Fire 1996

Updated 3 p.m. Twenty-two years ago, a giant tire fire ravaged a Port Richmond block. The aftermath included prison time and a several-month shutdown of four miles along I-95. For those who weren’t around back then — and those who remember it all too clearly — here’s a recap of what went down in the Great Tire Fire of 1996. ‘At least’ 10,000 tires stored illegally On March 13 of that year, New York Times, which called the incident “suspicious” from the get-go, the blaze then spread to three adjacent buildings owned by thePhiladelphia Tire Disposal Company.It burned for five hours, sent up smoke plumes eight alarms before the 180 firefighters called in managed to bring it under control. “We know there were at least 10,000 tires there, and that’s a low estimate,” Capt. Henry Dolberry, then-assistant to the Philadelphia Fire Commissioner, told NYT. I remember when a tire fire collapsed a part of I-95 in philly many years ago. Scary that a fire can burn that hot to do this— commonsense (@commonsense258) And when the highway finally reopened for that Thursday for the morning rush hour, it was only operating at half capacity. Philadelphia Inquirer instructed motorists to “ Arson is not the easy way out, folks As for the cause of the fire: right away, officials suspected arson. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office sprang into action to investigate. Turns out, officials were right in their suspicions. Apparently a couple of dudes from Quakertown had a big stockpile of tires...

Twenty years ago this week, 90,000 barrels of whiskey aging at Heaven Hill Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, were lost in a massive and tragic fire that, when looking It was a $30 million hit for the brand ($8 million in lost bourbon, $22 million in ruined facilities), but no lives were lost nor injuries suffered in the conflagration. Since the tragedy occurred in 1996, when bourbon’s rebound was just beginning, it’s likely few American whiskey fans outside of Kentucky recall the disaster. But had a fire happened now, when bourbon is booming beyond anyone’s expectations, the market impact would be staggering, and Heaven Hill’s whiskey stocks wouldn’t rebound for years. “The industry came to our rescue, if you will,” says Max Shapira, president of Heaven Hill. His face softens at the memory as he recalls his Kentucky bourbon peers stepping up to contract distill the family-owned company’s products. “But the times were different,” Shapira resumes, adding that distillers were able to help out because their plants were underutilized. “If something like that happened today to anybody in the industry, there wouldn’t be enough production capacity to be of any help, or enough (excess) inventory to be of any assistance.” Fire in the Sky The change from fall to winter in Kentucky can arrive with manic temperature swings and severe storms. That describes the weather on the afternoon of Nov. 7, 1996, when thunderstorms rolled through Bardstown packing 75 mph wind gusts, torrential ra...

The following review of Deepa Mehta's 1996 film Fire was originally published in Sinhalese in Kamkaru Mawatha , the newspaper of the Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka, on May 29 and June 12, 1998. The internationally acclaimed film, which was released uncut in India, played for three weeks before Hindu fundamentalist formations denounced it as obscene, immoral and offensive to Indian culture and the Hindu religion, and attempted to have it banned. The extreme right-wing Shiv Sena movement organised demonstrations, forcing the closure of several Bombay and New Delhi cinemas. It issued a statement declaring: “If women's physical needs are fulfilled through lesbian acts, the institution of marriage will collapse and the reproduction of human beings will stop.” Members of the organisation stormed cinemas, tearing down posters and smashing windows. Demonstrations were organised outside the home of one of the film's stars. Protesters threatened two actors and a director who publicly defended the film. Mehta also received a number of death threats. The film was withdrawn from cinemas, pending another censorship review, but later re-released uncut. Extreme-right wing elements are still trying to have the film banned. Fire was the first of a trilogy of films by Mehta set in India. Earth , the second in the series, was released in 1998 and the third, Water , was due to begin shooting in Uttar Pradesh early this year. In late January Hindu fundamentalists wrecked her set in Varan...

The pilot of a rescue copter, Captain Karen Walden, died shortly before her helicopter crew was rescued after it crashed in Desert Storm. It first appears that she made a spectacular rescue of a downed helicopter crew, then held her own crew together to fight off the Iraqis after her copter crashed. Lt. Colonel Serling, who is struggling with his own demons from Desert Storm, is assigned to investigate her worthiness for the Medal of Honor. But some conflicting accounts, from her crew and soldiers in the area, cause him to question whether she deserves it. — • Two fictional combat stories come together in this film set during the Gulf War (Aug. 1990-Feb. 1991) and afterwards. LCol Nat Serling is haunted by a mistake he made that cost the lives of a friend and his tank crew. He investigates the recommended Medal of Honor for Capt. Karen Walden, who was killed after her rescue helicopter was shot down. Conflicting reports lead him to probe deeper to uncover the truth about Walden and all of her crew, who survived. In the process, he comes to grips with his own demons. — • Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling (Denzel Washington) was involved in a friendly fire incident in Al Bathra during the Gulf War. He was an M1 Abrams tank battalion commander who, during the nighttime confusion of Iraqi tanks infiltrating his unit's lines, gave the order to fire, destroying one of his own tanks and killing his friend Lieutenant Boylar. The details were covered up (Boylar's parents wer...

