Latest news with #ColumbusFire
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
CFD driver injured, vehicle totaled after Franklin Township crash
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus Division of Fire driver was injured and a fire vehicle was totaled after a crash in Franklin Township Sunday. Accoring to the Franklin Township Police Department, the crash happened at the intersection of Frank Road and Harrisburg Pike just after noon. A Columbus Fire EMS Coordinator SUV was driving west on Frank Road with its siren and emergency lights on, responding to an emergency call, when it was hit by a Honda coupe that failed to yield the right of way at the intersection, Franklin Township police said in a social media post. The driver of the EMS SUV was taken to a local hospital in a stable condition. Police stated that the Honda's driver didn't have a valid driver's license and that the license plates on the car were counterfeit. The driver was treated at the scene for injuries and issued a citation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
2,500 gallons of fuel spill in Whitehall: fire official
WHITEHALL, Ohio (WCMH) – An ongoing hazmat emergency is affecting people in Whitehall. According to Whitehall Mayor Michael Bivens, there was a kerosene spill, with some of it running into a local creek. As of 11 p.m., clean-up crews were still active on Robinwood Avenue, where there appeared to be oil buildup on Mason Run, with several booms placed into the water to help with cleanup. The spill started around 7 p.m. Tuesday, with crews spending hours using special equipment to survey the area and monitor the air quality. Columbus Division of Fire Lt. Nicholas Davis said the spill started at a gas company on Fifth Avenue. The company was pushing fuel through pipes into a railcar and at some point, a leak started and it wasn't caught right away; Davis estimated it was approximately 2,500 gallons of fuel. Davis said there was nothing toxic in the air due to the spill. 'We have all our survey monitors that are in the area making sure of that, and if there is, of course, we would let the residents know and then the rest of the public,' he said. 'You're probably going to smell like it smells like a gas station. It's nothing to be concerned about right now. It's just more of a nuisance than anything. No danger to life or health at this point.' In addition to Columbus Fire, Whitehall Fire, EPA, EMA, and Columbus Public Health responded to the area. Davis said crews will be on scene until they know for sure that there is no danger to the public, continuing to monitor the air over the next few days. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Donated bikes get makeover from Cherokee County sheriff's deputies
BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — Sheriff's deputies put away the badge and become professional painters. School Resource Officer Anne Sharp and Community Outreach Deputy Rhanda Andrews spent their day refurbishing six donated bicycles. The bikes came from donations following 'National Bike to School Day' earlier this month. Along with a new coat of paint the bikes were checked from top to bottom ensuring everything works. Donated bikes get makeover from Cherokee County sheriff's deputies Boil water advisory issued for city of West Mineral A drone and helicopter brought in to help search for suspect in police chase Two separate high-speed motorcycle chases in Joplin end with arrests in Kansas Columbus Fire opens new training center for firefighters Now they're ready to be used to help teach safety lessons to kids across the county. 'They love interacting on good days and we're just excited to teach them bicycle safety, teach them a few hand signals if they're old enough that day, and then teach them to look both ways when crossing the street and just any questions they have. We're just going to go over and have fun,' said Andrews. The bikes will be used at the schools in Columbus, Baxter Springs, Riverton and Galena. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Candlelight ceremony in Columbus honors organ donors and those awaiting transplants
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Hundreds gathered outside the Lifeline of Ohio donor memorial for a candlelight ceremony honoring organ donors and those awaiting a transplant in Columbus. The decision to be an organ donor has the power to turn a tragic situation into a positive one. The candles that were lit represent the second chance at life offered by organ donation. According to Lifeline of Ohio, nearly one thousand central Ohioans are waiting for organ transplants. Seventeen times a day, a man, woman, or child dies for lack of an available organ. A pain that Kelli McQuesten and her family know all too well. 'My husband was a fireman, and one morning, just woke up and was having some heart issues, and we learned that he had to have a heart surgery,' said Kelli McQuesten. When hummingbirds will start to arrive in Ohio Her husband, Matthew, died in December 2023. She's been the community outreach coordinator at Lifeline of Ohio for 10 years now. Her job is to educate communities about organ donation. Never did she think she'd have a personal story to share. 'I owe it to Matthew to keep talking about his story and to say his name, and I just think about all of the families of the people who are waiting and that I don't want them to go through what me and my kids went through,' said McQuesten. Lifeline of Ohio says the ripple effect of one person saying 'yes' to donation is powerful. It's a decision that's felt by recipients, family members, and friends. 'I received a liver transplant back in 2020, on March 12th,' said Tyler Parker. Tyler Parker is 17 years old, and he was born with a rare genetic disorder. Five years ago, his life changed. He received 'the call' that he and his family have been waiting for, allowing him to be a normal teenager and follow his dreams. 'I love Columbus Fire, and I want to be a firefighter/paramedic when I get a little older,' he said. Jermayne Hassis has been on the National Transplant waiting list for eight years. He currently has a device implanted in his chest to keep his heart beating. While that provides some challenges for him, he remains positive. 'I try to live as more and more of a lifestyle as I possibly can. I was able to get married, have a beautiful daughter, and I'm a schoolteacher, like, you know, all of the things that I love doing,' he said. Harris says going through this process has taught him a lot. 'There's always light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm just, you know, God has been very big in my journey,' said Harris. A single donor has the potential to save eight lives through organ donation. To learn more, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Preparing your home, property ahead of severe storms
