Saturday, July 25, 2009

Kansas City's BREAKING NEWS: 2nd-Alarm Fire In KC-MO Blue Valley



A
t 7:55 am- a 2nd alarm was ordered for a fire in a commercial building at 1601 Crystal.


The initial alarm went out at 7:44 am and smoke could be seen by responding fire companies from as far as 6 blocks away. A 1st-alarm was then sounded and the response was upgraded.



There is also a working house fire in eastern KC-MO- in the 4300 block of Ditzler that came in at 7:38am.

No injuries there and the fire was fairly minor.


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MetroRegion K.C. News and Weather On A Mid-Summer Night: Hour 7 - Finale

HOUR 7 - FINAL



6 AM THROUGH 7 AM



The last hour included a KC-MO house fire in the 5200 block of St. John- a water main break in Merriam and a van wreck in eastern Independence-MO..

No one was injured in the 6:07 am KC-MO fire that was brought under control 13 minutes later.

The water main break was in the 10000 block of West 57th Street according to Merriam-KS police.

Independence-MO fire- police and AMR-EMS went to the intersection of R.D. Mize and Brookridge around 6:45 am on the report of a van gone off the road there.

Possibly the only injury was the female driver- but my shift ended before I heard anything for sure.


I logged about 45 incidents but none were shootings or cuttings. No incident involved serious injury in fact.

Even the severe storm seemed to keep the destruction to a minimum- although some of the electronic media missed the warnings.

My thanks to the citizens of Metro Kansas City for a fairly violence-free morning and let's try for tomorrow morning as well.

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MetroRegion K.C. News and Weather On A Mid-Summer Night: Hour 6


HOUR 6




5 AM THROUGH 6 AM



The northbound ramp from I-435 to Stadium Drive remains closed due to an earlier truck fire.


The only other items during this hour were vehicle crashes in Excelsior Springs-MO and Lawrence-KS- and assaults in KC-MO and Independence.


A strong thunderstorm moved from northwest through southeast JoCo-KS during the hour- was now moving into Miami & Cass county.

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MetroRegion K.C. News and Weather On A Mid-Summer Night: Hour 5


HOUR 5




4 AM THROUGH 5 AM




Business picked up in the 4-o'clock hour...



The house fire in the 8900 block of South Buckner-Tarsney Road was declared under control at 4:42 am..

Four Jackson County and one Cass County fire department helped fight the blaze.


The state fire marshal has been requested to that scene- but no injuries have been reported..




A little before 4:30am- KC-MO emergency services reponded to northbound I-435's ramp to Stadium Drive- where a semi-truck was reportedly in a wreck and on fire.

The truck was a vehicle hauler and it was indeed on fire. No word if the truck crashed- but the driver was reported to be fine and refused any EMS treatment.

The northbound ramp to Stadium Drive is closed right now.


KC-MO fire also went to an automatic alarm at 909 Walnut at 4:23am- cleared on a false alarm- only to return at 4:45am when a security guard reportedly smelled smoke coming from an electrical room.

The fire crews just cleared the scene again after checking and finding little..



Warrensburg MO fire crews were sent to the 400 block of Acorn Place to check a house that had a tree fall on it during a severe thunderstorm.

There was no hazard or injuries reported from that.



A few showers moving southeast from the Northland- a few thundershowers near De Soto- as of 5:15 am with temperatures still in the mid to upper-70's Metro-wide.


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MetroRegion K.C. News and Weather On A Mid-Summer Night: Hour 4


HOUR 4



3 AM THROUGH 4 AM



I t had been a VERY slow hour- no calls whatsoever logged until 3:46 am....


That's when the report of a house fire came in in the 8900 block of South Buckner-Tarsney Road..
The tones went out to fire departments from Lake Lotawana- Lone Jack- Sni Valley (Oak Grove) and Central Jackson County (Blue Springs/Grain Valley)..


The Lake Lotawana fire chief arrived about 5 minutes after the alarm was sounded- he reported "heavy smoke showing along the entire roofline" of the house.

There's been no word yet on the occupancy status of this house as the firefight carries on.



The weather remains mostly cloudy- temperatures holding in the mid to upper-70's Metro-wide with any precipitation still about 50 miles away in any direction from downtown KC-MO..

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MetroRegion K.C. Weather Radars On A Mid-Summer Night: Hours 1 Through 3.5



H
ere's how the weather radar has looked throughout this Saturday morning.


Note how the severe storm in Jackson County MO seems to develop out of nowhere.


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MetroRegion K.C. News and Weather On A Mid-Summer Night: Hour 3


HOUR 3

2 AM THROUGH 3 AM



Not much this hour- a couple of wrecks in KC-MO- east side and in the P&L District- but injuries appeared to be non life-threatening.


