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EDM Monday Briefing: Nine People Stabbed at Boise Birthday Party, Bus Plunges into Gorge

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Start a Emergency & Disaster Management degree at American Military University.

By Kim Arsenault
Contributor, EDM Digest

Emergency and disaster management briefing for July 2, 2018: A child’s birthday party in Boise, Idaho turned violent when a man stabbed nine people — including six children; a rapidly moving wildfire that broke out Saturday has forced evacuations in Yolo County, California; 48 people are dead after an overcrowded bus plunged into a gorge in India; rescuers were able to advance through a narrow channel in the search for 12 missing boys and their coach in a cave system in Thailand; an illegal immigrant has been arrested in conjunction with the uncontrolled Spring Creek wildfire in Colorado; and commuters in New York have begun bracing for the shutdown of the L-train to repair the Canarsie Tunnel from superstorm Sandy damages.

1. A young child’s birthday party in Boise, Idaho turned violent when a man entered an apartment complex on Saturday evening and stabbed a total of nine people, some of them critically. Authorities stated that suspect Timmy Kinner, 30, chased and stabbed a total of 6 children. The victims included the three-year-old birthday girl and five others, whose ages ranged from 4 to 12, along with three other people, some of whom sustained life-threatening or life-altering wounds. Kinner was found a short time later and arrested, and police recovered what they believe was the knife used in the stabbing from a nearby canal.

2. Evacuations were ordered in Yolo County, California after a wildfire broke out on Saturday. The fire swiftly spread amid a Red Flag Warning, threatening more than 100 structures. As of Sunday night, the wildfire had grown to 32,500 acres, was only 2 percent contained and was producing a stream of smoke that made its way some 75 miles south into the San Francisco Bay Area. Officials noted that unpredictable, strong and gusty winds, low humidity levels, and high temperatures were creating critical fire weather behaviors. More than 1,000 firefighters endured triple-digit temperatures while they worked to contain the blaze.

3. An overcrowded bus plunged into a gorge in India, killing at least 48 people and injuring about a dozen more, some critically. The 28-seat bus was carrying about 60 people when it careened over the edge, likely due to bad weather and possibly poor road conditions due to a landslide in the area earlier in the week. The incident occurred in northern India, and officials noted that the rescue operation was hindered by inclement weather, inhospitable terrain conditions, and poor communications.

4. Progress has been made in the search for 12 boys and their soccer coach who have been missing for nine days in a cave system in Thailand. On Sunday, waters receded somewhat from a narrow channel, allowing advancing rescuers to set up operations in Chamber 3. Rescuers are getting closer to the area where they think the boys and their coach went to escape the rising water — a cave on higher ground known as Pattaya Beach. The boys are believed to have become trapped inside the cave system last Saturday by rising water that flooded portions of the caves and its channels, cutting off their escape.

5. Officials in Colorado have arrested an illegal immigrant in connection with the Spring Creek wildfire that began Wednesday. The fire  has destroyed homes and structures and consumed more than 41,000 acres in the southern part of the state. The wildfire, which officials state was human-caused, forced mandatory evacuations, spread rapidly, and remains at zero percent containment. Weather conditions, including high temperatures, dry vegetation, and steady winds, have helped fuel the fire. The fire has spread so quickly that firefighters have not been able to tally the number of and damages to homes and structures.

6. Commuters in New York are bracing for the shutdown of the L-train while repairs are made on the Canarsie Tunnel under the East River. The L-train is scheduled to shut down in April 2019 so that repairs can be made on the infrastructure that was damaged by superstorm Sandy’s storm surge, which flooded the tunnel with millions of gallons of salt water. The shutdown is scheduled to last for 15 months. Repairs to be completed include replacing myriad electrical cables for communications, signals, emergency alarms, and power; the Circuit Breaker Houses (CBH); replacement of the train tracks;, and the demolition and replacement of the duct banks — the protective concrete housing for all the electrical cables.

Kimberly Arsenault serves as an intern at the Cleveland/Bradley County Emergency Management Agency where she works on plan revisions and special projects. Previously, Kimberly spent 15 years in commercial and business aviation. Her positions included station manager at the former Midwest Express Airlines, as well as corporate flight attendant, inflight manager, and charter flight coordinator. Kimberly currently holds a master's degree in emergency and disaster management from American Public University.

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