An elderly man has died following a house fire in Adelaide’s northern suburbs in the early hours of this morning.
Key points:
An 89-year-old man has died in a house fire at Pooraka
Police do not believe the fire was suspicious
They are investigating a separate house fire at St Agnes, which they believe was deliberately lit
Police were called to the home on Nalpa Street in Pooraka just before 1:30am after a neighbor reported sounds of smashing glass.
Police said the home was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived.
Fire crews quickly arrived and extinguished the blaze.
When crews checked the home after the fire, they found the body of an 89-year-old man who police believe to be the occupant.
Police said the incident was not believed to be suspicious.
Fire at St Agnes house
A separate investigation has been underway into a suspicious house fire at St Agnes, in Adelaide’s north-east.
Police and fire crews were called to the house under construction on Kennedy Street around 10:30pm yesterday following reports of a fire.
Fire crews extinguished the blaze, which caused extensive damage to the home.
Police believe the fire was deliberately lit and have asked anyone who saw suspicious activity in the area or has information on the fire to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A rural fire brigade captain was driving through a forest in northern New South Wales when a flash of color caught his eye.
He was compelled to investigate and was thrilled to discover it was a vintage Bedford fire truck.
The 1960s vehicle had belonged to the remote Bellbrook Rural Fire Brigade, west of Kempsey on the Mid North Coast, and was used by what is believed to be Australia’s first all-Indigenous Rural Fire Service crew.
Bellbrook Brigade captain Adam Hall said it was an exciting find.
Bellbrook captain Adam Hall is thrilled to have the old truck back.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)
“Captain of the Newee Creek Brigade in the Nambucca Shire was driving through the Tamban State Forest,” Mr Hall said.
“Through some trees he noticed a little flash of red and saw an old fire truck and as firefighters tend to do, he got a bit excited, and he went and had a look and as he got closer, he saw Bellbrook was emblazoned on the side.”
The Bellbrook Brigade launched a public fundraiser so it could purchase the vehicle from the collector who had acquired it- the truck has now been moved from that property back to Bellbrook, with big plans for its restoration.
Gerard “Chunk” Wade served on the old truck in the 1980s.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)
Mr Hall said the truck was supplied to Bellbrook in the 1970s and became the primary truck used by an all-Indigenous branch based at the local Thungutti Aboriginal community in the early 1990s.
“We have a very rich history of Indigenous participation in the brigade here and the truck ended up as the truck that was used by the first all-Indigenous fire crew,” he said.
“We believe it was the first all-Indigenous fire crew in the country… so rebuilding it is very important for the community, for our Thungutti people here as well, and helping to bring some pride into our little village.”
Special memories of Indigenous crew
Ray Quinn remembers his dad serving in the original Indigenous crew.(Supplied: Bellbrook Rural Fire Brigade)
The truck held special memories for Bellbrook Rural Fire Brigade member Ray Quinlan. His late father Eric was part of the original Indigenous crew.
Eric Quinlan was part of the all-Indigenous brigade at Bellbrook.(Supplied: Adam Hall)
In the early 1990s, the truck was used at the local Bellbrook Aboriginal community.(Supplied: Adam Hall)
“It means a lot, my old man used to be out all the time in the fire brigade… I just used to always say, ‘I want to come’,” he said.
“I just want to keep following his footsteps.
“Looking at all the old photos of him back in the day in his fire brigade suit, it just makes me real proud of him and I want to make him proud of me.”
Bellbrook Brigade member Elwyn Toby also remembered seeing the truck in action at the Thungutti community.
“It was great to see our Indigenous leaders step up and have a go,” he said.
“It inspired me as a child, watching our uncles and aunties jump on the truck and become firefighters.”
A different era of firefighting
The truck at the Bellbrook centenary parade in 1992.(Supplied: Adam Hall)
Bellbrook Rural Fire Brigade deputy captain Gerard ‘Chunk’ Wade recalled serving on the truck in the 1980s.
“I remember standing in the back, and there’s not a lot of creature comforts of safety. You had a bar to hang on to and off you went into the fire,” he said.
