Lightning strikes apparently caused a major fire at a gas company in North Carolina early Sunday morning, fire officials said.
The blaze started at Colonial Pipeline Company in Greensboro after midnight, said David Douglas, an assistant fire chief in Greensboro.
A pipe with 20,000 gallons of gas was burning and two tanks with about 12,000 gallons of gas caught on fire, Douglas said.
Firefighters used foam to extinguish the flames on the tanks, Colonial Pipeline spokesman Steve Baker said.
The huge facility, known as the tank farm, is near Piedmont Triad International Airport, and the massive blaze sent plumes of smoke throughout the area.
Earth Changes
© Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune
Crews are cleaning up the pond at Liberty Park on Saturday.
Crews are cleaning up the pond at Liberty Park on Saturday.
A leak from Chevron's underground oil pipeline may have gone undetected for hours as it spilled 50 gallons of crude a minute Saturday into Salt Lake City's Red Butte Creek.
The oil blackened the east-side creek, stained scores of birds, prompted the closure of Liberty Park and sent oil as far west as the Jordan River.
"This is extremely harmful," said disgusted resident Peter G. Hayes, a biology teacher who showed oily rocks from his creek-side home to Chevron officials at Liberty Park. "I want to know when are you going to send someone to my backyard and clean up my mess because I can't even live in my house because of the smell."
Chevron pledged to clean up the 6-mile mess, but the company could not quantify the damage. As of late Saturday, Chevron said the leak had been stopped. But company representatives could not say when it began, how much oil spilled into city waterways and why -- despite pipeline monitors -- it apparently took hours to learn of the accident.
© USGS
Earthquake Location
Earthquake Location
Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 03:32:54 UTC
Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 12:32:54 PM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location:
37.405°N, 141.602°E
Depth:
7.7 km (4.8 miles) (poorly constrained)
Region:
NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Distances:
75 km (45 miles) ENE of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan
110 km (65 miles) ESE of Fukushima, Honshu, Japan
110 km (70 miles) E of Koriyama, Honshu, Japan
255 km (155 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan
© Press-Register/Kate Mercer
Sheets of oil washed ashore in Gulf Shores, Ala., early Saturday morning from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Sheets of oil washed ashore in Gulf Shores, Ala., early Saturday morning from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
In some sections, large pools of black oil sat on the shoreline.
As far east or west as the eye could see, oil stained the white sands.
Small groups of workers took turns for hours shoveling clumps of the oil into black plastic bags. But as quickly as they dug, the oil washed ashore -- in sheets, in globs, with each successive, dark wave.
Occasionally, a group of beachgoers would rise from their towels and stand at the edge of the oil, which kept them four or five feet from the water's edge.
Site of oil leak capped; All water access points along Red Butte Creek, 
Liberty Park and the Jordan River should be avoided by humans and animals at this time.
Utah - Salt Lake City officials and Chevron crews have been working since early morning Saturday, June 12 to stop a severe oil spill discovered East of Red Butte Canyon. The number of barrels of oil released is estimated at 400-500. The site of the leak has been capped. Drinking water for residents has not been affected. Residents are advised to stay away from Red Butte Canyon and Liberty Park so crews can adequately manage the spill. All water access points along Red Butte Creek, Liberty Park and the Jordan River should be avoided by humans and animals at this time.
© Photo Credit: Christian Pulfer
Liberty Park and the Jordan River should be avoided by humans and animals at this time.
Utah - Salt Lake City officials and Chevron crews have been working since early morning Saturday, June 12 to stop a severe oil spill discovered East of Red Butte Canyon. The number of barrels of oil released is estimated at 400-500. The site of the leak has been capped. Drinking water for residents has not been affected. Residents are advised to stay away from Red Butte Canyon and Liberty Park so crews can adequately manage the spill. All water access points along Red Butte Creek, Liberty Park and the Jordan River should be avoided by humans and animals at this time.
© Flickr.com/mikebaird/cc-by
Gorely Volcano.
Gorely Volcano.
The plume has stretched to over a hundred kilometers, compromising regional air travel and threatening disruption at a local geothermal power plant. Volcanologists say that population centres are not under threat.
Mount Gorely rises to about two kilometres above sea level. There are 11 craters on it, one with a lake. The volcano's average dormancy interval is close to 20 years.
© USGS
Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 19:26:50 UTC
Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 01:26:50 AM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location:
7.702°N, 91.975°E
Depth:
35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region:
NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
Distances:
150 km (95 miles) W of Mohean, Nicobar Islands, India
440 km (275 miles) WNW of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
1155 km (710 miles) SW of BANGKOK, Thailand
2790 km (1730 miles) SE of NEW DELHI, Delhi, India
© AP
Map locates campground in Arkansas where deadly flash flooding struck Friday
Map locates campground in Arkansas where deadly flash flooding struck Friday
More than 40 people were unaccounted for after the Caddo and Little Missouri rivers rose quickly overnight - at times faster than 8 feet per hour, said Gary Fox, a retired emergency medical technician who was coordinating with families to determine who had died and who had yet to be found.
"This is not a one- or two-day thing," Fox said outside a command post near Langley next to the Little Missouri. "This is going to be a week or two- or three-week recovery."
The Albert Pike Recreation Area, a 54-unit campground in the Ouachita National Forest, was packed with vacationing families, many of them from Louisiana and Texas, Fox said. Two dozen people were hospitalized and another 60 were rescued from the steep Ouachita Mountains valley.
"It's a lot of tragedy. I cannot even imagine what the families are going through," Fox said.
It was unlikely that many of the missing could have left the area on their own after the flood. Fox said nearly everyone lost their vehicles when the floodwaters swept through the recreation area.
The heavily wooded region hosts a mix of campgrounds, hunting grounds and private homes. Wilderness buffs can stay at sites with modern facilities or hike and camp off the beaten path.
© WRAL 5
Talon Thomas
Talon Thomas
The attacks happened near the intersection of Sycamore Street and Midway Road in Aberdeen.
Talon Thomas, 11, said he was bitten and scratched by the fox while walking home from school Tuesday.
"He bit me on my leg, and then I just picked him up, and I just hit his head against the road and he started kicking me in my head," he said.
Talon said he kept the fox pinned down and tried to keep him quiet so he wouldn't alert other foxes.
