Posted on December 4, 2014

GOLDENDALE, Wash. A Goldendale man and his two children were found dead Wednesday after their home was destroyed in an early morning fire that investigators blame on faulty electrical wiring.

The bodies of Thomas G. Blakely, 34, and his two children, Kyra Julia Blakely, 7, and Thomas Evan Blakely, 5, were found in their home in the 600 block of North Mill Street, according to the Klickitat County Coroners Office.

Kyra was a second-grader at Goldendale Primary School, where her brother attended kindergarten, said Kay Hill, Goldendale School District business manager. She said counselors were asked to work with the students Wednesday.

Flames had fully engulfed the home when the fire was called in about 2:30 a.m., police said.

The fire, which is considered accidental, apparently started in wiring in the basement of the home before burning into the main level of the house, said Glenn Johnson, vice president of Q.Global, a forensic fire investigation company based in Burbank, Wash. Q.Global was called in at the request of the Goldendale Police Department.

Johnson said there were no working smoke detectors in the house.

Fire Chief Noah Halm said the incident was the first fatal fire in a decade. He said the firefighters will go through a critical-incident debriefing, where they will discuss what happened and how they are coping with it.

This report has been updated to correct Fire Chief Noah Halms first name.

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Goldendale father, two children die in house fire

A man received life threatening injuries in a fire in a home behind the Taste of India restaurant on Sprague Avenue in Spokane Valley lastmonth.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to the fire at 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 23, said Fire Marshal Kevin Miller. The man was able to get himself out of the house, but not before breathing in a lot ofsmoke.

Somehow he woke up, Miller said of the mans escape from the burning home. We found him in the frontyard.

The mans condition was upgraded within a couple days

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A man received life threatening injuries in a fire in a home behind the Taste of India restaurant on Sprague Avenue in Spokane Valley lastmonth.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to the fire at 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 23, said Fire Marshal Kevin Miller. The man was able to get himself out of the house, but not before breathing in a lot ofsmoke.

Somehow he woke up, Miller said of the mans escape from the burning home. We found him in the frontyard.

The mans condition was upgraded within a couple days of the fire, Miller said. Faulty electrical wiring was determined to be the cause of theblaze.

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Fire Roundup: Valley man suffers serious injuries in house fire - Thu, 04 Dec 2014 PST

TILLSONBURG-

Saturday's Holiday Tour of Homes, presented by the Tillsonburg Kinette Club and Tillsonburg Station Arts Centre, featured six Tillsonburg homes, including three Broadway residences.

Also on the tour was Station Arts Centre on Bridge Street with its seasonally-decorated Tea Room, and the town's three-story crown jewel, Annandale National Historic Site, on Tillson Avenue.

Participants were provided with a map on their tickets, and they could visit the eight locations in any order. At each location tickets were initialed to be eligible for draw prizes.

No. 1 on the list was the Broadway home of Jennifer Schum and David Rudolph, owners of a stately century house originally built in 1908 by the Brown family. Visitors were greeted by two large Nutcracker soldiers 'posted' out front, and holiday music both inside and outside. Inside, the home's main hall, dining room, living room and family room were seasonally decorated using a variety of vintage-theme Christmas decorations and children-friendly ornaments.

"The music outside's just for today I wanted to liven it up," said Schum, standing under a string of musically chiming bells at the dining room entrance. "Everything in here right now is what we typically do for Christmas. If you come here in January, it'll still be the same."

Their 'show-stopper' was a set of three dancing pandas from an old mall display which Schum had found on Kijiji. The last owner, who had bought them at an auction, had not used them in a dozen or more years. The wiring had been cut, but Rudolph was able to re-wire them and fire them up for the first time about a week before the home tour.

"The panda bears and the Ferris wheel the Ferris wheel is off right now that's upstairs normally," said Schum. "We do kind of a kid's theme Candyland upstairs. We've got young children, so we try to make all of our holidays really quite special for the kids. Holidays have always been quite a big production for us and we love Christmas."

They started collecting the larger pieces since moving into the Broadway home seven years ago.

"The three larger Nutcracker soldiers and the pandas wouldn't fit in our last house."

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All decked out for the Holiday Home Tour

on November 22, 2014 - 4:06 PM

New York State officials issued details advice on how to deal with flooding in your home. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday as temperature rise into the 50s and rain begins to fall.

