The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 35

The Beacon Journal Thursday August 17, 2000 Page D3 egionfiatate theRegion Trench safety in sf )otnght Girl nearly drowns at Six Flags Ohio BAINBRIDGE A 9-yeari Convention of Ohio State Firefighters' Association to include training session on rescue techniques "I can understand their feeling that they weren't leaving that trench without their friend," Kamp said. But he took a heart momtor and checked Weber's pulse and told the construction workers it was too late. Area firefighters train in cooperation with heavy-equipment operators at the Ohio Operating Engineers training facilities in Richfield, Kamp said and there is increasing cooperation between construction workers and safety forces in preventing these accidents. Serving on the trench committee of the region's Contractor and Fire Safety Alliance, Kamp said, he believes most professional builders are more aware than ever of trench safety. Rescue workers also emphasize safety to non-professionals who attempt home digging operations.

"Contractors know what soil looks like, and know the danger signs," he said. "But there is no control over somebody who wants to rent a backhoe to do some work around the house. They probably need the information the most." During the equipment showcase from 2 to 4 pjn. Saturday at the Fairlawn Hilton Inn, 3180 W. Market the Firefighters Association will have experts on hand to share trench-safety advice with the public There are four trench-rescue trailers, including self-contained breathing apparatus, owned by rescue departments in Summit County one kept for the county team Cuyahoga Falls, one owned by Akron, one owned by the city of Green, and the newest purchased this year by Stow.

The firefighters' annual parade will begin at 7 p.m. Friday -leaving from the Fairlawn Fire Station on South Smith Road and going east on West Market Street to the Summit Mall parking lot. The convention ends Sunday. Laura Haferd can be reached at 330-996-3715 or lhaferdthebeaconjoumal.com Township. The accident is under investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Moledor says 100 to 200 people are killed each year in trench accidents. Bath Fire Department paramedic Thomas Kamp was the first person from the Summit County Technical Rescue Team on the scene where Weber was caught in the trench a trench he had entered trying to help free Todd Young, 28, a coworker for Snyder Construction. Young escaped. Kamp volunteered to go into the 16-foot trench where Weber's co-workers were trying to free him. There was a trench box, designed to secure the sides of the trench, on the construction site, Kamp said, but it had not been installed.

Perhaps, he said, it was not the right size for this dig. By Laura Haferd Beacon Journal staff writer FAIRLAWN: Awareness of trench safety continues to be one of the growing concerns of the Ohio State Firefighters' Association as it prepares for its annual conference, which starts today. "There is just a tremendous amount of construction going on," said Lt. Paul Moledor of the Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department, who will be presenting a session on trench rescue techniques for the 600 firefighters attending. Moledor is director of the trench-rescue program for the Summit County Technical Rescue Team, which includes specialists in diving, rope, confined-space and structural-collapse rescues.

A 23-year-old Ashland County man, Carlos Weber, was killed this month in a trench collapse in Medina County's Montville t. ill -r I iniim iiiiiir 111 KEN LOVEMkron Beacon loumal WORTH NOTlNfi City warns residents about phone scam HUDSON: City safety officials are warning residents about a telephone solicitation scam in the name of the "Fire Prevention Education Fund." "It's a bad feelingto see people get ripped off using our name," said fire Chief Bob Carter. "They're taking advantage ofpeople's good will." Carter said the fire department learned of the scam when a woman called the department when she received a phone call and an invoice for $20 from the solicitor. Carter said the scam was traced to a real estate office in Michigan, but the person listed as the man running the charity no longer works there. Carter said residents should be aware that his department does not use telephone solicitations to raise money.

The attorney general's office advises people not to give money over the phone if the caller is hesitant to answer 3uestions about where the onation goes, uses high-pressure tactics, represents a charity whose name is similar to a well-known one, or offers to pick up the donation right away. MEETINGS Safety director puts bid in for officer WADSWORTH: Safety Director Charles Potter yesterday asked city council's safety committee for a certified training officer for the fire and emergency medical services department. Potter said a training officer would upgrade the quality of training for fire and EMS members. The committee asked Potter to submit a job description for the position at next month's committee meeting. -BEAUDUSZ Education board votes for bond issue PLAIN The Board of Education voted yesterday to place a capital improvement bond issue on the Nov.

