11-12-2024  10:30 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

In Portland, Political Outsider Keith Wilson Elected Mayor After Homelessness-focused Race

Wilson, a Portland native and CEO of a trucking company, ran on an ambitious pledge to end unsheltered homelessness within a year of taking office.

‘Black Friday’ Screening Honors Black Portlanders, Encourages Sense of Belonging

The second annual event will be held Nov. 8 at the Hollywood Theatre.

Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson Wins Governor’s Race in Washington

Ferguson came to national prominence by repeatedly suing the administration of former President Donald Trump, including bringing the lawsuit that blocked Trump’s initial travel ban on citizens of several majority Muslim nations. 

African American Alliance On Homeownership Turns 25, Honors The Skanner Cofounder Bernie Foster

AAAH's executive director Cheryl Roberts recalls how the efforts of Bernie Foster led to an organization that now offers one-on-one counseling for prospective home buyers, homebuyer education, foreclosure prevention services, estate planning, assistance with down payments and more.

NEWS BRIEFS

Janelle Bynum Statement on Her Victory in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District

"I am proud to be the first – but not the last – Black Member of Congress from Oregon" ...

Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11: Honoring a Legacy of Loyalty and Service and Expanding Benefits for Washington Veterans

Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) is pleased to share the Veterans Day Proclamation and highlight the various...

Nkenge Harmon Johnson honored with PCUN’s Cipriano Ferrel Award

Harmon Johnson recognized for civil rights work in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest ...

Volunteers of America Oregon Announces Retirement CEO, Kay Toran

Toran's tenure at VOA Oregon is marked by decades of dedicated public service in the State of Oregon and unwavering commitment to...

Family of security guard shot and killed at Portland, Oregon, hospital sues facility for M

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The family of a security guard who was shot and killed at a hospital in Portland, Oregon, sued the facility for million on Tuesday, accusing it of negligence and failing to respond to the dangers that the gunman posed to hospital staff over multiple days. ...

Ex-Duke star Kyle Singler draws concern from basketball world over cryptic Instagram post

Former Duke star Kyle Singler’s cryptic Instagram post saying he fears for his life has drawn an outpouring of concern and support from former teammates and others. Singler, 36, spoke slowly and was shirtless in the short video, which was posted Tuesday morning. “I...

Grill makes 8 3s, scores career-high 33 points to lead Missouri over Eastern Washington 84-77

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Caleb Grill matched a career best with eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points to lead Missouri to an 84-77 victory over Eastern Washington on Monday night. Grill, who missed Missouri's final 23 games last season with a wrist injury, shot 10 of 13...

Missouri hosts Eastern Washington following Cook's 25-point game

Eastern Washington Eagles (1-1) at Missouri Tigers (1-1) Columbia, Missouri; Monday, 7 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -18.5; over/under is 155.5 BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Washington visits Missouri after Andrew Cook scored 25 points in Eastern...

OPINION

Why Not Voting Could Deprioritize Black Communities

President Biden’s Justice40 initiative ensures that 40% of federal investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities, addressing deep-seated inequities. ...

The Skanner News 2024 Presidential Endorsement

It will come as no surprise that we strongly endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president. ...

Black Retirees Growing Older and Poorer: 2025 Social Security COLA lowest in 10 years

As Americans live longer, the ability to remain financially independent is an ongoing struggle. Especially for Black and other people of color whose lifetime incomes are often lower than that of other contemporaries, finding money to save for ‘old age’ is...

The Skanner Endorsements: Oregon State and Local Ballot Measures

Ballots are now being mailed out for this very important election. Election Day is November 5. Ballots must be received or mailed with a valid postmark by 8 p.m. Election Day. View The Skanner's ballot measure endorsements. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Chinese hackers target Tibetan websites in malware attack, cybersecurity group says

BANGKOK (AP) — A hacking group that is believed to be Chinese state-sponsored has compromised two websites with ties to the Tibetan community in an attack meant to install malware on users' computers, according to findings released Wednesday by a private cybersecurity firm. The...

French farmers protest EU-Mercosur deal that will increase South American imports

PARIS (AP) — French farmers protested Tuesday against a trade deal that would increase agricultural imports from South America, saying it hurt their livelihoods. The European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc, composed of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, reached an...

Panel advises Illinois commemorate its role in helping slaves escape the South

In the decades leading up to the Civil War, fearless throngs defied prison or worse to secretly shuttle as many as 7,000 slaves escaped from the South on a months-long slog through Illinois and on to freedom. On Tuesday, a task force of lawmakers and historians recommended creating a full-time...

ENTERTAINMENT

Movie Review: In Andrea Arnold's 'Bird,' a gritty fairy tale doesn't take flight

“Is it too real for ya?” blares in the background of Andrea Arnold’s latest film, “Bird,” a 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) rides with her shirtless, tattoo-covered dad, Bug (Barry Keoghan), on his electric scooter past scenes of poverty in working-class Kent. The song’s...

After 20 years of acting, ‘My Old Ass’ filmmaker Megan Park finds her groove behind the camera

Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs. She didn’t set out to make a tearjerker with “My Old Ass,” now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young...

At an art festival in Dakar, artists from both sides of the Atlantic examine the legacy of slavery

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A whirlwind of color and art at the opening of this year's Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Art in the Senegalese capital stood in stark contrast to the serious topic of slavery featuring in the artworks of guest artists from the United States. The U.S....

