Fire near Reno burns several homes; 10,000 flee

RENO, Nev.: Firefighters were able to stop the progress of a fast-moving brush fire near Reno Thursday, but not before the wall of flames burned several homes and forced about 10,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods.

Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said more than 230 firefighters were battling the blaze, which was still uncontained and had grown to nearly 6 square miles late Thursday. It was eerily similar to another unusual winter fire that destroyed 30 homes in southwest Reno two months ago.

“Several” homes had been destroyed before nightfall Thursday, Hernandez said. He said he didn’t know the exact number but told reporters “the news is not good.”

There were no immediate reports of any deaths or injuries.

A Reno television station reported at least 10 homes had burned since the fire of unknown origin broke out shortly after noon along U.S. Highway 395.

Washoe County officials declared a state of emergency, and Gov. Brian Sandoval followed with a statewide declaration.

By nightfall, the fire had burned to the city’s southern outskirts. Flames were visible 10 miles away in the downtown casino district.

“It’s moving at a very fast rate,” Washoe County sheriff’s Deputy Armando Avina said. “The winds are extremely powerful in this area.”

Winds that had gusted to 82 mph died down after nightfall and rain started falling, much to the delight of fire crews. The flames were stopped at Galena High School, where Vice President Joe Biden spoke Thursday before the fire forced him to leave early.

The strong winds coming across the Sierra ahead of a winter storm had delayed Biden’s visit, and he was two hours late to give the speech at the school on the south end of town.

With the smell of smoke in the air, Biden told the audience about 25 minutes into his address that he was cutting his remarks short.

Meanwhile, about 300 students were evacuated from Pleasant Valley Elementary School, and deputies went door to door asking people to leave their homes in Pleasant Valley, Old Washoe Valley and Saint James Village, Avina said.

Erika Minnberry, 28, said she didn’t become concerned at first because smoke from the fire appeared far enough away.

“Probably 30 minutes later, it was up to our house because of the high winds,” she said. “I felt pure survival adrenaline. When we drove away, the smoke was so thick, we could barely see ahead of us. Now I feel anxiety. I couldn’t find my two cats at the time and I hope they’re OK.”

KRNV-TV reported that 10 homes had burned, including a half dozen in the Washoe Valley Estates neighborhood. The Reno Gazette-Journal reported explosions could be heard in the area.

Firefighters were concentrating on using crews and trucks to protect homes in the path of the flames, Hernandez said.

He estimated firefighters had saved about 1,000 structures and said another 80 to 120 firefighters were expected to arrive to help before midnight.

“To say we are in the thick of battle is an understatement,” he told reporters.

Hernandez said the fire was “almost a carbon copy” of a huge wild fire on the edge of the Sierra foothills that destroyed 30 homes in southwest Reno in November. It burned about 3 square miles and also forced the evacuation of 10,000 people.

“It is a wind-driven event and a combination urban-wildland fire,” he said.

As with the November fire, which was sparked by downed power lines, strong winds and dry conditions helped fuel the latest blaze, Hernandez said. The Reno area had gone a winter-record 56 days without any precipitation until light snow fell earlier this week.

“There’s a lot of dry trees,” Avina said. “We’re battling with Mother Nature and these winds.”

A gust of 122 mph was recorded Thursday atop Slide Mountain, which is between the fire and Reno at the Mount Rose ski resort.

More wet weather was forecast Friday, and snow was forecast Friday night. But high winds were expected to continue, with gusts up to 40 mph.

About 2,300 homes in the area were without power Thursday night.

Thomas Young, 48, a freelance writer, said he had just gotten out of the shower at his Pleasant Valley home when the power went out. Draped in only a towel, he looked out a window and saw his barn on fire and flames up to his backyard.

“Right away the flames went up a power line, and I said, ‘We have to get out of here,’” Young said. “We put two dogs and two kids in the car and drove away about three minutes later. Unfortunately, I think my house is burned down from what I saw.”

The flames, up to 40 feet high, raced through sage brush, grass and pines in an area where small neighborhoods are dispersed among an otherwise rural landscape. Washoe County animal services officials were helping round up horses and other livestock for evacuation.

A five-mile stretch of U.S. 395 was closed as heavy smoke reduced visibility to zero.

Trooper Dan Lopez said the highway was closed from the south end of Reno at Mount Rose Highway, or state Route 431, to the north end of Washoe Valley near the Bowers Mansion. Northbound traffic was being rerouted back to Carson City about 15 miles to the south.

The State Patrol said the highway would remain closed through the night. AGENCIES

Meteor Shower Milwaukee Fireball Lyrids on April 2010

The Lyrid meteors – April is “shooting star” – a tendency to be bright and often leave trails. 10-20 meteors per hour at the most can be expected. Unusual surges can sometimes get speeds up to 100 per hour, but these rare outbursts are not easy to predict.

The broad peak to this shower means that some meteors can fly a few days before and after the optimum time. Even the most meteors will likely rain down on May 6 requires dawn, the last quarter moon almost wash out this year’s Eta Aquarid shower. The Lyrids results from Comet Thatcher, which has a period of 415 years. We will not see Thatcher around the sun for more 200 years.

