As temperatures dip with the approach of winter, Sacramentans are turning to their fireplaces for added warmth. The Sacramento Press checked out a number of vendors who sell and deliver firewood as well as the regulations and safety of burning in your home. Firewood is usually sold in cords or fractions of cords, and a single cord of wood is stacked 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet and can typically be held in two pickup truck beds. Firewood vendors and fire officials stressed the need to burn only seasoned wood in fireplaces so it burns at the correct temperature and doesn’t cause damage to chimneys or stoves. “Only burn approved products – no cardboard or paper products,” said Cal Fire Batt

     Photo essay by Dan ward Today on the Sacramento State campus two buildings were caught on fire. The first building was Mendocino hall. The building recorded the fire to start around 2:58pm. The fire took place on the 4th floor. Reports show that it started in a chair and the faculty and students were to be evacuated quickly. A professor and floor Marshall Matthew Mills helped a good majority of the students and faculty evacuate the premises while the fire engines arrived at the scene. There were no injuries however was student was caught in the fire but was quickly rescued. Shortly followed by the first fire another fire was broke out in Mariposa hall. The fire started from the int

Law enforcement and correctional officers, military personnel and a firefighter went toe to toe in the boxing ring Saturday night, raising money for charity in the Battle of the Badges Fight Series: Road to the Championship. Held in the intimate courtyard setting of Liquid Nightclub in Citrus Heights, the well-attended event benefitted charities including the Armed Forces Foundation, Firefighters Burn Institute and Sacramento Sheriff's Toy Project. Battle of the Badges Fight Series events are a lead-up to the title fight at Battle of the Badges VIII. Last year's Battle of the Badges VII was held in August at Memorial Auditorium. All bouts had a three-round limit, and on the card Saturd

Firefighters responded to a fire near the intersection of N Seventh Street and Richards Boulevard at about 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

More than 50 neighborhood parties will be held Tuesday as Sacramento participates in the 28th annual National Night Out. It’s about crime prevention, said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong. “The idea is you get out, get to know your neighbors and show you’re visible to prevent crime.” Leong said the block parties allow neighbors to get to know each other in a fun way, and that helps with building a stronger community. There is no specific criteria that needs to be followed for a National Night Out event, since it is about getting neighbors together and having a good time. “It can be as simple as an ice cream social or a bunch of neighbors hanging out together,” he

Sacramento, CA | A level 3 Hazmat situation shuts down a large industrial area in South Sacramento. Budget weakend hazmat team has to reach out with unusual mutual aid requests.  Wednesday morning, the Sacramento City Fire Department was called to Mike and Sons Inc, in the 8500 block of Elder Creek Road, for a commercial trailer fire. When firefighters arrived “they realized the doors were shut and there was a very pungent odor; so they turned this into a level three hazmat which is the highest level of hazmat response that we have”, Niko King, Assistant Chief for Sacramento City Fire Department stated. As things progressed, they contacted the shipper and the property owner discovering t

Despite reports of the city’s proposals to lay off more than 350 jobs, including 80 sworn police officers, during Tuesday’s press conference, Mayor Kevin Johnson said that avoiding such layoffs will be a priority. Throughout the conference, Johnson said he wanted Sacramento to remain a full-service city and that he hopes to alleviate any distrust between police officers and the city by playing a more active role in addressing the interests of both parties. “We’re trying to preserve as many jobs as we can and keep public safety at the top of our priorities,” he added. “We’re about to pass and adopt a budget in about three weeks or so, and we do not want to be in a position where our comm

The City of Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation presented an oral report regarding their progress on community centers to the Parks and Recreation Commission. During the report, Parks and Recreation Director Jim Combs provided an overview of the proceedings for next Tuesday’s Council Meeting. The highlight of the meeting will be the report back on the budgets of the city’s parks, police, and fire departments. “We hear maybe 1000 to 1500 folks there attending this meeting just from the police department,” said Combs. “Then the fire department’s going to have a big crew. We know that the centers and all those communities; we’re going to have more people down there than we had las

Vacaville natives Papa Roach certainly know how to make an entrance. Friday night at Ace of Spades opening bands Track Fighter and Will Haven had just finished their sets. As Queens of the Stone Age's "No One Knows" played on the PA during the set change before Papa Roach came out, something on stage (a light?) blew with a loud pop, giving off small plumes of smoke and triggering the fire alarm. Cue the firefighters walking through the sold-out crowd a few minutes later, but there was no indication that it was anything more than a precaution. Thankfully it turned out to be a non-issue. The show went on as planned, and guy-linered frontman Jacoby Shaddix and company came out to much love

I felt compelled to write this after reading Brandon Darnell’s report on the Sacramento’s City Council’s 5-4 decision in favor of requiring non-resident drivers to foot emergency bills. You can view his article here I find this to be complete nonsense (not the article, the decision). Especially when reading some of the responses from the City Council and others. The Fire Chief states that it’s not to bring in revenue, but to recover costs? He’s joking right? What else is this but a new revenue stream? Top that off with the old school mentality of budgeting, especially in a government environment. Towards the end of each fiscal year budgets are reviewed to ensure all monies in the budget

