Results tagged “emergency”

Santa Clara County declared a local emergency yesterday, setting aside $500k for free clinics, which will administer the swine flu vaccine to thousands of uninsured residents when the vaccine becomes available in mid-October.

The big bomb squad truck is there at the Transbay Terminal right now. AlertSF says you'll want to avoid the area for at least the next 90 minutes.

Manufacturer Oyagokoro, based in Japan, just launched a new line of earthquake packs, ones "designed to keep dogs and cats safe during such events," reports The Examiner. The kits come in three sizes, and features "a padded jacket and rain hat, special boots to protect paws, and aromatherapy oils to to calm stressed-out pets." (Aw!) Each kit also comes with a waterproof capsule holding details of the animal's address and owner information. The packs can even double as a carrying case for smaller friends. The earthquake packs will be distributed in the U.S. by Rinkya, Inc. (Also, you can see what your cat might look like wearing one here. Just adorable.)

Former SFister Dianne de Guzman sent word about a block shutdown this morning. "Firefighter activity at Mission near Ocean. The block is shut down. About 3-4 trucks. No visible flames. Firefighters on roof with axes. Couldn't see which business they were on."

You might want to reconfigure your route home, readers. According to ActionNewsSF, who have been updating all afternoon on today's underground Tenderloin fire, "Northbound Van Ness [is] closed, O'Farrell, Polk and Larkin also closed. Traffic on Hyde is a mess." And don't even think of taking the 47 or 49 buses right now. We'll update around the 5 o'clock hour with more traffic details, which (hopefully) might ease as the day wears on. Also, according to abc7newsBayArea, "The shelter in place around O'Farrell and Polk has been lifted." Update: Word is "[a]s of 3:00 p.m., the 47 and 49 routes have resumed normal service. The 19 and the 38 are still being re-routed." Update II, "Traffic moving again on Van Ness, Larkin, and Hyde. O'Farrel & Polk still closed. Traffic lights out at various intersections."

        

Breaking news, folks. According to Alert SF, "Avoid the area of Polk / O'Farrell for next hour due to fire in underground vault. Heavy smoke. Traffic in area is impacted." Also, as always, you could very well get shot and killed at Polk and O'Farrell, or groped by bachelor party revelers from the nearby O'Farrell Theater, so do be careful

The first two cases of swine flu were just discovered last night. Two Marin residents, an unidentified 60-year-old woman and her 20-month-old granddaughter, just tested positive for swine flu. Both of them, it seems, had just returned from a trip to Mexico. According to SFGate, "The woman and child were described as having had a 'moderate' flu illness after their return from Mexico; the child has already recovered and her grandmother is now experiencing only mild symptoms, according to the Marin County officials. Other family members were tested and were receiving medication as a precaution." To find out more information on swine flu hitting the Bay Area, visit www.marinflu.org. (Swine flu fun fact: In Israel, the government officially renamed it "Mexico flu" because pigs aren't kosher.)

"Much like the government does to prepare for approaching hurricanes," reports AP, the U.S. government officially declared a public health emergency today due to the swine flu. So far, conformed outbreaks are as follows: four (4) people affected in Canada, sickened at least (20) in the U.S. (or 11, depending on which report you want to believe), and "killed dozens" in Mexico.

Thousands of Santa Clara, San Benito, and Santa Cruz county residents are currently without phone service this morning. They can't even call 911 in case of an emergency. Why? Because of an old, AT&T-owned fiber optic line (leased out to Verizon) that went bust. "Verizon is completely down; other carriers are intermittent at best," said Zachary DeVine, a Santa Clara County spokesman. If residents of Morgan Hill, Gilroy, San Martin and Santa Cruz County cannot make a call to 911, officials "are urging people to go to their nearest fire or police department or local hospital or flag down an emergency vehicle."

A 6.3 earthquake killed more than 150 people in central Italy, making it the deadliest quake to hit the country in nearly three decades. According to reports, 10,000 to 15,000 buildings were either damaged or destroyed and about 100,000 people have been left homeless in the medieval city of L'Aquila.

Reports are coming in that there was a mild earthquake felt in San Francisco. We felt it too, but it could have been our the washing machine in the spin cycle. "I believe I just felt a 3-4 point earthquake just now," reports one SFist comments.

