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Australia

BOM warns wet spring and summer could see more Queensland floods

Flood water in Main street of Laidley in the Lockyer Valley in Queensland

Queenslanders are being warned to expect spring and summer conditions similar to the La Niña event that brought widespread flooding to parts of the state in February.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) today briefed cabinet on the seasonal conditions ahead.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was likely the state would see a mild bushfire season but above average rainfall was set to continue.

“The good news is we’re not expecting a big bushfire season, but we are expecting a wetter than normal spring,” she said.

“These conditions could be similar to the conditions over the summer of this year.”

Ms Palaszczuk said the government would ensure councils across the state were prepared for more wet weather and were implementing recommendations from the last flooding event.

‘Remove a bit of flooding’ expected

BOM meteorologist Laura Boekel said the outlook applied to the whole state, and could not be pinpointed more specifically.

“All of Queensland should be aware that we are expecting an increased chance of above average rainfall this season,” she said.

“If we couple what we have seen in the winter, which is a lot more moisture and grounds remaining wet and not drying up, with the forecast of an above average season, that means we could see quite a bit of flooding across Queensland.

“All of Queensland should be across the fact that we are expecting to see quite a bit of rainfall.”

A controlled fire is burning next to green grass trees with a vehicle in the background
Queenslanders living in regional areas should expect “significant grassfire activity” over spring and summer months.(Supplied: Lydall Scobell)

‘Significant grass fire activity’

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Greg Leach said while the bushfire season is expected to be normal, those in regional parts of the state need to be prepared for grassfire.

“Our modeling still shows that we’re likely to experience a normal bushfire season,” he said.

“While we’re unlikely to see the extensive bushfires such as we saw in 2018/19, we are going to see significant grassfire activity in some parts of the state.

“The recent rain we’ve had has brought on a significant amount of grass load growth through western, central and southern parts of Queensland, and the frosts that we’ve seen in recent weeks has dried off much of that vegetation.”

He said rural brigades had mobilized to complete 133 hazard reduction burns totaling nearly 60,000 hectares.

Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan urged those in regional Queensland to be prepared for grassfires.

“For people in the north, and central and west, there is still a significant chance for you to experience grassfire… you need to be prepared for that season.”

Flood cameras and sirens to be installed across Ipswich

Ipswich City Council Mayor Teresa Harding said her council was conducting its own flood review which will begin at the end of this month.

“It’s obviously quite emotional to hear of this [outlook],” she said.

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Categories
Australia

Man, 89, dies after house fire at Pooraka

A house with fire damage and red and white tape strung across the foreground

An elderly man has died following a house fire in Adelaide’s northern suburbs in the early hours of this morning.

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.

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Categories
Sports

Lawsuit filed by Kobe Bryant’s widow over graphic crash photos to be heard by LA jury

A short, smiling woman in a red dress stands next to a tall, bald, black man in a suit in front of a red Oscars background.

A lawsuit filed by the widow of NBA star Kobe Bryant over photos taken of his body immediately after his death will begin Wednesday US time in Los Angeles.

Vanessa Bryant is suing the LA County Sheriff’s Department and the city’s fire department for invasion of privacy, seeking unspecified millions in compensation for pictures taken of the basketballer’s body that were circulated after he was killed in a helicopter crash with their daughter and seven others in 2020 .

Mrs Bryant claims deputies did not take the photos for investigative purposes, and shared them with firefighters who responded to the crash scene. The lawsuit says a deputy showed the photos to bar patrons and a firefighter showed them to off-duty colleagues.

“Mrs Bryant feels ill at the thought that sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and members of the public have gawked at gratuitous images of her deceased husband and child,” according to the lawsuit.

“She lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online.”

Kobe Bryant, their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and other parents and players were flying to a girls’ basketball tournament when their chartered helicopter crashed in the Calabasas hills, west of Los Angeles, in fog.

Federal safety officials later blamed pilot error for the wreck.

A zoomed-in photo shows firefighters in yellow hi-vis uniforms working next to smoking wreckage on a tree-lined hillside.
Firefighters at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed NBA star Kobe Bryant, along with his daughter and seven others, in January 2020.(AP Photo: Mark J Terrill)

Mrs Bryant has also sued the helicopter charter company and the deceased pilot’s estate.

