Fire

Posted on September 10, 2010 by .
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As I waited for my bus this morning in Santa Cruz, I watched five CalFire trucks pull into the Starbucks parking lot behind me. They were returning from working overnight in San Bruno about 60 miles away, where a two foot gas pipeline built in 1948 exploded and obliterated an entire neighborhood. Fire departments, CalFire units, police, paramedics and medical personnel from all around the SF Bay Area and beyond responded.


Walkabout- San Bruno #11

Walkabout- San Bruno #5

The people I know who live in San Bruno tweeted that they’re fine, although they live only blocks from the conflagration.

Out in Boulder, Colorado, meanwhile, the Fourmile Canyon Fire continues to smolder. The Buffalo Bicycle Classic — a major fundraiser for CU’s College of Arts and Sciences — has been canceled because the ride would impede emergency vehicle access from Boulder Rez, where firefighters are staged for the firefight. Ride organizers are also concerned about air quality for the riders.


Burning Foothills Above Boulder Fourmile Wildfire Panorama

Mikael @ Copenhagenize got a chance to test ride that new Puma Mopion cargo bike.

Texans petition against bike bans.

Reno, NV: New bike lanes show emerging partnership between cyclists and the city.

An example of what Tom V calls the “accidental journalist”: Infiniti SUV driver makes a left turn across an intersection into the path of a cyclist, killing the cyclist. The news article description of this collision? “The southbound bicyclist entered the intersection in front of the Infiniti and was struck.” Chicago Bicycle Advocate

Good asks “What’s the Best Side Effect of Using Human-Powered Transportation?” and received several good responses.

A different kind of hobby horse.

Photo credits: San Bruno / Lee Huai Tu. Boulder / Bo Isogna Striking Photography.



See also:

  1. Santa Cruz fire
  2. Bicycle on fire
  3. Santa Cruz fire evacuations
  4. Assistant Fire Chief Larry Conklin


  • http://justanothercyclist.com/ JustAnotherCyclist

    Big kudos to all of the emergency personnel for their hard work!

  • Myob1776

    Re the accident in Chicago – if you look at the map of the intersection, you see that it’s made up of three streets, two of which — Irving Park Road and Forest Preserve Ave — run generally east-west, and the third of which — N. Octavia — runs north-south. According to the article, the driver was turning from one west-bound street to another and struck the south-bound cyclist. This suggests the cyclist was heading south on Octavia, since the other two streets run east-west.

    If Google Maps is to be believed, Octavia is one-way heading north at that point, so a southbound cyclist (as the article reports the victim was) would have been riding against traffic if he was southbound on Octavia.

    While that doesn’t necessarily excuse the driver, if the cyclist was riding against traffic on a one-way street it serves as a reminder to all of us that if we’re going to choose to ignore traffic laws we have to be extra careful when doing so. Especially when entering a busy three-way intersection.

  • Myob1776

    Re the accident in Chicago – if you look at the map of the intersection, you see that it’s made up of three streets, two of which — Irving Park Road and Forest Preserve Ave — run generally east-west, and the third of which — N. Octavia — runs north-south. According to the article, the driver was turning from one west-bound street to another and struck the south-bound cyclist. This suggests the cyclist was heading south on Octavia, since the other two streets run east-west.

    If Google Maps is to be believed, Octavia is one-way heading north at that point, so a southbound cyclist (as the article reports the victim was) would have been riding against traffic if he was southbound on Octavia.

    While that doesn’t necessarily excuse the driver, if the cyclist was riding against traffic on a one-way street it serves as a reminder to all of us that if we’re going to choose to ignore traffic laws we have to be extra careful when doing so. Especially when entering a busy three-way intersection.

  • http://www.cyclelicio.us/ Cyclelicious

    Ah, thanks for looking into this Myob. You’re right — wrong way riding = danger.