In addition to the jarring unemployment rate announced today, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will "declare a state of emergency after three years of below-average rain and snowfall in California," according to reports. Although the recent rain has been refreshing, it has not helped moisten, if you will, more parched parts of the state. CBS 5 reports that "[t]he drought has forced farmers to fallow their fields, put thousands of agricultural workers out of work and prompted conservation measures in cities throughout the state." Arnold's order of emergency will "direct state agencies to provide assistance for affected communities and businesses." Chin up, California.

A Hazmat team has closed San Jose Valley Medical Center's emergency room after an unknown chemical exposure. At least 37 employees, 47 patients were given Silkwood scrubdowns. The toxic mess, it seems, came from a nearby house. According to the Mercury News, "they don't know what kind of toxic substance was released around 8:05 a.m. inside a house on the 3000 block of Yucca Avenue. A barrage of hazardous materials crews are on scene trying to sort out the mess, police and fire dispatchers said." Also, the Merc is reporting that an 18-year-old man died this morning, possibly due to the spill. We'll update as soon as we know more.

LAist Editor Zach Behrens was neither injured nor trapped under a pile of rubble during today's 7.8 earthquake simulation that hit Los Angeles, one of the largest earthquake drills to take place.

Folks in Big Sur have been asked told to evacuate due to the uncontrollable wildfire still roaring through the Basin Complex. The mandatory evacuation will go into effect at 5 p.m. today. In addition to staying safe from the blaze, firefighters need residents out in order to perform "burning operations" in the area. Citizens in the Palo Colorado Canyon in Monterey have have been told to scram as well. But on the brighter side, the air quality in SF is much, much better. Not a hint of smoke in the air. Ahhh.

Taken at the Civic Center station, this (bloodied) gentleman came off an inbound train early this morning and collapsed. Anyone know what happened? Is he OK? Poor guy.

If you've noticed over the past couple of days, it's smells a bit smoky, a bit ashy in Baghdad by the Bay. It seems, according to CBS 5, Northern California is suffering from about 950 wildfire right now.The top half of the state is, in essence, on fire. Yikes! So far, Carmel Valley residents have been forced from their homes due to the massive blaze in the Los Padres National Forest over in Monterey County, which is the largest blaze yet.

Oh my, word. Did you hear it? We received a few emails mentioning it, but NBC 11 confirms:

American Flight 442, bound for Miami, made an emergency landing at LAX today after the pilot "reported smoke and the smell of fuel in the cockpit." Egads.

Last night's five-alarm wildfire in the San Bruno Mountains, which threatened homes in South San Francisco, has been 75 percent as of this morning. The crisp weather and fog -- which has mercifully killed this past weekend's vile heatwave -- has helped firefighters attack the blaze successfully.

             

A wildfire on San Bruno Mountain may threaten some homes on the South side of the mountain along Sister Cities Blvd tonight. These shots, taken by a reader on Drake Avenue (across Hillside) at around 8:35 p.m., show the fire heading close to South SF as "numerous firetrucks rush[ed] to the scene along with several helicopters on hand to battle the flames from the air." The area is a new development of million dollar homes and are "in the line of fire."

Just letting you know that the fire -- which as of late this afternoon has consumed thousands of acres since it started at around 5:30 a.m. this morning -- is "completely out of control" as of 4:30 p.m. San Francisco firefighters have been deployed to the scene. What with the serious winds blowing in the area, no one knows just when the fire will start to die down. Wineries have been lost, homes and school evacuated, and Arnold has declared a state emergency.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water:

After someone supposedly stole brass fittings from a chemical company, toluenediamine, a flammable substance that causes irritation by inhalation, was released. Oops.

We're getting word that something chaotic is going down right now at Presidio & California. If you know anything, let us know in the comments.

Muni issued an alert yesterday afternoon that said simply, "Emergency - Powell line cable cars back in service." Oh no! Emergency! Cable cars unleashed on an unsuspecting public! Save yourselves! Run for the hills! Oh no wait -- the hills are exactly where the cable cars WANT you to run!

According to CBS 5 (interrupting us right in the middle of The People's Court, no less!) "East Contra Costa County residents are being evacuated from an area near the unincorporated town of Knightsen because of a possible explosive device found inside of a residential motor home." Motor homes and explosive devices? Who could've imagined!? Anyway, that's all the info posted so far. We'll update as soon as more info becomes available. Update: Taken (again!)...