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Trees toppled over across central Ohio Sunday night during severe storms that churned multiple confirmed tornados. A teenager remains in the hospital after a tree fell onto her home and trapped her underneath. Columbus Fire was able to free her and she was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital in stable condition. The tree that fell was a massive pin oak tree, according to ISA Certified Arborist James Benedetto of Arborist Solutions. Central Ohio's most accurate forecast 'You could have a healthy tree, you could have a sturdy tree in the wrong wind, hit it in a pattern that it hasn't built its strength up for, and it could fail,' Benedetto said. 'You get 80 mile an hour gusts coming from the opposite way. And now you have a tree on the ground.' Benedetto has been working with trees for more than a decade and is a Risk Assessment Qualified arborist. He said there is no sure-fire way to prevent a tree from being taken down in a storm, but with the proper care and specific attention, the risk can be mitigated. 'Anyone can manage their trees as long as they're aware of the risks and I think people can keep a lot more trees if they're informed of the risks that they actually have, rather than kind of like a perceived risk,' Benedetto said. 'A healthy tree doesn't mean a safe tree. There are pathogens, fungi that will attack a healthy tree, and you have no idea. So really, in my opinion, it comes down to looking at the tree and looking at each tree as its own. It really comes down to knowing what kind of tree it is like. Species can make a big difference. Knowing what fungi might attack the tree and seeing the body language that the tree is giving you to see if there's any, any defects.' Once a tree is diagnosed, it's easier to decide what kind of care it needs. Benedetto said there are things homeowners can look for before calling an arborist. 'If you see any type of mushrooms forming at the base or above where the root zone of the tree would be, that's a huge sign,' he said. 'If you hear cracking when you're around your tree in the wind, that's a large sign. You want to make sure that that's checked out or, if there's a lot of branches that are dead or peeling bark. Typically, when you see something that snapped off above the ground, there is some type of trunk defect that maybe it was formed when it was really young, or there's some type of, you know, parasitic wood fungi that's going after it. Be a little more wary of trees after, like, heavy, long rainfalls followed by winds. That's a lot of the time when we'll see, like, conifer trees fall over.' Columbus schools facing special education teacher shortage Falling trees can be a major issue for power companies also. Forestry Manager for AEP Ohio Dale Hopkins said trees are a primary cause of power outages in Ohio. 'That's either, as I said, either through growing it and contacting the lines, which we work to prevent by trimming the trees back, but then also trees that fall from outside of our right away,' Hopkins said. 'On any given day, we have 400 tree crews out working in the neighborhoods as part of our four-year term cycle and as we're out there, we're looking for trees that can either grow into the power lines or fall into the power line.' Trees growing into power lines, trees falling on power lines, or trees uprooting lines can force an outage for hours. That's why Hopkins said they try to be proactive with preventative measures. 'We have about 32,000 miles of line,' he said. 'We trim close to half a million trees on those on any given year, as part of our four-year cycle trim program and then as part of our Danger Tree program, where we're looking at trees outside the roadway that could fall into that, probably close to another hundred thousand trees are being taken down to prevent them from falling. So, we're out working to provide safe, reliable service for our customers. And, you know, our team is working with property owners to talk to them about the work that we need to do on their property, not only in preparation for a storm that's going to be, you know, coming at any given time. But this is preventative maintenance to work to prevent power outages from occurring.' Educating customers about where to plant new trees is another part of the preventative process. Once the face of Intel, Ohio One project falls second under new CEO's vision 'Spring is when customers are starting to do their yard work,' Hopkins said. 'You know, they're looking for places where they can plant a tree to beautify their property, enhance their neighborhood. So first of all, we want them to do is look up, you know, are there obstructions where they want to put that tree? Is there a power line above that? Are there other obstructions that tree is going to grow into? And we got to think beyond what that tree is the day that we're planting it. How tall is that tree going to get at maturity? How why does that canopy going to get? So we always ask that our customers don't plant anything in the right of way.' The Emerald Ash was a huge problem for AEP in years past due to the Emerald Ash bore decimating the population and killing trees throughout the Midwest and Ohio. Since that time, Hopkins said the biggest problem tree for them is the Silver Maple. 'Silver maple tree is a big, wide growing tree grows very fast, but the tree that grows very fast like that is typically a weaker woody tree, so they're going to be more susceptible to storm damage,' he said. 'White pine trees — another fast-growing evergreen tree. We have a lot of storm damage from the spruce trees. They tend to uproot, you know, they have a shallow root system.' No matter the tree, when severe storms hit, there is a chance it can come down. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