Home Flood Safety Information

If flooding of a home or business has already occurred or is about to occur, customers should contact their utility companies to have electricity and natural gas service turned off. In the event of flooding, customers should never attempt to turn off electricity and natural gas service. As a precaution prior to any flood, customers should check their basement drains to make sure they are clear and energized wires are off the floor.

Stay out of flooded basements. Energized wiring or outlets below the water line may pose a hazard; natural gas service in a flooded basement may also pose a danger.

To have electricity service restored once flood waters have receded: Customers should contact an electrician to make sure that it is safe to have electricity service turned on before contacting their utility. If the main fuse box or circuit breaker box has been under water, it must be inspected by a certified electrical inspector before service can be restored. Someone must be present for service to be turned on, the basement must be free of water and the electrical panel must be clean and free of debris. Customers and contractors should never attempt to turn on electricity service.

To have natural gas service restored once floodwaters have receded: If the natural gas meter and/or regulator were under water, customers must first contact their natural gas company. If any natural gas equipment (furnace, boiler, water heater, etc.) has been under water, customers need to contact a plumbing and heating contractor to have the equipment checked. Customers can then contact their natural gas company to have service restored. Customers and contractors should never attempt to turn on natural gas service.

Additional Safety Tips

If a gas odor is present, the customer should leave the premises immediately and then call the utility or 911 from a different location. Do not use any appliances or operate any electrical switches if a gas odor is present. Utility representatives are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to receive emergency calls.

Stay away from downed power lines. Even lines that appear dead can be deadly.

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What to do if your home floods

Posted: Wednesday, December 3, 2014 8:05 am | Updated: 11:09 am, Wed Dec 3, 2014.

Midtown fire displaces family of three St. Joseph News-Press St. Joseph News-Press & FOX 26 KNPN |

Plumes of smoke rolled out of a Midtown home after overheated electrical wiring sparked a fire early Wednesday morning.

Shortly before 12:45 a.m., eight fire crews responded to 521 N. 19th St. in response to a reported structure fire. Dark clouds of smoke poured out of the upper portion of the home as firefighters arrived to the intersection of 19th and Mulberry Streets.

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2014 St. Joseph News-Press and FOX 26 KNPN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Midtown fire displaces family

UPDATE 11/26/14 @ 5:45 p.m. WAYNE COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Five victims, including three elderly people, escaped a fire that destroyed a home in Wayne County Wednesday morning.

The fire broke out along Coplen Branch Road about 10 a.m. Wednesday.

One teenage boy who lived at the home and another who was visiting helped the three disabled elderly people escape the fire. Those boys are now being called heroes.

"The house was already in flames; they just kept pulling people out," Donnie Abrams, a resident of the home, says. "Thank the Lord, my son was here and got all the elderly people out."

The elderly adults rescued are family members that are taken care of by the other people who live in the home.

"My old lady just kind of takes care of all of them; its like our own little nursing home we have out here," Abrams says. "Everybody takes care of everybody."

The home to six people is considered a complete loss.

"We don't have nothing now; we'll have to start over," Abrams said. "We're just glad everybody got out."

Although everyone was able to make it out safely, the family dog did not survive. Abrams says they brought the dog in Tuesday night to keep it out of the cold.

Investigators say the are unsure what caused the fire, but the family fears old wiring may have sparked the flames.

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UPDATE: Five Escape House Fire in Wayne County

FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) -

A home in Northwest Fresno is vandalized when bad guys write racial slurs all over the walls. However, this is not the first time hateful words have been tagged at the home.

While walking through the McGee home you can see racial slurs written all over the walls and kitchen cabinets.

"I'm angry, very angry that someone would do something like that because we don't have any enemies that we know of," says Mary McGee, whose home was vandalized.

McGee says the thieves broke into the house early Saturday morning. The bad guys also knocked over furniture and stole most of the McGee's electronics.

"This happened once before, but not this bad," says McGee.

She says back in 2003 the family's cars were vandalized and a racial slur was written on the garage.

However, this time not only was the whole house damaged, there was also a fire.

"When we got home my husband looked and said, 'Hey is that smoke,' says McGee, "We got out of the car and ran up to the house and saw that the attic was inflamed."