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

US inflation may have picked up in October after months of easing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Annual inflation may have risen in October for the first time in seven months, a sign that...

Speaker Johnson begins fight for the House gavel promising to be Trump's 'quarterback'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Mike Johnson is beginning the hard fight for his gavel, a weeks-long campaign that...

Senate Republicans are gathering behind closed doors to pick a new majority leader

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators will gather behind closed doors Wednesday to decide who will replace...

Amsterdam warns of new calls for unrest after violence around Israeli soccer match

AMSTERDAM (AP) — A senior police officer warned Tuesday of calls for more rioting in Amsterdam, after dozens of...

Allies providing Sudan's warring parties with weapons are 'enabling the slaughter,' UN official says

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. political chief accused allies of Sudan’s warring military and paramilitary...

Church of England head Justin Welby resigns over handling of sex abuse scandal

LONDON (AP) — Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the...

Holly Yan CNN

(CNN) -- They were part of an elite squad who confronted wildfires up close, setting up barriers to stop the spreading destruction.

But the inferno blazing across central Arizona proved too much, even for the shelters the 19 firefighters carried as a last-ditch survival tool.


The firefighters were killed Sunday while fighting the Yarnell Hill fire, northwest of Phoenix. Among them was Eric Marsh, superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, according this father, John Marsh.

It was the deadliest day for firefighters since the 9/11 attacks. And it is the deadliest wildland fire since 1933, according to a list from the U.S. National Wildfire Coordinating Group. Twenty-five firefighters died when a blaze burned in light chaparral near Griffith Park, California.

"Our entire crew was lost," Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo told reporters Sunday night. "We just lost 19 of some of the finest people you'll ever meet. Right now, we're in crisis."

The tragedy killed about 20% of the Prescott Fire Department. Fraijo said one member of the team was not with the other crew members and survived.

Authorities have information that during the blaze, the firefighters deployed their fire shelters, a sort of aluminum blanket that protects against the flames and heat.

The shelters must be timed well. Set it up too soon, and the heat inside the shelter can become suffocating. Deploy it too late, and the fire is already on top of you.

Wearing gloves, a firefighter will lay on the ground under the shelter, the ground being the only thing keeping the firefighter cool. The shelter will block 100% of the heat from flames and hot gases and 95% of the radiant heat from the flames themselves.

Authorities believe lightning sparked the Yarnell Hill fire on Friday. By Sunday night, it had scorched more than 6,000 acres and destroyed more than 100 structures, incident commander Mike Reichling said.

Billows of thick black smoke covered the sky as the giant flames leaped from one stretch of parched land to another.

The wildfire also forced evacuations in Peeples Valley and Yarnell, but no civilian injuries were reported.

Drivers fleeing the area were chased by dark plumes filling the air. Some evacuees paused to look from afar, wondering if the flames had torched their homes.

'The elite firefighters'

The blaze hadn't touched Prescott yet. But like many other fire departments across the state, the Prescott team jumped in to help.

The firefighters were members of a "hotshot" crew, tasked with digging a firebreak and creating an escape route.

"A hotshot crew are the elite firefighters," state forestry spokesman Art Morrison said. "They're usually (a) 20-person crew, and they're the ones who actually go in and dig the fire line, cut the brush to make a fuel break. And so they would be as close to the fire as they felt they safely could."

"In normal circumstances, when you're digging fire line, you make sure you have a good escape route, and you have a safety zone set up," Morrison said. "Evidently, their safety zone wasn't big enough, and the fire just overtook them."

Fraijo, the fire chief, said he did not know the exact circumstances surrounding the firefighters' deaths and wouldn't speculate on a cause. But he said drought conditions, combined with winds that whipped unpredictably, have made battling the flames especially difficult.

'They were heroes'

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urged residents in the area to heed local authorities' instructions, while lamenting the loss of so many firefighters.

"Today, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the nineteen firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty," she said in a written statement. "As thousands of their colleagues continue to fight wildfires across Arizona and the West, the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA are working closely with our federal partners including the Forest Service and the Department of Interior, to support state and local efforts."

President Barack Obama also lauded the efforts of the fallen firefighters, saying their deaths are heartbreaking and "our thoughts and prayers go out" to their families. His administration stands ready to help in any way necessary, he said.

"They were heroes -- highly skilled professionals who, like so many across our country do every day, selflessly put themselves in harm's way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens they would never meet," he said in an earlier statement.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who will visit Prescott on Monday, said the loss marked "as dark a day as I can remember."

"It may be days or longer before an investigation reveals how this tragedy occurred, but the essence we already know in our hearts: fighting fires is dangerous work," she said.

"When a tragedy like this strikes, all we can do is offer our eternal gratitude to the fallen, and prayers for the families and friends left behind."

Fraijo said the firefighters who died were exceptionally dedicated to their jobs.

"These are the guys that will go out there with 40, 50 pounds of equipment and walk five miles. They'll sleep out there as they try to develop fire lines" to protect homes, Fraijo said.

Before the 19 deaths in Arizona, 43 firefighters had been killed so far in 2013, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. A total of 83 firefighters died last year while on duty.

A Facebook page in memory of the Arizona firefighters garnered more than 120,000 "likes" in less than 10 hours.

"Such a tragic loss," one person wrote. "My heart aches for these brave souls, and for their families and friends."

CNN's Janet DiGiacomo, Ric Ward, Dave Alsup, Marlena Baldacci, Indra Petersons, Kerry Rubin and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.

™ & © 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

 

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