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Delivery
truck sparks blaze at business
By Angela Delp
A truck
making a delivery to a Siler City restaurant accidentally ignited a
fire in an electrical transformer when the driver backed his rig
into electrical equipment.
Michael Jones
of Greensboro, a truck driver for Old Dominion Freight Liner, backed
into a transformer at the rear of PC’s Cool Place restaurant Friday
morning, causing an electrical pole to fall to the ground and burst
into flames.
Jones was
delivering ice cream toppings to the restaurant, which is located on
Dogwood Avenue. There were no injuries and the restaurant sustained
no damage.
"I had gone
to the store to get some lemons and had left Darlene [Baker] and
Debbie [Marley] at the restaurant," said Cynthia Joyce, owner of
PC’s Cool Place. "I turned onto Dogwood and saw black smoke coming
from the back of the building."
The sight
gave her quite a scare.
Baker said
she saw the truck driver back into the pole and attempted to get him
out of the truck once the fire erupted.
"I don’t
think he realized the transformer was burning," she said. "I was
worried the truck might start burning."
Jones said
rainfall and a lack of visibility contributed to the mishap.
"It was
pouring rain as I was backing up," the driver said. "My mirrors were
covered with water and I couldn’t see the power lines."
Officials
from the Siler City Fire Department were on the scene very soon
after the fire started.
Plumes of
black smoke were visible from throughout downtown Siler City.
more- See Thursday,
October 12
paper:
Vol 86, No.
45
Reward
offered to help find missing boy
By Joseph
Pardington
The Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is offering a $5,000 reward for
information that leads to the safe return of Edwin Sanchez Gonzales,
a 2-year-old boy who was kidnapped from his Siler City home on
October 1.
The same
reward is also offered for information that leads to the capture
Jorge Sanchez Aguilera, the boy’s father who is wanted for flight to
avoid capture and kidnapping.
The reward is
also offered for information that leads to the apprehension of any
accomplices in the child’s abduction.
Both the
father and son are pictured in the FBI’s "wanted" posters that
describe the suspect and the victim.
As of
Tuesday, there was no new information regarding the missing child,
said Capt. Charles Gardner of the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.
"We’re still
chasing down every lead we’ve got," Gardner added. "I’d like to say
we found the missing child and his father, but we have not."
more- See Thursday,
October 12
paper:
Vol 86, No.
45 |
Jeff Davis photo
Surveying the scene . . .
Siler City firemen rush to
survey the scene after a truck pulled a power pole down behind P C’s
Cool Place in Siler City. The pole snapped, sending the pole to the
ground where the transformer exploded, causing a fire. The Siler
City Fire Department responded and quickly had the fire under
control in a matter of minutes. Progress Energy workers were called
to the scene where they worked til late Friday afternoon before
power could be restored. The fire caused some plumbing damage to
PC’s and they were not able to reopen until Tuesday.
Officials
say Chatham not home to chemical storage
By Angela Delp
Officials say
Chatham County has no storage facilities comparable to the EQ North
Carolina plant in Apex, which was the scene of a series of
explosions that prompted the evacuation of thousands of Apex
residents late last week.
"We don’t
have hazardous waste manufacturing here or any storage facilities,"
said Chatham County fire marshal Tom Bender.
Bender said
that while there are several businesses in Chatham County which use
a number of chemicals in their operations, there are no storage
facilities like the Apex EQ facility.
"Every city
has chemicals," Bender said. "But the businesses here are very
careful and have all been inspected by fire marshals."
Nadine Perry,
who works with Chatham County’s household hazardous wastes program,
said the county has a contract with a Greensboro company that is
authorized to work with hazardous wastes.
more- See Thursday,
October 12
paper:
Vol 86, No.
45
Group aims to bolster protest
By Randall
Rigsbee
Since April,
a small group has assembled once a month at Pittsboro’s traffic
circle with the aim of bringing attention to their concerns about
the safety of the nearby Shearon Harris nuclear power plant.
You could say
it is very much a personal cause for organizer Audrey Schwankl, who
has led the modest-sized group in their monthly vigil to bring
attention to a number of issues related to Progress Energy’s Shearon
Harris plant in New Hill.
Among their
concerns are proper fire protection at the facility and Progress
Energy‘s plan to build two additional reactors at the Harris site in
eastern Wake County near the Chatham County line.
It’s personal
cause for Schwankl because the group, which numbers less than a
dozen, which gathers each month is comprised of Schwankl’s family
and friends.
more- See Thursday,
October 12
paper:
Vol 86, No.
45 |
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Incentives
hearing is Monday
By Randall
Rigsbee
Next week,
Chatham County residents will have an opportunity to voice their
opinions on whether the county should offer nearly $3 million to ISP
Minerals Inc. as an economic incentive to build a plant near Siler
City.
The Chatham
County Board of Commissioners will conduct an Oct. 16 public hearing
on the proposed incentive Monday, Oct. 16 in the District Courtroom
in Pittsboro. The meeting begins at 6 p.m.
The incentive
proposal has already gotten a thumbs up from the Chatham County
Economic Development Commission (EDC) which voted at a September 12
meeting, to recommend the county offer ISP the incentive.
The county is
considering a proposal to offer the Maryland-based rock mining
company $525,360 annually over the next five years.
ISP Minerals
is considering a location near Siler City as the site of a
1,076-acre quarry in Siler City’s extraterritorial zoning
jurisdiction.
more- See Thursday,
October 12
paper:
Vol 86, No.
45 |
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