“It was just a blast from the past just to see it come back to Bellbrook. It’s just a piece of history, I think that it’s just gold.”
Gerard Wade remembers heading into fire events standing on the back of the old truck.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)
Big restoration plans
It’s expected to take a couple of years for the truck to be fully restored.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)
Thanks to social media, there have been offers from around the country to help with the truck’s restoration.
“I expect it will take two to three years to get it somewhere near its former glory, at which point we hope to be able to go to schools and to shows and rusty iron rallies, that sort of thing and just show it off and put Bellbrook on the map,” Captain Hall said.
“We are only a very small, fairly isolated village here and it’s nice to be able to show the rest of the world who we are.”
Offers to help with the truck’s restoration have flowed in from around the country.(Supplied: Adam Hall)
The old Bellbrook sign on the side of the truck caught the eye of a local fire captain.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)
Bringing community together
Bellbrook’s current truck now also has ties to the region’s Indigenous heritage, featuring an artwork created by Mr Toby, who works as a local cultural arts teacher.
Elwyn Toby (right) has created an Indigenous artwork for the current Bellbrook fire truck.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)
“The artwork is recognized for our local Indigenous population in Bellbrook and the wider community,” he said.
“In the blue you have the fire truck, then water around the truck… the symbols in the yellow are people.
“It’s about coming together in the fires.”
It’s hoped the old and new trucks at Bellbrook will eventually be displayed side-by-side.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)
Anne Heche is on life support after suffering a brain injury in a fiery crash a week ago and her survival is not expected, according to a statement from a representative.
Key points:
Anne Heche was taken to hospital after her car smashed into a Los Angeles house on August 5
She suffered a severe brain injury and is not expected to survive
Representatives say she is being kept on life support for possible organ donation
The actor — who is in a coma and in critical condition — is being kept on life support for possible organ donation, according to the statement released Thursday night on behalf of her family and friends.
Heche — who’s been hospitalized at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital north of Los Angeles — suffered a “severe anoxic brain injury,” the statement said.
Such an injury is caused by a sustained lack of oxygen to the brain.
“She is not expected to survive,” the statement said.
“It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable.”
On the morning of August 5, Heche’s car smashed into a house in a neighborhood in west Los Angeles and a fire erupted, with the car embedded inside the home.
Earlier on Thursday, local time, police said they were investigating Heche for driving under the influence.
Detectives with a search warrant took a sample of her blood and found narcotics in her system, LAPD spokesperson Officer Jeff Lee said.
Toxicology tests — which can take weeks to complete — must be performed to identify the drugs more clearly and to differentiate them from any medication she may have been given for treatment at the hospital.
Evidence is still being gathered from the crash, police said, and they would present a case to prosecutors if it is warranted when the investigation is complete.
A representative for Heche declined comment on the investigation.
Anne Heche (right) had a high-profile relationship with Ellen Degeneres in the late 1990s. (AFP: Hector Mata)
On Tuesday, Heche spokesperson Heather Duffy Boylston said her client had been in a coma since after the accident, with burns that required surgery and lung injuries that required the use of a ventilator to breathe.
“Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit. More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her life’s work — especially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love,” Thursday’s statement said.
“She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light.”
Heche, 53, was among the most-prominent film stars in Hollywood in the late 1990s, playing opposite actors including Johnny Depp (Donnie Brasco) and Harrison Ford (Six Days, Seven Nights).
Her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres from 1997 to 2000 heightened her fame and brought immense public scrutiny.
In a 2001 memoir, she discussed her lifelong struggles with mental health.
She recently had recurring roles on the TV series Chicago PD and All Rise and, in 2020, was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars.
A year after a wildfire destroyed the western Canadian village of Lytton, residents, municipal leaders and the provincial government are grappling with the slow and costly reality of future-proofing a community against climate change.
Key points:
In 2021, 90 per cent of buildings in Lytton, British Columbia, were destroyed by a wildfire
Lytton’s council wants better building emissions standards and energy efficiency to be prioritized in the town’s reconstruction
However, residents are running out of time as temporary living allowances from insurers near their end
The remote village sits at the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson rivers in the high, dry mountains of interior British Columbia, making it a bullseye for fires and landslides. In June 2021, 90 per cent of Lytton’s structures burned down, a day after the village recorded Canada’s hottest-ever temperature.
