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SIX-SQUARE BLOCKS ON FIRE DOWNTOWN RICHMOND, VA.
Fox News
Posted on 03/26/2004 11:09:30 AM PST by Dr. Eckleburg
Fox reporting "five or six square blocks" near Broad Street on fire in downstown Richmond, VA.
"Explosions heard" before fire erupted.
Evacuations underway. Fire spreading.
TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: explosions; fire; i95; richmond; vcu; virginia
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To: Dr. Eckleburg
How close is close?
Star is the airport.
161
posted on
03/26/2004 12:48:48 PM PST
by
ArrogantBustard
(Chief Engineer, Tomas de Torquemada Gentlemens' Club)
To: Dr. Eckleburg
162
posted on
03/26/2004 12:49:42 PM PST
by
philetus
(Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get)
To: philetus; ArrogantBustard
Thanks. Fox just said the pilot ejected while the jet was still on the runway. Jet continued on down the runway and crashed. Pilot okay. Plane destroyed.
Haven't heard one like that before.
163
posted on
03/26/2004 12:56:17 PM PST
by
Dr. Eckleburg
(There are very few shades of gray.)
To: Mudboy Slim; Agamemnon; iceskater
Thank you, folks, for the update!
164
posted on
03/26/2004 12:59:20 PM PST
by
HenryLeeII
("The war on terror is not a figure of speech, it is an inescapable calling of our generation." -GWB)
To: iceskater
I'm a Richmonder. Been watching the local coverage...
The initial explosion, by the accounts I've heard on the news, was in the new building under construction directly across the street from the VCU Fine Arts building.
There is now a thirty-foot hole in the roof of the fine arts building, but that's from where the roof ignited from falling embers that the wind carried and dropped onto all the nearby buildings upwind.
I doubt art supplies had anything to do with the explosion, and certainly not those stored in the fine arts building.
No one is speculating on the news, but I will. The new building was in the process of being trimmed out today.
If it wasn't a generator accident, I bet you anything some stupid goombah (and richmond construction workers are the stupidest on the planet) had a lit cigarette around inflammable adhesives.
165
posted on
03/26/2004 1:14:18 PM PST
by
SarahW
To: Mo1
There was an explosion in a building in the last stages of construction - workers were trimming it out.
Note the time of the fire - lunchtime. Richmond construction workers, the kind who do trim-out, are notoriously dim-witted and they all, to a man, smoke.
If I had to predict the cause of the fire, one of these idiots have a smoke on his lunch, managed to ignite adhesives being use to trim out the building.
It's gorgeous here today, but very breezy. Good conditions and great neigborhood for any fire that wants to grow quickly -
Big soccer-ball sized embers fell onto dry, warm, old-dashioned tar roofed buildings that ignited immediately.
166
posted on
03/26/2004 1:21:56 PM PST
by
SarahW
To: cav68
I was suspecting a worker of igniting adhesives. None of the local reporting is speculating on the cause.
It sounds like you have some indside information....can you say where you heard the inside scoop?
This fire reminded me of one that happened a few years ago. Charles stores was being renovated and was almost finished - there was an explosion, fire, and the nearly-completed building was ash and cinder at the end.
I think that one was suspected of being caused by work materials that caught fire.
167
posted on
03/26/2004 1:25:53 PM PST
by
SarahW
To: SarahW
My dad almost died in an office fire caused by a construction worker using a sparking bandsaw while trimming out parquet floor with construction adhesive.
It went up instantaneously (killing all three construction workers and the receptionist) and spread through the entire front of the office within three minutes. My dad was in the research library with headphones on listening to tapes when he smelled smoke. Thirty more seconds and he wouldn't have made it out of the library. A bunch of people were trapped in the back corner of the office - they wound up knocking windows out with chairs and hanging out to breathe (this was 20 floors up).
Those adhesives are nasty.
168
posted on
03/26/2004 1:33:12 PM PST
by
AnAmericanMother
(. . . Ministrix of Venery (recess appointment), TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary . . .)
To: SarahW
Note the time of the fire - lunchtime. Richmond construction workers, the kind who do trim-out, are notoriously dim-witted and they all, to a man, smoke. Years ago in Philly a high rise building caught fire ... caused a lot of damage, many floors were destroyed and several fire fighters were killed
It started from a renovation being done and highly flamable cleaning fluids started the fire ... so I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it was cause by smoking
169
posted on
03/26/2004 1:36:28 PM PST
by
Mo1
(Do you want a president who injects poison into his skull for vanity?)
To: SarahW; sultan88; Mudboy Slim; Corin Stormhands; jla; Flora McDonald; AdSimp; ...
Official email that I got says that the fire started in an apartment building under construction.
It spread quickly and caused damage to the School of the Arts and a number of cars.
One injury - VCU parking services employee - smoke inhalation and she is ok.
A number of buildings were evacuated without incident.
Some students will not be allowed to stay in their dorms tonight - they will stay at the Seigel center.
The building under construction was to have housed students in the fall so plan B will have to go into effect.
Check www.vcu.edu "news headlines" for more info.
170
posted on
03/26/2004 1:45:58 PM PST
by
iceskater
(No nation or state ever taxed itself into prosperity.)
To: iceskater
Sorry I missed all the excitement. But I was watching the coverage on TV at the clinic.
171
posted on
03/26/2004 2:24:28 PM PST
by
sultan88
("I went down Virginia, seeking shelter from the storm...")
To: Mo1
I won't jump to conclusions, especially since cav68 has posted that he has info that it was an electrical explosion.
Re philly - weren't the flammable liquids ignited by something?
I'm saying in THIS town, that source of ignition would not be hard to come by.
172
posted on
03/26/2004 2:35:53 PM PST
by
SarahW
To: AnAmericanMother
Whoah! That's one of the worst things I've ever heard! It's amazing to me that for all the property damamge here, there is only a single casualty, a security guard who is being treated for smoke inhalation.
I was reading that the drywall was mostly not up in the building...that since there was nothing to slow the progress of the fire, the building was an inferno in minutes.
173
posted on
03/26/2004 2:40:17 PM PST
by
SarahW
To: SarahW
Tar roofs don't "ignite immediately."
174
posted on
03/26/2004 3:04:25 PM PST
by
Dr. Eckleburg
(There are very few shades of gray.)
To: Dr. Eckleburg
They did today. With big, soccer-ball sized embers landing on old tar rooves on a hot day, I'm not surprised they did. "official" firemen on the scene have cited the tar roofing as a contributing factor in the spread of the conflagration.
They say the rooves ignited immediately.
175
posted on
03/26/2004 4:05:37 PM PST
by
SarahW
To: sultan88; iceskater
It will be interesting to hear the cause of the explosion. Fireballs?????
To: Dr. Eckleburg
My Daughter lives on the 900 block of Franklin. If the wind had been from the north, her place woud have gone up too! I saw the smoke from I-95 and called her. She just left class (VCU) and had no idea the fire was 1000 ft. from her apartment. She heard the sirens but with the radio on had no idea what the deal was. She said it was a party atmosphere in the streets. Lunchtime, clear blue sky, 75 degrees. It is the talk of the town!
177
posted on
03/26/2004 4:31:50 PM PST
by
JOE6PAK
("The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein)
To: SarahW
...the conflagration. That is what many of the old time Richmond folks call the Civil War.
178
posted on
03/26/2004 4:35:03 PM PST
by
JOE6PAK
("The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein)
To: iceskater
What years were you in MCV dental school? My lab partner in chemistry went to MCV and got his DDS there. Lives and practices today in the WestEnd.
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