Golf carts pop as blaze hits country club.Byline: SUSAN PALMER The Register-Guard SPRINGFIELD - A fire tore through a storage shed Monday at the Springfield Country Club, destroying more than 100 riding carts and setting off a series of explosions as the flames detonated gas tanks and propane propane, CH3CH2CH3, colorless, gaseous alkane. It is readily liquefied by compression and cooling. It melts at −189.9°C; and boils at −42.2°C;. tanks on the carts. The fire demolished the wood-sided building and sent flames shooting through windows and doors as golfers watched from the nearby clubhouse and parking lot. The greatest danger was from a 750-gallon fuel tank next to the building, but firefighters doused it with water and foam to keep it from exploding, Springfield Fire Department spokesman Mark Walker said. The fire apparently began just after 11 a.m. when club members noticed smoke billowing bil·low n. 1. A large wave or swell of water. 2. A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound. v. bil·lowed, bil·low·ing, bil·lows v.intr. 1. out of the large shed, accompanied by loud explosions. The shed sits southeast of the private club's main building, nestled among the fairways and putting greens. Club member and pro shop part-timer Palmer Pitkin, 77, was hitting balls just south of the building on the chilly but sunny morning when he heard the first big bang big bang Model of the origin of the universe, which holds that it emerged from a state of extremely high temperature and density in an explosive expansion 10 billion–15 billion years ago. . "It sounded like a dang cannon going off to me," Pitkin said. Despite the smoke, he went into the dirt-floored shed and got two golf carts out before another explosion blew soot all over him. "I got out of there in a hurry. It really scared me," he said. "I couldn't believe how fast it went," Pitkin said. Within about 25 minutes, the shed's metal roof had collapsed. Fire engines from the Mohawk Valley The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is a suburban and rural area surrounding the industrialized cities of Utica and Rome, along with other smaller commercial centers. Fire District were on the scene about six minutes after the first call came in, but the building was burning fiercely by the time they arrived, Walker said. Even golf carts parked behind the shed burned. Trucks, engines and water tankers from the McKenzie River For rivers name "Mackenzie", see . The McKenzie River is a tributary of the Willamette River, 86 miles (138 km) long, in northwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains part of the Cascade Range east of Eugene into the southernmost end of the Willamette Valley. Fire District and Springfield Fire Department also responded. In all, 21 firefighters battled the blaze. One firefighter narrowly missed being hit by a fire extinguisher fire extinguisher: see fire fighting. that exploded through a shed wall. "It's just an on-the-job hazard," Walker said. Firefighters had the flames under control just before noon, but crews remained throughout the day, dousing hot spots hot spots acute moist dermatitis. and pulling unexploded propane tanks out of the smoldering smol·der also smoul·der intr.v. smol·dered, smol·der·ing, smol·ders 1. To burn with little smoke and no flame. 2. wreckage. The club, which owns 30 golf carts, lost 25 in the fire, and club members lost 115 carts, said golf course general manager Ed Lackington. The carts are worth between $700 and $5,000 each. Some carts are electric, but others are powered by gas and many have small propane heaters on board - the cause of the continuous explosions during the fire, fire officials said. While some members had insured their golf carts, not all of them were - and Lackington was among those whose uninsured cart was destroyed. The building itself was insured, he said. The replacement cost was estimated at between $100,000 and $150,000, he said. It was lucky that few people were around when the fire began, Lackington added. January is a slow time and the club doesn't open until 11 a.m. on Mondays, he said Officials don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what caused the fire. The state fire marshal fire marshal n. 1. The head of a department or office that is charged with the prevention and investigation of fires. 2. A person in charge of firefighting personnel and equipment at an industrial plant. Noun 1. is investigating. CAPTION(S): Firefighters use one of the rescued golf carts to return to their fire engine after the fire was put out. Fuel tanks on some carts exploded during the fire. |
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