Home explosion in Missouri leaves six people injured, three in critical condition
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) — A massive home explosion in Missouri over Thanksgiving weekend left the residence in rubble and six people inside injured, according to fire officials.
The explosion occurred on St. Louis Road in Jefferson City early Saturday morning at 2:44 a.m., according to a press release from Jefferson City Fire.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, officials said.
Emergency responders said of the six individuals injured in the blast, two were transported to Jefferson City Airport and flown to University Hospital in Columbia, Missouri.
The remaining four people were transported by ground to University Hospital.
Three of the victims are listed in critical condition and received critical life support, Cole County EMS Chief Eric Hoy told ABC News’ Missouri affiliate KMIZ.
The other three have moderate injuries and are stable, the outlet reported.
Photos released by officials show the explosion left the home almost completely leveled, with responders saying they discovered the six individuals among the debris upon arrival.
“Rescue operations were particularly challenging due to the extensive structural collapse and significant debris,” Jefferson City Fire said in the release.
“The team had to carefully tunnel through layers of debris to reach the final occupant, who required intensive extrication,” officials added.
All six of the individuals were safely removed from the residence by 5:52 a.m.
Additionally, fire officials said in the release that two pets were rescued from the collapsed home and are now in the care of animal control.
(SEATTLE) — Boeing machinists on Wednesday rejected a new contract proposal that would’ve ended a weekslong work stoppage against the embattled aerospace company — and the union said the strike will go on.
Sixty-four percent of workers voted to reject the new contract, according to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the union representing 33,000 Boeing workers in Washington, Oregon and California.
Representatives for Boeing said Wednesday night the company did not have a comment on the vote.
The proposed contract would have delivered a 35% raise over the four-year duration of the contract, upping the 25% cumulative raise provided in a previous offer overwhelmingly rejected by workers in a vote last month. Workers had initially sought a 40% cumulative pay increase.
The proposal also called for hiking Boeing’s contribution to a 401(k) plan, but it declined to fulfill workers’ call for a reinstatement of the company’s defined pension. The contract would have included a $7,000 ratification bonus for each worker, as well as a performance bonus that Boeing had sought to jettison.
But union leaders said the concessions offered in the proposal were not enough to meet the demands of rank-and-file union members.
“This contract struggle began over ten years ago when the company overreached and created a wound that may never heal for many members,” said Jon Holden, president of IAM District 751 in Seattle, in a statement after the vote. “I don’t have to tell you all how challenging it has been for our membership through the pandemic, the crashes, massive inflation, and the need to address the losses stemming from the 2014 contract.”
The union said the strike will continue as they return to the bargaining table with the company.
Hours before workers cast ballots on Wednesday, Boeing released an earnings report showing the company had lost a staggering $6.1 billion over the most recent quarter due primarily to costs associated with the strike.
“We have some really big rocks that we need to get behind us to move the company forward,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a letter to investors on Wednesday.
Ortberg singled out the strike as an issue that must be addressed “first and foremost.”
“We have been feverishly working to find a solution that works for the company and meets our employees’ needs,” Ortberg said.
The company and its workers have faced significant financial losses during the nearly six-week strike.
Union members have received $250 per week from a strike fund, beginning in the third week of the work stoppage. That compensation marks a major pay cut for many of the employees.
Mid-ranking workers involved in the strike typically make $20 per hour, which totals $800 per 40-hour work week, while higher-paid members earn salaries upward of $100,000 per year, or nearly $2,000 per week.
“The question is whether the employees and their union determine that they have the power to get more from Boeing,” Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group, told ABC News. “It’s whether they think they can extract more from Boeing, or Boeing says, ‘You know what, this is it.'”
The strike was set to cost Boeing $108 million per day in lost revenue, amounting to as much as $5.5 billion in losses should the work stoppage last 50 days, investment bank TD Cowen said in a report reviewed by ABC News at the outset of the dispute. So far, the strike has lasted 40 days.
In September, Boeing announced furloughs and pay cuts for some white-collar employees in response to the strike. Last week, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg announced plans to cut 17,000 jobs, which amounts to about 10% of its global workforce.
“This is really painful for Boeing,” Richard Aboulafia, managing director of aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, told ABC News.
The most recent IAM strike against Boeing in the Pacific Northwest, in 2008, lasted 57 days. Work stoppages undertaken by unionized Boeing employees in the same region have historically lasted an average of 60 days, a Bank of America Global Research analysis found after examining seven previous strikes, the earliest in 1948.
In the days leading up to Wednesday’s vote, the outcome remained unclear, Jake Rosenfeld, a professor of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, who studies labor, told ABC News.
“What are the workers going to do?” Rosenfeld said. “That’s a really tough question.”
(IRVINE, Calif.) — Eight firefighters were hurt — including two critically — when the fire truck they were in rolled over while returning from a 12-hour shift battling the Airport Fire wildfire, one of several large blazes raging in Southern California, officials said.
The truck crashed on State Route 241 in Irvine just before 7 p.m. Thursday, Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said.
The California Highway Patrol told ABC Los Angeles station KABC that a car in front of the truck swerved to avoid hitting a ladder that was in one of the lanes, causing the fire truck to swerve, lose control and overturn after hitting the guard rail. No other cars were involved in the crash, Fennessy said.
Six firefighters were taken to trauma centers in conditions ranging from “stable to critical,” Fennessy said at a news conference Friday. Two firefighters were treated at Hoag Hospital Irvine and have since been released, he said.
Of the six taken to trauma centers, two were admitted in critical condition and are in the intensive care unit on Friday, Dr. Humberto Sauri told reporters. One is considered “critical but stable” and the other’s condition is “quite critical,” he said.
Four of the eight firefighters “are more seriously injured than the others,” Fennessy said.
Fennessy called the crash “devastating” and a “huge tragedy for our family.”
Firefighters have been battling the Airport Fire “non-stop” since Sept. 9, Fennessy said.
He said this team of firefighters was responsible for removing fuel from the path of fire.
The crash remains under investigation by the highway patrol.
Fennessy said, “What I’ve heard was that the crew carrier, you know, the crew buggy, as we call them, did swerve for whatever reason, and did roll several times.”
“They’re heavy vehicles,” he said. “They’re very top-heavy. So it wouldn’t take much, you know, at speed, you know, for them to roll over.”
(DALLAS) — Bishop T.D. Jakes is stable after suffering a medical emergency during a sermon on Sunday, according to the megachurch Potter’s House of Dallas, where he serves as pastor.
Video of the incident shows the renowned Christian pastor lowering his microphone and shaking in his seat before people around him rushed to his aid.
In a statement, the church said Jakes “experienced a slight health incident and received immediate medical attention following his powerful hour long message.”
“Bishop Jakes is stable and under the care of medical professionals,” the church said. “The entire Potter’s House family is grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from the community.”
Jakes founded the 30,000-member megachurch in southern Dallas, Texas, in 1996.