Now officials have a unique opportunity to rebuild an entire community from scratch using fire-safe materials and energy-efficient building standards.
However, long-term disaster mitigation plans and net-zero ambitions are running up against the realities of human impatience and reimbursement limits from insurers. Burnt-out residents — many still living in temporary accommodation — want to rebuild their homes and get on with their lives.
“There’s a distinct difference between what would be ideal and what’s realistic,” said Tricia Thorpe, 61, who lost her home in the fire.
Tricia Thorpe and her husband, Don Glasgow, stand outside their new home.(Reuters: Jennifer Gauthier)
“I don’t think anybody has a problem with building fire-smart, but they’re trying to build a model village. They’re talking about solar [panel] sidewalks.”
The risk of destructive weather is rising as climate change intensifies, sharpening the focus on how communities build.
Insured damage for severe weather events across Canada hit $C2.1 billion ($2.34 billion) last year, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, including $C102 million for the Lytton fire.
Since 1983, Canadian insurers have averaged about $C934 million a year in severe weather-related losses.
The wrangling over how to restore Lytton highlights the messy reality of climate adaptation, and what costs and delays people are willing to endure to cut carbon emissions and mitigate their fire risk.
In the 300-person village, some lofty ambitions have already been shelved in favor of a faster rebuild.
Lytton’s council wanted to adopt building by-laws that require net-zero-emissions homes, but scaled that back to lower energy-efficiency standards after residents pushed back.
The village also considered burying all its power lines to reduce fire risk, a three-year process, but is now installing temporary overhead lines to get the job done in nine months.
Tricia Thorpe’s home, north of Lytton. The village sits in the high, dry mountains of interior British Columbia, making it a bullseye for fires and landslides.(Reuters: Jennifer Gauthier)
“At times, I get frustrated with the lack of knowledge and the fact that residents think we’re trying to make it impossible for them to rebuild,” Lytton Mayor Jan Polderman said.
“We could become a first-generation model for net-zero.”
Mr Polderman said the solar panel sidewalks — reinforced solar panels in place of pavements on the town’s sidewalks — and wind energy could power street lights and municipal buildings.
breaking new ground
In the 13 months since the fire, little progress has been made on restoration, with only a quarter of properties cleared of ash and debris.
The local council is still finalizing fire-safety building by-laws it says will be the most comprehensive ever developed in Canada and make Lytton the best-protected community in the country.
Those new by-laws — based on expertise from Canada’s National Research Council on developing communities in wildfire-prone regions — cover everything from building materials to landscaping and maintenance to what can be stored on properties.
The remains of homes and businesses a year after a wildfire destroyed 90 per cent of the buildings in Lytton.(Reuters: Jennifer Gauthier)
Finalizing the by-laws and community consultation has taken months.
“I’m sure if we’d just said, ‘Let’s get people back in their homes ASAP’ it would have been faster, but then we might be in the same situation in a few years’ time,” said Kelsey Winter, the chair of the BC FireSmart Committee, a provincial organization leading community engagement in Lytton.
“It’s taking longer than many people wanted, but Lytton is breaking new ground.”
Other complications have dogged the recovery. Record-breaking floods in November washed out local highways, which were also intermittently closed over the winter for avalanche control.
In addition, the village sits within the Nlaka’pamux First Nation territory and residents require archaeological surveys to check for Indigenous artifacts before rebuilding. The Lytton First Nation, part of the Nlaka’pamux, also lost dozens of homes in the 2021 fire.
The limits of insurance
Around 60 per cent of Lytton residents were uninsured or under-insured, leading to delays in debris removal as residents and insurers grappled with who should pay. In March, the province said it would provide $C18.4 million to cover debris removal, archaeological surveys and soil remediation.
Meanwhile, residents are running out of time as the temporary living allowances provided by insurers, typically for 18 to 24 months after a disaster, near their end. Adding to their challenges, insurers are reluctant to pay for the upgrades to homes that are being written into new building by-laws.