Widely acclaimed author of “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” and more recently ”The Lake of Dreams” Kim Edwards spoke at the Crest Theatre on Thursday as the fourth author of the California Lectures’ 2010-2011 season. Her work has been praised for its wit, humanism and realistic settings as well her innate ability to transport her reader to exotic locales and accept them implicitly in the story. Her second and most recent novel, “The Lake of Dreams,” came fast on the heels of the breakout success she achieved with her freshman effort, “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter,” which spent an awesome 122 weeks on the New York Times Best-seller List, 20 of which were spent at number one. The lecture, whic

This morning just before 10 a.m. Sacramento Regional Dispatch center received multiple calls reporting an apartment fire with explosions. Fire crews from both Sacramento and Sacramento Metro Fire Departments responded and arrived within minutes to find fire blowing out of an upstairs window. The apartment was occupied at the time of the fire and officials were informed that citizens assisted one adult male occupant from the apartment that was on fire. Quick actions of the fire crews kept the fire from spreading to adjacent apartments; however during the fire operations Sacramento Police were requested to respond to restrain the resident from attempting to re-enter the apartment while it w

Firefighters responded to Globe Mills Apartment complex for a water flow alarm. Crews arrived to find a flowing sprinkler and no signs of fire. The sprinkler activation was isolated to unit 438, which was a single apartment on the fourth floor. Before firefighters were able to shut off the water, substantial flooding occurred to the affected unit, the 4th floor hallway and units on the third and second floor that were located directly below apartment 438. There was also several hundred gallons of water in the basement, as a direct result of the activated sprinkler. Fire crews spent several hours on scene pumping water out of the basement and restoring the sprinkler system. Portions of the

Sacramento, CA | A drunk driver with passengers collides head-on with a Taxi minivan leaving several injured in Midtown early Thursday morning. At approximately 1:47 am Thursday morning, a black compact car collided head on with a taxi cab minivan at 20th and N Streets in Midtown. Occupants in both vehicles were injured and transported to area hospitals with non threatening injuries, per Sacramento Police department.   more from this incident and about Midtown DUI checkpoint >>

Police ejected a flash mob of hundreds of choral singers tonight from the Roseville Galleria mall. The choral singers, many clad in their Christmas clothes, had been anticipating singing an “impromptu” rendition of the “Hallelujah Chorus” in the food court.  The performance was conceived of by the Sacramento Choral Society and over the last few weeks, word quickly spread via email, Twitter and good old-fashioned word of mouth. As the 7:30 performance time neared, dense traffic in the food court came to a near standstill while singers clutched their sheet music for the 4-minute song. When mall security was unable to redirect the crowd, the Fire Department closed the mall and ushered every

On behalf of Fire Chief Ray Jones, Deputy Chiefs Troy Malaspino and Lloyd Ogan, it is with great sadness we deliver this message. Early this morning our brother, Fire Captain Terrence (Terry) Gee, age fifty-four, passed away. He was surrounded by his immediate family in his home. In February of this year, Terrence was diagnosed with cancer, as a result of job related exposures. He leaves behind is wife Nancy of twenty-four years, son Samuel age twenty-two, and daughter Amanda age twenty, as well as, a great number of other family and friends. Terry began his career in the fire service with Sacramento Fire Department in February 1985. He spent a great time of his career as a firefighter a

Community leaders and supporters congregated at the corner of N and 27th streets to see the beginning stages of the new River City Food Bank. After a four-alarm fire destroyed the RCFB’s original location Oct. 21, the community immediately responded, and the Sutter Medical Center donated this space for the Food Bank to rebuild. The blaze, determined as arson by the fire department, heavily damaged the building and destroyed about 10,000 pounds of food. Though still a large empty room, save for a few hanging lights and fold-up tables, the new location promises to give clients a more comfortable space and volunteers a better ability to help the community, RCFB Executive Director Eileen Tho

Yesterday at approximately 4:21 P.M. firefighters responded to a reported house fire at 4309 39th Avenue. Fire crews arrived four minutes later to find heavy brown smoke coming from the roof and front door of the residence. During extinguishment of the fire two firefighters from Engine 56 received first and second degree burns to their face and ears. One of the two firefighters, Doug Calvert a four-year veteran, was transported to U C Davis Medical Center, where he was treated and released. Fire investigators determined the cause of the fire was from an unattended cooking pan. No civilians were injured; however Red Cross did respond to assist with providing shelter and clothing for both

As we approach Thanksgiving Day the Sacramento Fire Department would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy holiday; in addition to providing you with several safety tips to ensure your holiday is also a safe one. Each year many fires and other emergencies occur from un-attended cooking or burning fires. Therefore we are asking that you consider these tips as you enjoy your holiday. ·Turkey roasters’, remember to use a pan large enough to contain the grease that is produced from a roasting turkey. ·If you are going to sleep or leaving your home, make sure all cooking appliances are off. ·Outdoor cooking should occur outdoors and NOT in a garage or under a low covered patio

The Sacramento Fire Department wishes to remind everyone that when you move your clock back an hour this weekend be sure to replace the batteries in all of your smoke detectors. Smoke detectors save lives. It is estimated that 65% of home fire deaths occur in homes that don't have a working smoke detector. Smoke detectors alert people to fire in its early stages, giving people the time needed to escape safely. It’s important for every home to have them in all required locations, including bedrooms. The Sacramento Fire Department offers the following tips for making sure the smoke detectors in your home are maintained and working properly: · Install smoke detectors in every bedroom, outs