Wildfires erupt in New Jersey, fueled by dry, windy conditions
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(NEW JERSEY) — Multiple wildfires have erupted across New Jersey amid windy and dry conditions
A large brush fire broke out on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Bergen County in northern New Jersey, near New York City. The fire covers 19 acres and is 30% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. No structures are threatened.
On Friday, “conditions will be extremely dangerous for more brush fires and rapid fire spread,” the Englewood Fire Department warned.
New York City Emergency Management said New Yorkers may smell smoke on Friday.
Another wildfire is threatening over 100 structures in Burlington and Camden counties in southern New Jersey, outside of Philadelphia. The blaze spans 360 acres and is 75% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.
In Jackson Township, in central New Jersey, the Shotgun Wildfire has burned through 350 acres and is 80% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. No structures are threatened.
A fourth fire, the Pheasant Run Wildfire, covered 133 acres in the Glassboro Wildlife Management Area, a wildlife park in southern New Jersey. It’s 50% contained and isn’t threatening any structures.
Fire danger has increased in the Northeast due to the combination of a historically dry fall, gusty winds near 30 mph and relative humidity down to 25%. A red flag warning has been issued from Boston to New York City and Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the Mountain Fire in Southern California has exploded in size, blazing through 20,000 acres, destroying homes and prompting mass evacuations.
(NEW YORK) — The back-to-back retirements of two college quarterbacks seemingly at the start of their careers has put a spotlight again on concussions and youth sports, particularly football.
On Oct. 23, North Carolina State quarterback Grayson McCall announced on Instagramthat he would retire from the sport after being carted off the field in an Oct. 5 game that saw him lose his helmet in a hit.
“As you all know I have battled injuries my whole career, but this is one that I cannot come back from. I have done everything I can to continue, but this is where the good Lord has called me to serve in a different space,” McCall, 23, wrote alongside photos of him playing football as a young kid. “Brain specialists, my family, and I have come to the conclusion that it is in my best interest to hang the cleats up.”
Just five days later, on Oct. 28, University of Michigan quarterback Jack Tuttle announced that he too is retiring from football, also citing medical reasons.
Tuttle, a seventh-year senior, underwent surgery on his throwing arm in the offseason, according to ESPN, and then this season suffered the fifth concussion of his career.
“Unfortunately, the recent experience of enduring my fifth concussion has brought forth the painful truth: that I need to start prioritizing my health,” Tuttle, 25, wrote, in part, in an Instagram post announcing his retirement. “Throughout my college career, I’ve battled numerous injuries, culminating in this difficult choice to step away from playing the game that I love.
Both Tuttle and McCall noted that they planned to stay involved with football through coaching, with McCall writing, “I look forward to taking my passion and love for the game into the coaching space to serve and lead the next group of kids with a dream.”
Whether it’s safe for young kids to dream of playing football is a conversation starting again in the wake of the quarterbacks’ retirements, as well as the recent deaths of two youth football players.
Among youth sports, boys’ football has the highest rate of concussion, with10.4 concussions per 10,000 athlete exposures, according to a 2019 study published in the journal Pediatrics. Girls’ soccer and boys’ ice hockey followed behind with the second and third highest rates, respectively.
For kids who start playing tackle football at a young age, the concussions can start just as young. A 2018 study found that 5% of youth football players ages 5 to 14 suffer a football-related concussion each season.
And the science shows that each concussion — caused by a jolt to the head or a hit to the body — matters.
While not usually life-threatening, the effects of even a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion, can be “serious,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, causing changes to the brain that can impact a kid’s sleep, learning, behavior and thoughts.
Over time, repeated concussions can cause long-term problems with concentration, memory, balance and headaches, according to the CDC.
Chris Nowinski, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on concussion and CTE research, told ABC News that while he doesn’t know the specifics of Tuttle’s and McCall’s, it’s notable that they retired from football now, during their college careers.
“It’s important remember, you only get one brain, and when you’re playing football, you’re risking your long-term brain health,” Nowinski said. “And so you want to make sure that when you get warning signs that your brain is losing its resilience to trauma, you shut it down before it gets too bad.”
He added of Tuttle and McCall, “They’re better off finding that new passion versus running their brain to the ground and dealing with those consequences for the rest of their lives.”
Takeaways for parents and young athletes
Nowinski said he recommends that if a child is interested in playing football, they play flag or touch football instead of tackle football for as long as possible.
It’s a recommendation echoed by the CDC, which cites data showing youth tackle football players had 15 times more head impacts during a practice or game than flag football athletes.
If a child is playing tackle football, safety recommendations from the CDC include reducing the number of contact practices for teams, teaching position-specific and age-appropriate tackling and blocking skills, and strictly enforcing penalties for head hits.
Noting the importance of kids getting as few concussions as possible, Nowinski said he also encourages parents, coaches and trainers to give young athletes more than enough time to recover from a concussion.
“That means staying out longer than a week after a concussion, and potentially staying out longer than is even recommended,” he said. “And that when there are two concussions in a shorter period of time, that you take longer off.”
For young athletes hesitant to miss a game or practice, Nowinski said the takeaway message is, “The more [concussions] you get, the more you risk having to step away from your sport.”