“Insurance puts back the building you had, not the building you want,” said Aaron Sutherland, the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s Pacific region vice-president.
Canada’s Institute of Catastrophic Loss Reduction — which helped develop Lytton’s fire-safety by-laws — estimates implementing them would add approximately $C5,000 to each home’s rebuilding costs.
And, Mr Sutherland said, while insurers can see the benefit of fire resilience, upgrades to enhance energy efficiency and cut carbon emissions will add “tens of thousands” of dollars per home.
“When people took out insurance policies, they were based on the by-laws of the day and what insurers were expecting to pay,” he added.
Building emissions account for 13 per cent of Canada’s total greenhouse gas output, and slashing them is a key part of the Canadian government’s climate targets.
Canada’s federal government will help make up some of the shortfall, providing $C6 million in grants for home owners in Lytton with basic rebuild insurance who want to rebuild net-zero or fire-resistant homes.
Meanwhile, Lytton is facing yet another wildfire season. On July 14, a wildfire broke out across the river from Lytton, destroying at least six properties.
A firefighting helicopter flies over the nearby Nohomin Creek wildfire on July 25, 2022.(Reuters: Jennifer Gauthier)
Last year, 1,642 wildfires burned 869,279 hectares in British Columbia, higher than the 2010-2020 average of 1,352 fires and 348,917 burned hectares.
Some homeowners have had enough of delays.
Ms Thorpe, who lives just outside the village boundary, is rebuilding without building permits, and others are moving elsewhere.
“I’m not expecting I’ll be rebuilding ever, even though my intention was to do so,” said retired nurse Michele Feist, 59, whose 100-year-old bright yellow home burned down.
“The response has been inadequate at every level. I’m not a bitter person and I try to be realistic about things, but I miss my town.”
Once the handful of tourists heads back to the mainland this patch of land feels even more isolated.
French Island is little more than 60 kilometers south of Melbourne and yet most Melburnians would never have heard of it.
Residents live off the grid here and love the seclusion.
Car headlights sporadically light up the back roads and on a clear night the stars sparkle.
It made the fire that burned on the morning of April 2 this year, it seemed even brighter. The flames leapt from the kitchen of the Eco Inn as the smoke alarm let out its constant shrill.
French Island Eco Inn in its former glory before the fire.(Supplied: Phil Bock)
Phil and Yuko Bock stumbled from their bedroom where they slept, but the smoke pushed them back. They jumped from a second-floor window to escape.
Their beloved dog Sammy never made it out.
Four accommodation cottages just meters from the main homestead also burned to the ground. The guests escaped uninjured, but everything was gone.
Phil and Yuko had struggled during the endless Victorian COVID lockdowns with no paying visitors, and they had suspended their insurance.
They’d spent a decade building up their business and in one night it was all gone.
Eco Inn owners Phil and Yuko Bock and their beloved dog, Sammy, who they lost in the fire.(Supplied: Phil Bock)
“Losing our home, business, and beloved dog to a fire is a tragedy that we will remember forever,” Phil says.
“But the thoughtfulness of our small local community and past guests has kept us hopeful. It really is appreciated and reminds us how lucky we are to live here.
“We may be geographically isolated and considered socially disadvantaged, but being part of a small community is like no other when it matters the most.”
Phil and Yuko have moved into a small holiday cottage that remains on the property, the only building spared by the fire.
Our Back Roads team stayed at the Eco Inn during our shoot just a few months earlier.
You won’t see them in our program on air, but they were our welcoming hosts, our companions, and our snooker challengers late into the evenings, and I wanted to share their story.
The fire not only gutted their livelihoods but left a community reeling. A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help them.
A close-knit and resourceful community
When a Back Roads team arrives in small-town destinations, we’re immediately welcomed.
French Island was no different, although some were anxious that the spotlight of a Back Roads TV crew might spoil the privacy they clung to.
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The island is twice the size of its neighbour, Phillip Island, but happily dodges the daily tourist-enticing penguin parades to the south.