It just disappeared behind the trees, leaving onlookers amazed at the wonderful view of nature. The meteors’ showers were reported from south-western Wisconsin and northern Iowa to central Missouri. The recent meteor shower was seen 14 April 2010 night around 10:15

Meteor showers are caused by Earth passing through debris field left behind a comet. As a comet approaches the sun and pass will provide a stream of dust and rocks. If the comet’s orbit happens to cross Earth’s orbit, we will see an increase in meteor activity, which we pass through the comet orbit. Sent in Outagamie County Communications Center said that they have received about 20 calls in the sky showing between 10 and 10:15

Daily Post blog reported that there seems to be a meteor shower, which drew a crowd gasp with astonishment last night. According to StarDate website, there will be another meteor shower 21 April at around 3am Thurs 4am. If we see the videos, it looks as if the meteor then moved towards the earth, and its size also increased.

New Donner Party of Study Suggests

The Donner Party also known as the Donner-Reed Party was a group of American pioneers who went to California in a wagon train. Delayed by a number of events, they have spent the winter of 1846-47 Snow Bound in the Sierra Nevada. In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Donner Party, I made a daily diary of the Donner Party journey. The daily diary included information and quotes from original sources and histories. Now that the anniversary is over, I will keep a diary online for your research, education and enjoyment.

The Donner Party, a group of 19 Century American pioneers who were Snow Bound in the Sierra Nevada, and allegedly resorted to cannibalism, Detailed analysis of the bone instead found that the 84 Donner Party members consumed a family dog, is the study the first to show that Donner members successfully hunted deer, despite the Around 30 feet of snow on the ground in winter 1846-1847.

New research suggests that no cannibalism occurred. Gwen Robbins, an assistant professor of biological anthropology at Appalachian State University, and her team studied the bones from the chimney of the Donner site. They were determined to be non-human. There Donner Party did resort to cannibalism, the legs are treated differently, or they were placed on the chimney last and could have since eroded.

The survivors told the story historians and ate it up. The American Physical anthropologists will discuss his research in Alburqueque, New Mexico. Is it wrong? I would rather my family were eating my skin rather than dying of hunger. Of the 84 people who ventured out with the Donner party only 47 back from the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California in the mid 1840’s.

The Although one man, Louis Keseberg, filed and won a libel suit, he still was always known as the Cannibal Keseberg.Relief consignments arrived in February and could have left some of their animals behind.

Shiloh Pepin Mermaid Girl Mermaid Syndrome Funeral Services

Shiloh Pepin Mermaid Girl: Mermaid Syndrome. A rare congenital deformity called Sirenomelia has struck the little girl Shiloh Pepin. Also called mermaid syndrome, a person with Sirenomelia has both legs attached together depicting like a mermaid’s tail. The Little Mermaid Girl, Shiloh Pepin was born in Kennebunkport, Maine in August, 1999.

PORTLAND, Maine Oct. 24 – Shiloh Pepin, a girl who was born with fused legs, a rare condition often called “mermaid syndrome,” and gained a wide following on the Internet and national television, has died. She was 10. KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — Shiloh Pepin, the spunky 10-year-old dubbed the “mermaid girl” and beloved by people the world over, will be buried Wednesday wearing the dress she picked out for her school picture.

Shiloh Pepin a little with with a very rare congenital deformity called Sirenomelia which is found in about 1100000 live births. Labels mermaid girl mermaid girl shiloh pepin mermaid girl tlc mermaid syndrome sirenomelia.

She’ll be laid to rest next to the stillborn sister she never knew. But what her mother, Leslie, wants people to remember most about her daughter is not that she died, but rather, how she lived. But if Shiloh was busily living the life of a regular fifth-grader, she was also something special. The Pepins shared their daughter’s story with the world, both in newspapers and, later, through documentaries on The Learning Channel and even an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in September.

KENNEBUNKPORT Maine Shiloh Pepin the spunky 10yearold dubbed the mermaid girl and beloved by people the world over will be buried Wednesday wearing the dress she picked out for her school picture. A rare congenital deformity called Sirenomelia has struck the little girl Shiloh Pepin. She aired her familys dirty laundry on the show.

Brenda Sierra

Brenda Sierra, 15, was found dead.Seven years ago, police asked Fabiola Saavedra to view photographs to identify a body they believed to be her 15-year-old sister, Brenda Sierra. She recognized a pair of hoop earrings and knew it was Brenda.

The case is being actively investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Cold Case Unit.

“We believe that Brenda was killed as retaliation by gang members in the neighborhood responsible for a shooting that Brenda’s brother and mother witnessed a few weeks earlier,” said Sgt Tom Harris, who heads the unit.

Gloria Molina, a Los Angeles County supervisor, had requested that the case be transferred from San Bernardino County, where the remains were found, to Los Angeles County.

Molina’s office has been instrumental in having the $150,000 reward offer extended for an additional six months to a year.

Harris said police want to talk to a man named Jorge Barraza because, police say, he associated with the gang members arrested in the shooting Brenda’s mother and brother witnessed.

Police have been unable to locate Barraza and believe he is in Mexico. He is not a suspect in the case.

Courtesy CNN

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Brenda Sierra was first posted on November 24, 2009 at 8:19 pm.