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© St. Petersburg Times, published December 29, 2002
Fog causes 71-car pileup in Houston
HOUSTON -- Dense fog contributed to a fiery chain-reaction crash Saturday involving 71 cars, vans and trucks on the Sam Houston Tollway. Police said 21 people were injured, five seriously.
The pileup started just before 7 a.m. on the four-lane highway.
"It was kind of a wall of fog," said Mike Young, 45, who was driving to work. He said he climbed out of his sport-utility vehicle to safety while hearing crash after crash.
"When everyone was getting out, you could smell the gas and knew there would be a problem," Young said.
The wreckage prevented firefighters from reaching the blazing vehicles, said Kenneth Fontenot, whose SUV was destroyed.
Roger Ealey said he dove out of his car when he saw it was about to ram a pickup that had no lights. He suffered minor injuries and his car became lodged under the pickup.
Capt. Ray Valenta of the Harris County Constable's Office said 36 cars wrecked in the westbound lanes and 35 wrecked in the eastbound lanes.
DeWITT, Neb. -- A crash that killed a 24-year-old mother turned into a frantic search for her 16-month-old son, who had wandered from the scene in freezing weather. The boy was found in a field about 45 minutes later and was released from a hospital Saturday.
Saline County sheriff's Deputy Kevin Vogel saw an overturned sport utility vehicle in a ditch south of DeWitt Thursday night. The driver, Paige Blair of Lincoln, had been ejected and was found lying near the vehicle.
Her 6-year-old son, Tyler Suits, was found walking near the scene, but 16-month-old Aaron Blair was missing. Aaron was found during a search by police from several jurisdictions, state police and second-shift workers from the nearby American Tool Co.
Temperatures had dropped to 10 degrees in the area, according to the National Weather Service.
Tyler was treated at a Beatrice hospital and released, the Sheriff's Office said. Aaron was released Saturday from Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, a nursing supervisor said.
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- Fire spread through the top floor of a small residential hotel in the early morning darkness Saturday, killing four people and injuring 18 as firefighters pulled dozens more to safety.
When firefighters reached the Sunset Hotel just before 1 a.m., several people were hanging from the upper floor windows, fire officials said.
Firefighters used ladders to reach more than 30 people, including a 2-month-old infant, but others were trapped inside, and much of the third floor was engulfed in flames.
The hotel's night manager died after grabbing a fire extinguisher and taking an elevator to the third floor, fire officials said. He and three others were later found dead.
SAN DIEGO -- A county employee was fired for allegedly planning to sell crime scene photographs connected to the murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, according to a Civil Service Commission report.
A spokesman for the District Attorney's Office said prosecutors are deciding whether to file criminal charges.
Esteban Zemacki, a drafter for the Public Works Department, allegedly approached an employee in the county's photo laboratory with a plan to sell the pictures to the media and post them on the Internet, the report said.
Attorney Veronica Aguilar said Friday that Zemacki was joking and never intended to sell the pictures.
Danielle was kidnapped from her Sabre Springs bedroom last February and found dead weeks later.
2 KILLED IN BAR FIGHT: A bar fight over a pool game erupted into shooting that left two men dead and three wounded in Gibraltar, Mich., a small town south of Detroit, police said Saturday.
STORM LEAVES THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER: More than 300,000 homes and businesses were without power at the height of a storm that whipped the coasts of Washington and Oregon Friday, and nearly 30,000 remained without power Saturday morning.
Cody Allen Brown, 10, died Friday when he became tangled in a downed 7,200-volt power line near his home outside Olympia.
WOODEN TOY VEHICLES: Red, with candy, sold at Kmart. Cause: Wheels might break off. Action: Return to store for refund. Call: 1-800-635-6278. On the Web: www.kmart.com.
PROPANE-POWERED CAMPING STOVES: Century Tool and Manufacturing Co.'s Century, Hillary and LL Bean brands. Cause: Burner assembly can restrict the flow of gas. Injuries reported: one. Action: Call company for replacement. Call: 1-800-435-4525. On the Web: www.centurytoolmfg.com.
SUBWOOFER SPEAKERS: Madrical Audio Laboratories Inc.'s 1000-watt Revel B-15. Cause: Screw can cause a high voltage short. Action: Call company for free repair. Call: 1-800-424-8043. On the Web: www.revelspeakers.com.