Unlike Phillip Island, French Island has no bitumen, no council, no rates, and no bridge.
The barge fits just two cars for the 15-minute trip from Corinella on the Victorian mainland to the landmass north of Phillip Island.
Terry, the barge pilot, calls us “Bituminites”, just like all the other visitors who take for granted the sealed motorways of our daily drives.
The permanent population numbers not much more than 100: an idiosyncratic mix of rich and poor, famous and anonymous, worldly and parochial.
But they are inextricably linked by a chosen lifestyle that has one foot in the past and one eye on the future.
An environmental vineyard is gaining a name for itself among wine connoisseurs.
Locals live self-sufficiently with the help of wind and solar power and banks of batteries to keep their homes and small businesses thriving.
More than two-thirds of the island is a national park.
There are more koalas on French Island than people.(ABC Back Roads: Campbell Miller)
What’s missing here is what makes this place so special — no foxes, black rats, or kangaroos. No possums or wallabies.
That enables many other species to thrive, almost too well, judging by the koala population under the active control of Parks Victoria.
One of everything is enough for French Islanders
One tiny school attracts five or six children depending on other family demands and a one-stop shop provides locals with fuel and food to tide them over until they make a grocery trip across the water.
Mail and packages are delivered by boat to one very compact post office.
There’s mostly horror at the thought of a bridge being built to allow any of this daily existence to become a little easier. No-one wants an onslaught of “foreigners” as visitors are called.
They consider this place a paradise and they’re doing what they can to keep it that way.
There was a reason pop princess Kylie Minogue sought solitude here after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.
The lack of easy access makes it a panacea for those seeking to hide away. But don’t think time has stopped still here.
The community is a living, working, microscopic example of what a group of like-minded people can do when armed with determination.
Like the tip committee, which deals with the fact that landfill is limited and reducing the amount of rubbish removed from the island is critical. Their solution is ingenious as well as practical.
Ninety per cent of the glass processed through the crushing machine is turned into useful sand for creative residents.(ABC Back Roads: Campbell Miller)
Transporting waste to the mainland is both costly and time-consuming. Instead, the community acquired a grant for a glass-crushing machine, which creates sand that residents use in their gardens, for potholes on their driveways, and for building jobs.
Protecting an unspoiled paradise
At the center of the community is a woman whose family ties go back to the very beginning — Lois Airs.
Lois Airs has a sustainable life on French Island, from her wind and solar-powered home to her productive chickens.(ABC Back Roads: Campbell Miller)
Her forebears, the Thompsons, were the original free settlers and the generations that have come since have created a forward-thinking recycling and re-using environmental haven.
Survival is key. Not only do the residents embrace modern methods for renewable energy sources like wind and solar, but they also grow their own food, keep livestock, maintain original dirt roads, bake bread, and chop wood as the early pioneers did.
Lois, like other French Islanders, wears many different hats: a farmer, former tour bus driver, crusader for recycling, and member of the CFA.
She was part of the team that fought the fire at the Eco Inn that night.
The CFA on French Island routinely practices fire drills to keep resident volunteers prepared for fires. Lois Airs is one of their willing volunteers.(ABC Back Roads: Campbell Miller)
“Seeing Phil and Yuko, sitting on the grass watching the last of their home and business burn to the ground, and without Sammy their dog, who was always with them, is something I’ll never forget,” Lois says.
French Islanders accept they’ve made the choice to live in isolation and they don’t want that to change.
But they’re also aware that means it is up to them to protect their unspoilt piece of paradise from the ravages of an outside world.
Tragically for Phil and Yuko, those ravages in the form of an inferno in the early hours of the morning saw paradise lost to them, but they will re-build with their good health intact and the help of a supportive community unlike any other.
Watch Lisa Millar as guest presenter on Back Roads in French Island on Monday at 8pm on ABC TV or catch up any time on ABC iview.