7 ballot The 4.9-mill levy would raise $59.2 million for improvements to facilities throughout the school district. BETTY O'NEILL-RODERICK Route 82 project approved in Aurora AURORA: The Aurora Safety Committee voted yesterday to recommend spending $70,403 for engineering work for a road project on state Route 82 at Eggleston Road. If approved by City Council, McCoy and Associates will perform the engineering necessary to cut and fill the hill at this intersection, fill in the valley and add a left turn lane for eastbound traffic. The Safety Committee also is recommending to council an ordinance that would make pet owners responsible for cleaning up after their animals on any public land or street, or another person's private property. The $100 penalty would not apply to seeing-eye dogs.

MARGE BJERREGAARD Zoners turn down builder's request PLAIN The Plain Township Zoning Commission turned down builder Douglas Prestier's request to rezone property located at 3742 Martindale Road N.E. from single-family residential to low-density multifamily residential Prestier had requested the zone change to build two 12-unit apartment buildings on the 2-acre tract. About 100 residents jammed into Plain Township Hall to oppose the zoning change. The matter now goes to township trustees. BETTY O'NEILL-RODERICK Superintendent firm on dress code JACKSON Jackson schools Superintendent Joe Larson yesterday clarified his role as traffic cop for the parent of an incoming freshman.

Larson said he wants to avoid roaming hallways with a ruler in hand, but the high school dress code stands: Pants must reach the ankle for boys and girls, no exceptions. Larson urged parents with questions to call Assistant Principal Kathy Clark at 330-837-350L JOANNE MALENE Ready to make a splash old girl was in critical condition last night after she nearly drowned yesterday at Six Flags Ohio. The incident occurred about 3:30 p.m. in Hooks Lagoon, a family water playground, said Shannon D'Sidocky, public relations manager for Six Flags Ohio. When Bainbridge firefighters arrived on the scene, lifeguards at the amusement park had pulled her out of the water.

She was underwater for an undetermined amount of time, firefighters said. The girl was at Cleveland MetroHealth Medical Center last night. Firefighters and D'Sidocky declined to release her name. At first, she was responsive after she was pulled from the water, but her condition worsened after that, firefighters said. D'Sidocky said a lifeguard performed CPR on the girl.

The girl was taken by medical helicopter to MetroHealth for possible brain injuries associated with the near drowning. Grand jury decides not to indict father AKRON: A Summit County grand jury recently decided against indicting an Akron father arrested on an interference of custody charge. Police arrested Cleotis J. Gilcreast last month for allegedly taking his 19-month-old son from a foster home despite an order that he have no contact with the boy. The baby was returned to the Children Services Board of Summit County.

The arrest apparently came after a misunderstanding between Gilcreast and the CSB. Gilcreast claims he did not take his son from the foster home, but instead his wife removed the baby from the home and took him to his house. He said he then alerted CSB officials. Gilcreast was indicted by a Summit County grand jury on a vandalism charge for allegedly kicking out the rear window of a police cruiser after he was arrested. He will be sentenced on that charge today.

School board to put levy on Nov. ballot The Copley-Fairlawn Board of Education voted Tuesday to put a capital improvements tax on the November ballot. The 2-mill levy is for a five-year period and will not be collected until 2002, when the district's current 1-mill capital improvements levy will expire. School officials are seeking approval to replace the levy one year early. The additional mill that the district is seeking would be used to add classroom space to the district's three elementary schools.

School officials say the district needs more space because of increased student enrollment in recent years. Cause of Akron fire remains a mystery AKRON: Firefighters say that a North Akron house fire Tuesday night caused $45,000 in damage to the building and its contents. However, Akron fire Lt. Dennis Nelson said yesterday that investigators still haven't determined what caused the 9:43 p.m. blaze, which started on or near a living room couch and then spread through the house.

The house's occupant, Megan Montgomery, wasn't home. She and her family hadn't been staying at the house for the past couple of days, Nelson said. He said investigators are considering the possibility that careless smoking started the fire. Because the couch was leather, it would take longer to ignite, Nelson said. And the fire appeared to be a slow-burning, smoldering blaze, he said.

Montgomery lived at the house with three children, Nelson said. She has no renter's insurance, and she and her children are staying with her mother in Akron, he said. Firefighters extinguished the Tuesday the fire in about 20 minutes. The property owner is Robert Luke Ockenden, 17, of Cleveland slides his kayak into a pond next to the Kilted Yak sporting goods store in Medina. The store sells kayaks and snowboards and has a rock-climbing wall.

Luke was visiting his father, who lives in Medina. 3 more E. coli victims in Northeast Ohio List now up to 17, but source of contamination still unknown. Variety of tests being conducted All Escherichia coli cases in Ohio are automatically forwarded to the state labs, Bannerman said, and entered into a database. The results of the most recent outbreak will be compared with the state database, as well as a national database, to see whether the source has shown up before.