Dr. Munro Cullum, a concussion expert and neuropsychologist from UT Southwestern’s O’Donnell Brain Institute, told ABC News that he tells parents and athletes, “If in doubt, sit it out.”
“If you have questions about how you’re doing, the line I use for a lot of young adults that I see is, ‘If you’re impaired and not functioning at your best, you can’t be the best for your team,'” Cullum said. “‘You can’t be there for your team in full strength, and therefore, you need to let people know when there’s something wrong.'”
Cullum said that parents and guardians can often be the first line of defense when it comes to identifying a concussion in their child.
“I encourage parents to educate themselves about concussion signs also because some of the changes can be very subtle,” he said. “Their behaviors may change and maybe only a parent would notice that somebody’s more sullen or they’re more anxious than they used to be.”
In some cases, symptoms of concussions may appear right away, while in others it may take hours or days after the injury for symptoms to appear.
Concussion symptoms can range from dizziness, nausea, vision problems and headaches to concentration problems, fogginess, anxiety, sadness, nervousness or changes in sleep, according to the CDC.
When it comes to knowing whether the latest concussion is one too many for an athlete, Cullum said there is no “magic number.”
“We don’t yet know how many concussions are too many or for whom,” Cullum said, adding, “It’s what’s unique about one individual versus another. There can’t really be a blanket prescription that’s right for everybody. One size doesn’t fit all.”
(LOS ANGELES) — Firefighters are nearing victory in the battles against three major wildfires near Los Angeles that have burned more than 117,000 acres, destroyed nearly 200 structures and injured 23 people, officials said.
More than 8,000 firefighters combating the Bridge, Line and Airport fires, all burning within 70 miles of each other, have significantly increased containment lines around the blazes while taking advantage of cooler weather in Southern California over the past week, officials said.
The biggest fire, the Bridge Fire, had charred 54,795 acres as of Wednesday after igniting Sept. 8 in the Angeles National Forest, 31 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The blaze was 37% contained on Wednesday, Cal Fire said.
“Conditions were calm last night as firefighters continued their diligent work in strengthening containment lines and validating their progress,” Cal Fire said in an updated statement on the Bridge Fire Wednesday, adding that firefighting helicopters were not needed overnight.
The Bridge Fire in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties has destroyed 75 structures, including at least 33 homes in Wrightwood and Mt. Baldy, and injured four people, officials said.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
The Line Fire
Firefighters upped containment on the Line Fire in San Bernardino County to 50% on Wednesday, keeping it to “minimal fire growth overnight,” according to Cal Fire. Like the other active blazes in the Los Angeles area, the Line Fire has been fueled by extremely dry vegetation, officials said.
Since it was ignited by a suspected arsonist on Sept. 5, the Line Fire has burned 39,181 acres, according to Cal Fiire. The blaze has damaged four structures, destroyed one and injured four people, including three firefighters, authorities said.
“Firefighters are strengthening control lines and mopping up hot spots,” Cal Fire said.
The fire prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom to deploy the state National Guard to support the ongoing response.
Newsom declared a state of emergency on Sept. 11 to free up resources in an effort to bring the three fires under control.
Justin Wayne Halstenberg, a 34-year-old man from Norco, California, was identified as the suspect who started the Line Fire, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. During a video arraignment on Tuesday, Halstenberg pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of arson, including aggravated arson and causing great bodily injury.
The Airport Fire
The Airport Fire — which broke out on Sept. 9 in an unincorporated area of Orange County and spread to Riverside County — had burned 23,519 acres as of Wednesday, according to Cal Fire. The blaze is 35% contained.
“Firefighters are prioritizing continued fire line construction and reinforcement by adding more layers of protection in problem areas,” Cal Fire said in a fire update.
The fire has been the most destructive of the three blazes, destroying 160 structures, including homes and businesses, and damaging 34 others, according to Cal Fire. At least 15 people, including two firefighters, were injured, Cal Fire said.
The Airport Fire was sparked by county public works crews working on a fire prevention project by trying to move boulders to prevent public access — mostly by motorcyclists — to an area of the canyon with a lot of dry vegetation that could ignite easily, officials told ABC Los Angeles station KABC.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, more than 24,000 firefighters were battling 55 large active wildfires across the nation on Wednesday.
So far in 2024, 37,269 wildfires have erupted across the country, burning more than 7.3 million acres, up from 2.1 million acres at this time last year, according to the fire center.
(TAMPA, FL) — The former owner of a dog that was left tied to a post off a Florida highway in floodwaters ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall has been arrested for animal cruelty, officials announced Tuesday.
The dog was found up to its chest in floodwaters off Interstate 75 in Tampa on Oct. 9, as many residents were evacuating due to Milton, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
A state trooper rescued the dog, now known as Trooper, the department said. Florida Highway Patrol shared a video on social media last week of the dog tied to the post with the caption, “Do NOT do this to your pets please…”
The former owner of the dog — identified by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles as Giovanny Aldama Garcia, 23, of Ruskin, Florida — was arrested on Monday for aggravated animal cruelty, a felony.
State Attorney Suzy Lopez, whose office is prosecuting the case, also announced the arrest on Tuesday, saying, “We take this crime very seriously and this defendant will face the consequences of his actions.”
Aldama Garcia was released Tuesday on $2,500 cash bond, according to online jail records. ABC News’ attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. Online court records do not list any attorney information.