A MetroWest home was demolished late Friday night, just hours after lightning ignited a fire that quickly spread. The blaze started in the middle of an intense thunderstorm that pummeled the region with lightning and downpours.Video shows firefighters responding to the home on Sears Road before 4 pm At the time, a strong thunderstorm was moving through the area.Southborough fire chief Steven Achilles said it was a lightning strike that hit the chimney that started this fire. Three firefighters were transported to the hospital with injuries battling the blaze, Achilles said. Two firefighters had broken bones and one suffered a hand injury during a so-called flashover incident. “They had fire above them, and the heat kept on coming down and down, and it got fresh air, and basically the second floor engulfed in fire,” Achillies said “Crews had to bailout down the stairwell, Achillies said. “Some of they got injured when that happened.”Southborough police say several homes were struck in the area during the storm. “We know we had some trees down and some other lightning strikes, but no other structure fires,” Achillies said. Approximately 50 members from various departments helped battle the fire.StormTeam 5 Interactive Radar recorded several strikes in the area around Sears Road.StormTeam 5 Meteorologist Mike Wankum said the intense storm activity was fueled by the day’s heat and humidity.A fire believed to be caused by lightning caused the death of an 84-year-old woman in New Hampshire on Thursday night, fire officials said.The fire marshal’s office reminded residents to make sure they have working smoke alarms and clear exits in their homes.
SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass. —
A MetroWest home was demolished late Friday night, just hours after lightning ignited a fire that quickly spread.
The blaze started in the middle of an intense thunderstorm that pummeled the region with lightning and downpours.
Video shows firefighters responding to the home on Sears Road before 4 pm At the time, a strong thunderstorm was moving through the area.
Southborough fire chief Steven Achilles said it was a lightning strike that hit the chimney that started this fire.
Three firefighters were transported to the hospital with injuries battling the blaze, Achilles said.
Two firefighters had broken bones and one suffered a hand injury during a so-called flashover incident.
“They had fire above them, and the heat kept on coming down and down, and it got fresh air, and basically the second floor engulfed in fire,” Achillies said
“Crews had to bailout down the stairwell, Achillies said. “Some of them got injured when that happened.”
Southborough police say several homes were struck in the area during the storm.
“We know we had some trees down and some other lightning strikes, but no other structure fires,” Achillies said.
Approximately 50 members from various departments helped battle the fire.
StormTeam 5 Interactive Radar recorded several strikes in the area around Sears Road.
StormTeam 5 Meteorologist Mike Wankum said the intense storm activity was fueled by the day’s heat and humidity.
A fire believed to be caused by lightning caused the death of an 84-year-old woman in New Hampshire on Thursday night, fire officials said. The fire marshal’s office reminded residents to make sure they have working smoke alarms and clear exits in their homes.
A 42-year-old man was arrested Friday in connection with the four homicides early Thursday morning in Laurel, Nebraska, according to the state patrol. Crime scene investigators found evidence that linked Jason Jones, a Laurel resident, to the homicides. After attempts for Jones to exit the home voluntarily, the Nebraska State Patrol SWAT Team entered the home and found Jones with severe burn injuries, according to law enforcement. NSP said he was airlifted to a Lincoln hospital and is in serious condition as of Friday morning. The Nebraska State Patrol also believes gunfire played a role in the deaths at two separate homes in the northeast Nebraska town. Around 3 am, the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about an explosion at a residence in Laurel and fire teams found a person dead inside the home, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. The victim at the first residence was identified as 53- year-old Michele Ebeling, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. As investigators arrived at the scene, a second fire was reported a few blocks away, authorities said. Three people were found dead in the second residence and fire crews worked to preserve evidence while putting out the fire, the state patrol said. The three victims at the second residence were identified as 86-year-old Gene Twiford, 85-year-old Janet Twiford and 55-year-old Dana Twiford. Fire investigators believe that accelerants may have been used in each of the fires, according to authorities. Officials are waiting on autopsies for the cause of death. The Nebraska State Patrol said there is no danger to the Laurel community as a result of the arrest.
LAUREL, Neb. —
A 42-year-old man was arrested Friday in connection with the four homicides early Thursday morning in Laurel, Nebraska, according to the state patrol.
Crime scene investigators found evidence that linked Jason Jones, a Laurel resident, to the homicides.