The outbreak has hit hardest in Medina County, which is reporting nine confirmed cases. Wayne, Cuyahoga, Lake and Lorain counties have had two each. Of the hundreds of strains of E. coli, the one responsible for the current problem is among the most dangerous. Called E.

coli 0157JI7, this bacterium is responsible for 61 deaths and about 73,000 illnesses each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The most common signs of E. coli infection are bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramping. No deaths have been linked to the local outbreak. A 2-year-old boy continues to be listed in stable condition in the Cleveland Clinic's pediatric intensive care unit, suffering from a serious kidney ailment brought on by E.

coli infection. Tracy Wheeler can be reached at 330-996-3721 or tawheeterthebeaconjournal.com Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-722-3372 or 800-589-6590 or mmillerthebeaconjoumal.com G0J0, STERIS HELP OUT Anti-bacterial cleansers to be dispensed at county fairs. Page D4. "Hopefully, these results should help" the investigators, said Tammy Bannerman, a consultant with Ohio Health Department Laboratories, which will conduct the DNA tests. The lab, however, is still awaiting the bacteria samples it needs to run the tests, Banner-man said, though she expects to have them soon.

Results would be available about three days after testing. If the investigators begin to focus on a prune suspect -whether it is a drink, a food or a particular animal DNA from that source can be tested and compared with the results of the E. coli DNA tests. "What would be nice is to go back to the source and see if it matches," said Geraldine Hall, a clinical microbiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. If the problem came from tap water, she said, that would be fairly easy to find.

But food vendors and animal owners have long since packed up and moved from the fairgrounds. Though the vendors and animals can be traced, it's possible that the environment that created the coli no longer exists. fairgrounds. The fairgrounds uses Medina city water. In addition, the health department is checking to see how the fair's 103 vendors prepared and handled food and beverages, and where the vendors had been before setting up at the Medina fair.

With water tests so far offering no clues to solving the mystery, the next step in the investigation will be to focus on DN A evidence. Bacteria, like humans, have DNA a genetic code that differentiates one from another. Looking at that genetic code could be a key to finding the cause of the E. coli outbreak. The Ohio Department of Health will be analyzing the genetic fingerprints of the E.

coli found in the victims' blood samples, hoping to determine which ones have a common source, said spokesman Jay Carey. The tests should show which E. coli cases are related and which are not. Yesterday, though, investigators could still only speculate whether water, food or animal feces were the culprits. When results of the genetic tests are available, perhaps next week, investigators may be able to identify one source as a prime suspect.

By Tracy Wheeler and Marilyn Miller Beacon Journal staff writers Three more people were added to the list of E. coli victims in Northeast Ohio yesterday, bringing the total to 17. However, the source of the bacterial contamination which has affected residents of Medina, Wayne, Cuyahoga, Lake and Lorain counties remained unclear. Many of the victims had visited the Medina County Fair in late July and early August. Testing of three water samples collected Tuesday showed no signs of E.

coli, said Medina County Health Commissioner David Baldwin. The samples all came from a camper whose owner showed animals at the fair, said Janet Rickelman of the Medina Health Department, who is heading the investigation. At least four of the people who suffered E. coli infections reported visiting the camper, she said. Rickelman said results of tests on a fourth water sample, taken from an undisclosed fairgrounds location, are expected today.

Health officials also are awaiting test results for water samples taken from fire hydrants on the Initial DNA tests don't tie explicit mailings to Joel Rose tion for allegedly mailing the material, newspaper and broadcast reports said. Joel Rose, who was a talk show host on Cleveland television and radio stations, killed himself Aug. 4, the day The Plain Dealer reported he was be provided blood and saliva samples that could be used in the DNA testing. The Plain Dealer and television reports, citing unidentified sources, said DNA lifted from the packages did not match genetic material from Rose. The reports also said a typewriter found in Rose's home did not match the type found on many of fre notes mfte mailings Police say late TV host is still a suspect in case Associated Press CLEVELAND: Preliminary tests on sexually explicit packages sent to a dozen women failed to find a DNA match to a former television personality who killed himself while under investiga of underwear and pornography.

Officials who spoke with The Associated Press yesterday cautioned that more material will be tested and that Rose is still a suspect. The investigation of Rose probably won't conclude for months. Gerald Gold, Rose's attorney, said he is drawing no sions from the initial test I ing investigate! Two days earlier, detectives had searched his home in suburban Cleveland. Rose, 64, also.