Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
Open door caused fishing trawler to sink
SEATTLE >> Simply keeping a back door closed would likely have saved the fishing trawler Arctic Rose, which sank in the Bering Sea nearly three years ago, killing all 15 people on board, a U.S. Coast Guard report concluded yesterday.But the ill-trained, inexperienced crew frequently tied the door open to let some fresh air into the boat's fish-processing area, investigators said.
Most likely, that door was open early on the morning of April 2, 2001, and 20-foot waves began crashing through it. The water flowed through another open door into the galley, then down another hatch into the engine room, and within about four minutes the Arctic Rose was gone -- the worst U.S. fishing disaster in 50 years.
The Coast Guard report, which followed an investigation of more than two years, made numerous recommendations for trying to prevent similar accidents in the future. Among them was the suggestion that all fishing vessels be equipped with sensors that would alert pilots when weather-tight doors are ajar.
The ship had been trawling for sole in the Bering Sea, about 775 miles southwest of Anchorage. No mayday was heard, and only one body, that of the skipper, David Rundall, 34, of Hilo, was recovered.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staff
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Firemen swept out water used yesterday to put out the fire that started in a one-bedroom apartment at 1013 Prospect St. in Makiki. No one was injured in the blaze.
HONOLULU
Red Cross helps 3 left homeless after Makiki fire
Three residents were displaced after a fire destroyed their one-bedroom apartment in Makiki yesterday.Firefighters responded to a fire at 1013 Prospect St., Apartment 314, about 9:40 a.m. and had the blaze under control at 9:56 a.m.
No one was home at the time of the fire, said fire Capt. Kenison Tejada adding that some nearby residents evacuated their homes at the time of the fire.
Investigators determined the fire was caused by an electrical component in the living room.
Damage to the apartment and its contents was estimated at $130,000. The American Red Cross is assisting three residents -- two men and one woman -- with living arrangements and necessities.
90-foot-tall tree falls and damages truck
A 90-foot-tall eucalyptus tree fell near 1830 Wilikina Drive yesterday, taking down a power line, damaging a truck and pulling two 30-foot trees down with it.At the scene yesterday afternoon, fire crews worked to move the trees, two of which had fallen over an entrance to an apartment building and one that had fallen onto a nearby parking lot.
Hawaiian Electric Co. spokesman Jose Dizon said only a few households were affected by the cut power line, which was later restored.
A Honolulu Fire Department official said the tree may have fallen because of heavy rains earlier this month. The tree was on a slight incline, he said.
He said a fairly new Toyota Tacoma was damaged when the eucalyptus tree fell and one of its large branches hit the truck bed. No injuries were reported.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