After attempts for Jones to exit the home voluntarily, the Nebraska State Patrol SWAT Team entered the home and found Jones with severe burn injuries, according to law enforcement. NSP said he was airlifted to a Lincoln hospital and is in serious condition as of Friday morning.
The Nebraska State Patrol also believes gunfire played a role in the deaths at two separate homes in the northeast Nebraska town.
Around 3 am, the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about an explosion at a residence in Laurel and fire teams found a person dead inside the home, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.
The victim at the first residence was identified as 53-year-old Michele Ebeling, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.
As investigators arrived at the scene, a second fire was reported a few blocks away, authorities said.
Three people were found dead in the second residence and fire crews worked to preserve evidence while putting out the fire, the state patrol said.
The three victims at the second residence were identified as 86-year-old Gene Twiford, 85-year-old Janet Twiford and 55-year-old Dana Twiford.
Fire investigators believe that accelerants may have been used in each of the fires, according to authorities.
Officials are waiting on autopsies for the cause of death.
The Nebraska State Patrol said there is no danger to the Laurel community as a result of the arrest.
New South Wales South Coast man Harley Thompson, accused of murdering his neighbor in a house fire, has been found not criminally responsible for the death.
Key points:
Harley Thompson lit his neighbor’s house on fire in July 2020
The Supreme Court accepted evidence of his mental health impairment
He has been detained under the supervision of the Mental Health Review Tribunal
The 27-year-old sat in the Mid North Coast Correction Center in Kempsey watching the verdict via a video link today as it was read in the Nowra Supreme Court.
Wearing prison greens with a shaven head and mullet, he was quiet and still through the proceedings.
Mr Thompson initially lied to police about starting the fire on July 31, 2020, but later acknowledged that he did.
Cameron Johnston, 49, was killed in the fire.
Mr Thompson had repeatedly threatened Mr Johnson at his Bomaderry house on the night of the fire, smashed windows and yelled profanity-laden abuse at the man he did not know.
Phone records show Mr Johnson had called police and his housing provider on the night to report what was happening and that he and his son were “scared with just about every window smashed.”
Mr Thompson then “chucked” petrol through the windows of the house and set fire to the curtains.
Neighbors gave evidence that they heard Mr Johnston’s son scream “Dad, dad, dad” and a short time later heard Mr Thompson yell “Burn ****, burn”.
They said he later laughed while almost sounding excited.
An autopsy found Mr Johnston died from carbon monoxide toxicity and had suffered burns to multiple areas of his body.
Mr Thompson’s lawyers said during a trial over the past couple of weeks that he was not responsible for the crime because he had a mental health impairment.
Prosecutors argued he had feigned his symptoms.
The Supreme Court verdict was delivered in the Nowra Courthouse.(ABC Illawarra: Ainslie Druitt-Smith)
‘Satisfied’ with defense of mental health
In his verdict, Justice Michael Walton said he accepted the evidence provided by two expert psychiatrists as well as clinical assessments.
They diagnosed Mr Thompson with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder or depression with psychotic features.
It created severe delusions and auditory hallucinations.
One expert suggested the symptoms had presented when Mr Thompson was admitted to hospital in Victoria in November 2019.
Dr Andrew Ellis gave evidence that Mr Thompson’s symptom of echo des Pensée, which he described as “a very technical psychiatric term of hearing your own thoughts spoken out loud”, was not identified at the time.
Justice Walton told the court having considered all the evidence he was “satisfied that the defense of mental health impairment is established”.
“I have experienced temporary or ongoing disturbances of thought, perception, mood and mostly likely memory,” Justice Walton told the court.
“The disturbances were regarded by the experts as significant for clinical diagnostic purposes and the disturbances significantly impact judgement.”
He said while Mr Thompson also had a substance abuse problem, his impairment was his underlying mental health condition.
“I am satisfied that the accused knew of the nature and the quality of his act but did no reason with a moderate degree of sense and composure about whether the act, as perceived by a reasonable person, was wrong,” Justice Walton said.
“The verdict that will be entered on the indictment is ‘act proven but not criminally responsible’.”
