in the city's Toy District in a one-story building.

The department posted on Twitter: "An explosion on scene has caused a MAYDAY with approx 10 firefighters down and multiple buildings on fire. This has been upgraded."

"A Mayday to us means a firefighter is missing, down or trapped," Fire Chief Ralph M. Terrazas said at the news conference.

Eyewitnesses said they saw firefighters coming out with their turnout coats on fire.

Within minutes, hundreds of firefighters responded to help. More than 230 firefighters responded to the blaze and the fire was put out just after 8 p.m.

Initially, the fire occurred at butane honey oil supplier.

Upon arrival, the blaze was described as having moderate smoke, Terrazas said, and smoke pressure was escalating when firefighters entered the building. They were directed to get out of the building as the explosion or flash occurred.

"Our hearts go out to their loved ones and fellow first responders," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti posted on Twitter. "We are keeping them in our prayers.

Garcetti was on the scene.

 

Maritime Mishaps and the Circadian Clock

The container ship Dali hit Baltimore's Key Bridge at 0129 hours on the morning of March 26. The circumstances are under investigation (Image courtesy USCG)

PUBLISHED APR 1, 2024 9:39 PM BY CAPT. JOHN CORDLE (USN, RET'D)

 

 

The tragic allision of the container ship Dali with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is sure to produce a good deal of speculation as to causal and contributing factors, and the NTSB investigation will certainly provide specific insights when it is completed. One area that will certainly be of interest is the impact of fatigue on maritime operations.

Although not a sleep scientist, I am an experienced Mariner and Human Factors Engineer who studies fatigue for a living and assists in creation of policy for fatigue management and crew endurance for the United States Navy. In our training, one of the key areas that we focus on is the circadian clock, which is part of our human biology. In fact, looking back at historical precedents, the vast majority of significant maritime incidents involving loss of life occurred in the natural circadian dip between midnight and 4:00 am.

Having stood my share of midnight watches, I can attest that the combination of fatigue, darkness, confusing lights, and stress can definitely impact performance and decision making. My own close call occurred in 2002 while in command of USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) during a strait transit under the Copenhagen Bridge. Having been up all day and into a night transit under the bridge, I dozed off at a critical moment. I opened my eyes as the panicked crew scrambled to figure out what was going on. It was quickly apparent everybody lost track of where we were . . . including me. 

Out of caution I gave the order to stop the ship - and then I realized that I had no idea what was going on. I had forgotten that there were three ships behind me that could have run into me had not an alert watch stander announced on the Bridge to Bridge radio that I was stopping my engines. I was so tired that I didn’t think it through; in my foggy state, I could have driven us into shallow water (or into the bridge) or caused a multi-ship collision! Everything turned out OK, but in retrospect I let myself get so tired that I basically caused a near miss[i].

The author fell asleep while piloting the USS Oscar Austin in Denmark. This photo, published on www.navsource.org, was taken from one of the three ships following the vessel on the night of the near-miss. (Kevin Elliott / U.S. Navy photo)

After a series of fatal collisions in 2017, where fatigue was found by both Navy and the NTSB to be a contributing factor[ii], most of the Navy adopted a circadian watch rotation which takes into account the body’s natural cycle and places watch and sleep periods at the same time each day. According to most experts, the majority of the commercial maritime industry is a similar schedule, with four hours on watch followed by eight hours off. However, manning shortages, excessive workload and scheduling anomalies can create a situation where a circadian watch rotation is not enough to ward off excessive fatigue.

While it is too early to tell, historical precedent is fairly consistent. The following graph from my colleague at the Naval Postgraduate School, Dr. Nita Shattuck, shows a few key incidents and their location on the circadian cycle:

Figure 1. A study of ship collisions and other major incidents shows that the vast majority of them occur during the naturally adverse phase of the circadian rhythm where reactions are slower. MV Dali hit the Key Bridge at 01:29 AM (Courtesy of Dr. Nita Shattuck, Naval Postgraduate School.

A 2021 Cambridge study of over 1600 maritime collisions concluded that:

“The result of the analysis confirms that collisions between vessels are more frequent at night and that these accidents are usually more serious than during the daylight watches. This does not mean that bridge officers and lookouts are not affected by fatigue during sunlight shifts, but that the necessary absence of light to improve the vision during the night watches diminishes their skills. As a result, the probability of shipping accidents fluctuates according to a circadian rhythm with peaks during the night. Although this analysis has focused only on collisions, it should be accepted that it affects any kind of task carried out by watch keepers, which means that the results obtained in this investigation can be extrapolated to any type of navigation incidents.[iii]”

In the case of the MV Dali, however, the watchstanders appear to have had the presence of mind to announce an emergency situation with a “Mayday” call that quite likely saved lives, allowing authorities to stop traffic from crossing the bridge, but unfortunately not in enough time to warn the workers in their cars on break[iv].  Despite the historical precedent and personal examples cited in this article, it is entirely possible that the master and crew were taking preemptive measures to reduce nighttime fatigue in a close maneuvering situation, and that these practices paid dividends in a casualty situation – only time will tell.

Captain (retired) John Cordle completed two Navy surface ship command tours including a wartime deployment in command of USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) and a counter-piracy deployment in command of USS San Jacinto (CG 56). He was awarded the Navy League John Paul Jones Award and the Bureau of Navy Medicine Epictetus Award for Innovative and Inspirational Leadership for his work in crew endurance and circadian watch rotations.

References:

[i] You Have To Close Your Eyes To See The Military's Powerful New Weapon, Sarah DiGiulio, Huffington Post, Jul 30, 2016

[ii] Comprehensive Review of Recent Surface Force Incidents, VADM R. Davidson, United States Navy, 28 October 2017

[iii] The effect of circadian rhythms on shipping accidents, Juan Vinagre-Ríos, José-Manuel Pérez-Canosa, and Santiago Iglesias-Baniela. Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2021

[iv] What to know about the cargo ship Dali, a mid-sized ocean monster that took down a Baltimore bridge, Rick Perry, AP News, 28 March 2024

 

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.