The Riverside Fire Department hazardous materials team is at the Hampton Inn on Riverwalk Parkway. I’m trying to find out what’s happening.
Battalion Chief Tony Perna told me an employee checking a room found a black and white powdery substance in a baggie under a dresser. He opened it up and became dizzy. He went downstairs and collapsed. He was hospitalized.
A hazmat team is preparing to suit up and enter the hotel.
These are decontamination pools for when firefighters emerge from the hotel. They’ll get hosed down.
A hazmat crew member is suiting up.
It appears the hotel is still open. Two Cal Fire hand crews just marched in for some rest.
These hazmat suits aren’t very easy to put on.
Six firefighters have suited up. That’s two to enter the room, two to rescue them if needed and two to decontaminate them when they come out, Battalion Chief Tony Perna told me.
Now doing the debriefing before entering.
There’s a lot of methodical safety preparation before anyone goes in.
And they’re entering the hotel.
I’ll leave this as a cliffhanger and watch for the Fire Department news release. Hopefully a safe outcome.
A quick update: Firefighters were unable to find any powdery substance, and upon further questioning, the man's story seemed to change, Perna told me. He did have a real medical emergency.
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I am at a “March for Equality” on Imperial Highway in Yorba Linda. There are lots of counter protesters here who have already weighed in. Watch for a story at OCRegister.com
This speaker said the protest is about community empowerment and systemic change. She said they came to Yorba Linda because “They hide in their little cubbies ... and act like nothing is happening,” which I presume to mean racism in Orange County.
I am at The Rock Church in San Bernardino, where preparations are being made for the 11 a.m. memorial service for U.S. Forest Service Big Bear Hotshots crew boss Charles Morton.
Only invited guests are being allowed inside the church, but there is seating outside - chairs about 6 feet apart - and a viewing screen outside.
The Forest Service tells me that the outdoor seating is for invited guests only as well. The service will be live streamed on the church website and the San Bernardino National Forest Facebook page.
I am at the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office awaiting the arrival of the procession with the firefighter who died at the El Dorado fire. A bagpipe player is practicing.
There are a lot of areas along Lena Road to view the procession, which has begun in the mountains.
More firefighters are arriving to honor the firefighter who died.
I am on Carlson Avenue in Redlands, where overnight two people were shot to death and one was critically wounded. Crime scene technicians are here. I’m looking for witnesses.
I spoke to a neighbor who described the deceased woman as kind and private, someone who walked to the store and always wore a mask.
The homes in the neighborhood here at Sun Street and Carlson Avenue are identical. Single-story duplexes with white security screen doors that you can’t see into but can see out of.
There is a larger plume of smoke Wednesday at the Apple fire that was attributed to flames reaching an area with denser vegetation. Its East flank is still burning into the San Gorgonio Wilderness.