A flurry of assault victims (I haven't heard any shootings this morning- knock on wood) from Lawrence-KS to Blue Springs- but again- no life-threatening injuries.


A fire-scare in KC-KS- a lot of companies sent to what turned out to be flashing lights in a business off I-35 & 18th Street Expressway..


I don't know how many are without power in Independence-MO (if you're one- lemme know- ha!) but the fire department calls tailed off..



The weather's okay- mostly cloudy with temperature in the mid to upper-70's Metro-wide.


Seeing more thunderstorms on radar- the stuff that moved through here now around Sedalia to Clinton-MO- some severe cells up northeast of Chillicothe-MO- and showers and storms from southeastern Nebraska through central Kansas- all is moving southeastward.





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MetroRegion K.C. News and Weather On A Mid-Summer Night: Hour 2

HOUR 2 - 1 AM THROUGH 2 AM

When we last left you just after 1 am- a severe thunderstorm had developed near Parkville-MO and northern KC-KS and rapidly turned severe near downtown KC-MO and moved east then southeastward through northeast & east KC-MO and northwest through south-central Independence

High straight-line winds have caused power line- tree and even some scattered structure damage in eastern KC and western Independence-MO..

Independence was still running calls as of 2am..

The weather might have contributed to an 18-wheeler jackknifing and at least temporarily blocking the southbound lanes of I-435 south of Front Street around 1:05am. No one was hurt and it sounds as if the truck driver was able to move his rig at least partially off the road.

There was another minor crash in Lee's Summit.

Just before the hour is the report of a possible All-terrain vehicle crash in the northeast part of Jackson County MO. No report yet...


More sundry/non-serious EMS- fire and police calls in the various jurisdictions (what- 60-something)- intrusion/medical/fire alarms- disturbances- general unsociable people- more license checks- etc..


The weather started out cloudy with thunder- lots of lightning to the north at 1 am.

At 2am- the lightning has moved east and southeast and it's pretty nice in southern KC-MO..



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Hour By Hour: News Around MetroRegion Kansas City On A Mid-Summer Weekend Night - Hour 1

Actually- call it early morning Saturday.

Thought I'd do something here I've never done blogging- give each of you a blow by blow by hour of the overnight shift.

HOUR 1 - Midnight to 1AM

Not too active in the first 30 minutes- a couple of assault calls- Independence-MO & KC-KS with minor injuries or EMS refusals by the victims.

A hit & run crash was reported at 20th Street & Broadway in KC-MO just after midnight. Witnesses reported a dark-colored SUV took off from the wreck- the other driver's injuries were non life-threatening.

Of course there were the sundry EMS calls- overdoses- cardiac and breathing issues- you name it. Police calls in all the various jurisdictions- assaults- suspicious people- license checks.

The weather started out partly cloudy and 80-degrees at midnight.

By 1am- there's lots of lightning to my north: a heavy thunderstorm has developed near and moved over the Downtown KC-MO area.

One minute after 1 am- a severe thunderstorm warning was issued by the National Weather Service for northern Jackson county Missouri.

Large hail is expected- see you after 2 am..
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Friday, July 24, 2009

Metro K.C.'s BREAKING NEWS: Critical-Injury Crash In Independence-MO



I
t happened around 3:30 this Friday afternoon: reported "3 cars" involved- at least one of those cars a convertible- at U.S. 40 and Hardy in southwestern Independence.




At least 5 ambulances have been or are at the scene.



One AMR-EMS unit transported an about 20-year-old critically-injured male to an area hospital.


He was possibly ejected from the convertible when the crash occurred.


Another AMR unit has whisked away "a 26-year-old male" from that convertible in less-serious condition to another medical trauma center.



See more on KSHB News at 5- 6 and 10 pm..

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Alleged Violation On Missouri "Sunshine Law" In Peculiar-MO



N
orthwest Cass County's The (Belton-MO) STAR-HERALD reports that the Peculiar Board of Aldermen allegedly violated the state's open public meeting or "Sunshine" law recently.




The board met privately to discuss cutting all Peculiar city employees pay by ten percent. The board then returned to the public forum to approve the 10% cut.



The Belton Star Herald- owned by The McClatchy Company who also owns the KANSAS CITY STAR- filed a complaint with Missouri attorney general Chris Koster’s office and notified Cass County prosecutor Teresa Hensley.



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Tornado Strikes Monroe LA With Confirmed Injuries

The tornado struck around noon on Easter Sunday. There is considerable damage repo rted in that northeastern Louisiana city of around 5000...