The pilot of a rescue copter, Captain Karen Walden, died shortly before her helicopter crew was rescued after it crashed in Desert Storm. It first appears that she made a spectacular rescue of a downed helicopter crew, then held her own crew together to fight off the Iraqis after her copter crashed. Lt. Colonel Serling, who is struggling with his own demons from Desert Storm, is assigned to investigate her worthiness for the Medal of Honor. But some conflicting accounts, from her crew and soldiers in the area, cause him to question whether she deserves it. — • Two fictional combat stories come together in this film set during the Gulf War (Aug. 1990-Feb. 1991) and afterwards. LCol Nat Serling is haunted by a mistake he made that cost the lives of a friend and his tank crew. He investigates the recommended Medal of Honor for Capt. Karen Walden, who was killed after her rescue helicopter was shot down. Conflicting reports lead him to probe deeper to uncover the truth about Walden and all of her crew, who survived. In the process, he comes to grips with his own demons. — • Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling (Denzel Washington) was involved in a friendly fire incident in Al Bathra during the Gulf War. He was an M1 Abrams tank battalion commander who, during the nighttime confusion of Iraqi tanks infiltrating his unit's lines, gave the order to fire, destroying one of his own tanks and killing his friend Lieutenant Boylar. The details were covered up (Boylar's parents wer...

The following review of Deepa Mehta's 1996 film Fire was originally published in Sinhalese in Kamkaru Mawatha , the newspaper of the Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka, on May 29 and June 12, 1998. The internationally acclaimed film, which was released uncut in India, played for three weeks before Hindu fundamentalist formations denounced it as obscene, immoral and offensive to Indian culture and the Hindu religion, and attempted to have it banned. The extreme right-wing Shiv Sena movement organised demonstrations, forcing the closure of several Bombay and New Delhi cinemas. It issued a statement declaring: “If women's physical needs are fulfilled through lesbian acts, the institution of marriage will collapse and the reproduction of human beings will stop.” Members of the organisation stormed cinemas, tearing down posters and smashing windows. Demonstrations were organised outside the home of one of the film's stars. Protesters threatened two actors and a director who publicly defended the film. Mehta also received a number of death threats. The film was withdrawn from cinemas, pending another censorship review, but later re-released uncut. Extreme-right wing elements are still trying to have the film banned. Fire was the first of a trilogy of films by Mehta set in India. Earth , the second in the series, was released in 1998 and the third, Water , was due to begin shooting in Uttar Pradesh early this year. In late January Hindu fundamentalists wrecked her set in Varan...

Twenty years ago this week, 90,000 barrels of whiskey aging at Heaven Hill Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, were lost in a massive and tragic fire that, when looking It was a $30 million hit for the brand ($8 million in lost bourbon, $22 million in ruined facilities), but no lives were lost nor injuries suffered in the conflagration. Since the tragedy occurred in 1996, when bourbon’s rebound was just beginning, it’s likely few American whiskey fans outside of Kentucky recall the disaster. But had a fire happened now, when bourbon is booming beyond anyone’s expectations, the market impact would be staggering, and Heaven Hill’s whiskey stocks wouldn’t rebound for years. “The industry came to our rescue, if you will,” says Max Shapira, president of Heaven Hill. His face softens at the memory as he recalls his Kentucky bourbon peers stepping up to contract distill the family-owned company’s products. “But the times were different,” Shapira resumes, adding that distillers were able to help out because their plants were underutilized. “If something like that happened today to anybody in the industry, there wouldn’t be enough production capacity to be of any help, or enough (excess) inventory to be of any assistance.” Fire in the Sky The change from fall to winter in Kentucky can arrive with manic temperature swings and severe storms. That describes the weather on the afternoon of Nov. 7, 1996, when thunderstorms rolled through Bardstown packing 75 mph wind gusts, torrential ra...

Updated 3 p.m. Twenty-two years ago, a giant tire fire ravaged a Port Richmond block. The aftermath included prison time and a several-month shutdown of four miles along I-95. For those who weren’t around back then — and those who remember it all too clearly — here’s a recap of what went down in the Great Tire Fire of 1996. ‘At least’ 10,000 tires stored illegally On March 13 of that year, New York Times, which called the incident “suspicious” from the get-go, the blaze then spread to three adjacent buildings owned by thePhiladelphia Tire Disposal Company.It burned for five hours, sent up smoke plumes eight alarms before the 180 firefighters called in managed to bring it under control. “We know there were at least 10,000 tires there, and that’s a low estimate,” Capt. Henry Dolberry, then-assistant to the Philadelphia Fire Commissioner, told NYT. I remember when a tire fire collapsed a part of I-95 in philly many years ago. Scary that a fire can burn that hot to do this— commonsense (@commonsense258) And when the highway finally reopened for that Thursday for the morning rush hour, it was only operating at half capacity. Philadelphia Inquirer instructed motorists to “ Arson is not the easy way out, folks As for the cause of the fire: right away, officials suspected arson. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office sprang into action to investigate. Turns out, officials were right in their suspicions. Apparently a couple of dudes from Quakertown had a big stockpile of tires...