The county has argued that Mrs Bryant has suffered emotional distress from the deaths, not the photos, which were ordered deleted by Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

It said the photos have never been in the media, on the internet nor otherwise publicly disseminated, and the lawsuit is speculative about harm she might suffer.

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Categories
US

Pennsylvania house fire leaves 7 adults, 3 children dead

Pennsylvania house fire leaves 7 adults, 3 children dead

A fire that tore through a Pennsylvania house killed 10 people — including three children — early Friday morning, all of whom were members of the same family and related to a volunteer fireman who responded to the blaze.

Three children, ages 5, 6 and 7, and seven adults were killed in the Nescopeck blaze, state police said. Three others were able to escape the inferno, according to first responders.

Nescopeck volunteer firefighter Harold Baker told The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre that the victims included his son, daughter, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, three grandchildren and two other relatives.

“When we turned the corner up here on Dewey [Street] I knew right away what house it was just by looking down the street,” Baker told the paper. “I was on the first engine, and when we pulled up, the whole place was fully involved. We tried to get in to them.”

Thirteen dogs were also in the home it went up in flames around 2:30 am, Baker told WNEP. It was unclear if any of them survived.

Crews work to demolish the house destroyed by a fatal fire on the 700 block of 1st Street in Nescopeck on Aug. 5, 2022.
Crews work to demolish the house destroyed by a fatal fire on the 700 block of 1st Street in Nescopeck on Aug. 5, 2022.
AP
A Pennsylvania State trooper and members of the Luzerne County Coroner Office are at the scene of the fire in Nescopeck on August 5, 2022.
A Pennsylvania State trooper and members of the Luzerne County Coroner’s Office are at the scene of the fire in Nescopeck on August 5, 2022.
AP

“The kids that were there and my two kids were just visiting their aunt and uncle. Those were the ones who owned the house. They were there visiting and going into the pool and all that,” Baker reportedly said.

A loud popping sound or explosion was heard by neighbors, who reported seeing the home quickly go up in flames.

“They’re all dead,” a young man screamed in front of the home, some neighbors reportedly said.

A “complex criminal investigation” was underway, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Derek Felsman said.

With AP wires

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Categories
US

Deadly Pa. house fire: 7 adults, 3 children killed in house fire in Nescopeck, Pennsylvania; criminal probe underground

Deadly Pa. house fire: 7 adults, 3 children killed in house fire in Nescopeck, Pennsylvania; criminal probe underground

NESCOPECK, Pa. — Fire tore quickly through a Pennsylvania home in the wee hours of Friday, killing seven adults and three children and horrifying a volunteer firefighter who arrived to battle the blaze only to discover that the victims were his family, authorities said.

A criminal investigation into the fire is underway, authorities said. The children who died in the fire were ages 5, 6 and 7, Pennsylvania State Police said in a news release.

Nescopeck Volunteer Fire Co. firefighter Harold Baker told the Citizens’ Voice newspaper of Wilkes-Barre that the 10 victims included his son, daughter, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, three grandchildren and two other relatives.

The fire in Nescopeck was reported around 2:30 am One person was found dead inside the single-family home shortly after emergency responders arrived, while two other victims were found later in the morning.

Some people were able to safely flee the burning home, authorities said.

Baker said that the address initially given for the call was a neighboring home, but that he realized it was his family’s residence as the fire truck approached.

“When we turned the corner up here on Dewey (Street) I knew right away what house it was just by looking down the street,” Baker told the Citizens’ Voice. “I was on the first engine, and when we pulled up, the whole place was fully involved. We tried to get in to them.”

Neighbors reported hearing a loud popping sound or explosion before seeing the front porch of the home rapidly consumed by flames. Some also reported hearing a young man screaming in front of the home, “They’re all dead.”

Baker, who was relieved of his firefighting duties because of his relationship to the victims, said 14 people were living in the home. One of them was out delivering newspapers, and three others escaped, he said.

“It’s a complex criminal investigation with multiple fatalities,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Derek Felsman said. Troopers were interviewing survivors, he said.

Copyright © 2022 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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