A victim impact statement from Mr Johnston’s son, who was watching the verdict via the video link, was presented but not read aloud in the court.
“I express the condolence of the court and the community to the family and friends of Mr Johnston and in particular Mr Johnston’s father, brother and son,” Justice Walton said.
The Justice ordered Mr Thompson be detained and held under the supervision of the Mental Health Review Tribunal because of his history of escalating mental illness.
A quick-thinking truck driver saved more than 100 head of cattle after one of his trailers caught fire while he was traveling on one of the Northern Territory’s roughest and most remote roads.
Key points:
The Tanami is a vital connection from Central Australia to WA’s Kimberley region
Road train driver Cory Stirling was able to save more than 100 head of cattle after his trailer caught fire
One of his trailers was destroyed and had to be left more than 350kms from Alice Springs
Late last month Cory Stirling was transporting six decks of cattle to Alice Springs via the Tanami Road when he heard a loud bang at about 10pm.
Colloquially known as the Tanami, the road connects Central Australia to the Kimberley region of WA, stretches over 1,000 kilometers, and is notorious for its poor condition.
Mr Stirling explained he pulled the road train up immediately and ran down the side of the 50-metre-long rig to find his rear airbag brake had blown and was on fire.
“I see my airbag was alight so, I just ran back up to my truck to grab my fire extinguisher, went back, tried to extinguish, but it ran out of fire powder,” Mr Stirling said.
“Then it got under the tires, then once they lit up, she was all over.”
Fire damage to a trailer on the Tanami Road.(Supplied)
Mr Stirling had to act quickly to separate the trailers to ensure the safety of the cattle.
“I dropped the front run-throughs and then just started jumping as many cattle off [as possible],” he said.
One died on the crate and another had to be euthanized.
“You’ve got love animals and if you love doing something, like I love carting cattle… it’s really tough to watch.”
A representative of the station where the cattle came from ABC Rural has informed that the remaining cattle on the front two trailers have safely arrived in Alice Springs.
The cattle let off the burning trailer were tracked by helicopters the next morning and moved to a water point on a nearby station and will be collected at a later date.
A defaced truck stop road sign along the Tanami Road.(ABC Rural: Hugo Rikard-Bell )
Poor condition of Tanami an old foe
Mr Stirling pointed to the poor condition of the road as the primary culprit for the loss of cattle and damage to his truck.
“You have a brand-new crate that could do the same thing,” he said.
“You prep yourself for it, but it’s very harsh conditions, you let your tires down to half the per cent of PSI but still it’s terrible.”
For decades, truck drivers have been calling for maintenance of the Tanami Road.
Local companies in the Northern Territory told ABC Rural they were losing up to $10,000 a week to repairs.
Losing a trailer is a lot of money to a small business.
Mr Stirling said this was a hefty blow to his haulage company.
“Income revolves around having a crate cattle now I’ve lost a crate,” he said.
“So, I won’t be able to get the income.
“Hopefully [we can] source or replace, but they’re very hard to find at the minute.
“We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on maintenance a year.”
A road train travels down the Tanami Highway(Rural ABC: Xavier Martin)
Bitumen is on the way
The NT government is funding upgrades to the Tanami Road, with work underway to seal a further 60 kilometers of the road beyond the Yuendumu turn-off.
In a statement to ABC Rural, a spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure said “150 kilometers of the Tanami Road is set to be sealed over the next two years.”
This would seal past the point where Mr Stirling’s truck caught fire but, for the road train industry, the bitumen for the road could not come quick enough.
NT Road Transport Association CEO Louise Bilato said the expansion of the Tanami gold mine meant there were a lot more trucks on the road.
“The corrugations on the Tanami Road are very well known … corrugations will appear very quickly after a grade, and as it gets hotter it will get worse,” Ms Bilato said.
Ms Bilato said last week’s incident was not the first time she had heard of a bad road causing a fire in a truck.
“If it’s not batteries, brakes or shock-absorbers, it can be something else [that catches fire],” she said.
“My strongest urging to the road transport industry is to constantly monitor your equipment and don’t assume that you know the Tanami Road.”