Investigators say the fire and vandalism happening at the same time is coincidental. Fire inspectors say the fire was caused by wiring and it started in the attic. As for who vandalized the home, that's a mystery.

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Thieves Write Racial Slurs All Over A Fresno Home

In Palm Beach, the demand for new houses is as strong as an ocean rip current. Owners of recently completed custom-built homes are discovering they own prime real estate indeed.

Which might explain at least part of the reason that an Ohio racetrack owner has sold the custom home he and his wife completed last year on the North End at 200 Ocean Terrace. The four-bedroom Bermuda-style house was not on the market when it changed hands for $6.6 million via a deed recorded last week.

Brock E. Milstein sold the property as trustee of a revocable trust in his name. The 6,612-square-foot house was bought by Timothy C. Davidson of West Palm Beach, the deed shows. Davidson is affiliated in business records with a family company named Somerset Capital Partners.

Milsteins trust bought a 1950s-era house on the property from Arthur Oldham II for $1.425 million in April 2011 and demolished it.

Michael Perry of MP Design and Architecture designed the new Bermuda-style house for Milstein and his wife, Kimberley, according to town records. One lot west of the beach, the house stands on a lot measuring a third of an acre, a mile north of the Palm Beach Country Club.

Milstein is chairman of the board Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park, a racetrack with entertainment near Cleveland, and managing director of Milstein Capital Group. His wife is an entrepreneur.

Fite Shavell agents Lynn Warren and Gary Little acted on behalf of the Milsteins. They served that role three years ago when the Milsteins bought the property, opposite Corcoran Group listing agents Elizabeth Cleckner and John Pangborn.

In last weeks deal, Corcoran agent Andrew J. Reynolds represented the buyer, whose parents once lived on the island. The houses location near the beach was a plus, Reynolds said. So was the fact that it had sophisticated wiring for electronics and a long list of other custom features that you might not find in a newer house developed on speculation.

The Milsteins declined to comment, and Davidson couldnt be reached.

*

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New custom-built home fetches $6.6 million

By Antonio Coleman

CADILLAC Weatherizing your home may not just be a good idea for keeping warm air inside your house it could keep pests out.

Insects and other pests invade homes every winter in search of a warm place to survive the cold.

Christine Strang, co-owner of Crossroads Pest Control, said boxelder bugs, spiders and mice are among the most common pests invading homes this time of year. Among them, Strang said mice are one of the most destructive pests for homeowners.

Mice often have to constantly chew to keep their teeth a certain length, and this could lead to them chewing through your wiring, drywall and food products, Strang said.

Because of their ability to squeeze through openings the size of a pencil and run along narrow ledges, she said mice have no trouble invading your home. Given adequate living conditions, she said mice can become a nightmare and significant pests for homeowners.

Once you have mice that are old enough to breed, you could end up with about 30 mice within three months time, Strang said.

Mark Lee, manager of Environmental Pest Control, said the multicolored Asian lady beetle is another serious problem for homeowners this time of year. He said beetles are often attracted to heated surfaces and tend to congregate near the sunny side of the home. He said the months of September, October and November are the most active time for the beetles, and areas such as attics and wall voids are common places to find them in your home.

As the heat escapes from inside your home and through the walls, it brings them out of hibernation and into your home, Lee said.

Lee said that although lady beetles pose a lower risk of damaging property, an infestation could be a serious nuisance for homeowners.

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Keep overwintering critters out of your home with weatherization

A Scott County fire investigator said old wiring caused a house fire on Bourbon Street in Georgetown early Wednesday morning. Georgetown firefighters said the fire started around 3:30 a.m. in the wall in the attic portion of the two-apartment dwelling. Charles Masterson lived in the apartment on the top floor. He said his home is a total loss. "I'm just grateful my son wasn't here," said Masterson. Masterson said his power went out around 7 p.m., a few hours after his space heater had been plugged in. He said he called the landlord and went to stay with his mother, brother, sister and others in the apartment downstairs. "At 3:30 this morning my sister's boyfriend was yelling at me to get up. I went outside and there was smoke everywhere. There was smoke on the ceiling," said Masterson. The firefighters told the ten people living at the residence they could no longer stay there. They are all staying with Masterson's grandmother temporarily.

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UPDATE: Investigators Say Old Wiring Caused Georgetown Fire