Fires involving famous people & places

Fire guts home belonging to Bengals player

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:46:57 -0400

The suburban home of Cincinnati Bengals football player Antwan Odom has been heavily damaged by fire. Fire officials in the city of Mason north of Cincinnati say the defensive end and his family were out of town at the time. Firefighters responded just after 2:30 a.m. Tuesday to what they describe as a very serious fire that collapsed the home's roof. They say hot spots and unstable areas are delaying their investigation into the cause.

The Warren County auditor's web site estimates the home's value at nearly $1.2 million. It was built in 2000 and has nearly 6,000 square feet of space.

Hairspray stars Malibu home heavily damaged by fire.

Sat, 18 Sep 2010 20:10:15 -0400

A Malibu California beach house being rented by actress and former talk show host Ricki Lake was heavily damaged by a fire that was allegedly started while the star was attempting to refuel a portable heater.

News reports indicate that the fire started on a couch within the single story wood frame structure, quickly spread and destroyed the building and contents.

Reports also state that at the time of the fire, Lake was in the house with her two children and a dog, all of whom escaped without injury.

The Los Angeles Fire Department and Sheriffs Office is investigating the fire.

Photo by Samuel Womack and appears at
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/gallery?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7675883&photo=1

Former Knicks guard rescued from Bronx fire

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:50:58 -0500

Authorities are reporting that former Knicks point guard Dean Meminger was rescued from a NY fire that destroyed a row of houses on Findlay Avenue in the Claremont section of the Bronx.

The fourth alarm took 200 firefighters from the FDNY 3 hours to control.

63 year old Meminger was known as “Dean the Dream” during the 70’s and played with Walt Frasier Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere and Phil Jackson. Meminger was on the 1973 NBA championship Knicks team. Meminger left the NBA in 1977.

Meminger was transported to Lincoln Hospital then moved to the burn unit at Jacobi where he is listed in critical condition.

A number of news outlets including Newsday and the New York Post state that since his retirement from the NBA, Meminger has battled cocaine addiction and alcoholism.

WCBS2 Reported that the fire building was an illegally subdivided SRO that was cited by the City of New York last year for overcrowding.

The Gotahmist is reporting that fire marshals now suspect that the fire began as a result of a crack pipe in room rented by Mr. Meminger.

Fire damages Virginia home of Sausage king.

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:56:01 -0400

Fire caused heavy damage to the Virginia home of sausage king and Grammy award winning singer Jimmy Dean

The Henrico County Fire Department has deemed the fire which they believe started in the basement, accidental. Mr. Dean and his wife were home at the time of the fire but were not injured.

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the blaze. Mr Dean won a Grammy in 1962 for the song “Big Bad John”

Bruce Willis

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:10:21 -0400

Idaho - Authorities say a fire has destroyed the main lodge at a small ski operation co-owned by Bruce Willis. Camas County Chief Deputy Brian Miller says the Soldier Mountain Ski Resort lodge and an adjacent ski rental building were destroyed in the Monday morning blaze. No one was injured.
Willis has been working with forest officials on a new master development plan for the south-central Idaho resort, with runs in the mountains of the Sawtooth National Forest. The "Die Hard" actor has a home in nearby Hailey.
The resort closed for the season last week.
Written by Associated Press

Fire in Tracy Morgan’s NYC home

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:07:23 -0500

The FDNY responded to a fire at the home of of Actor Tracy Morgan this morning. The fire which reportedly started in fish tank equipment, was isolated to Mr. Morgan’s home and there were no injuries.

The fire was reported at 8:34AM at Trump Place on Riverside Boulevard. Morgan lives on the 16th floor of the building. An automatic fire sprinkler system activated, knocking down the fire and causing water damage on a number of floors below. No injuries were reported.

Fire at Sarah Palin’s Church

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:06:51 -0500

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize if the fire was connected to "undeserved negative attention" from her failed campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele.
He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson but didn't know of any recent threats to the church. Authorities didn't know whether Palin's connection to the church was relevant to the fire, Steele said.
"It's hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation," he said. "We have no information on intent or motive."
Steele would not comment on the means used to set the fire.
Pastor Larry Kroon declined to say whether the church had received any recent threats.
"There are so many variables," he said. "I don't want to comment in that direction."
Palin, who was not at the church at the time of the fire, stopped by Saturday. Her spokesman, Bill McAllister, said in a statement that Palin told an assistant pastor she was sorry if the fire was connected to the "undeserved negative attention" the church has received since she became the vice presidential candidate Aug. 29.
"Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good," McAllister said.
The 1,000-member evangelical church was the subject of intense scrutiny after Palin was named John McCain's running mate. Early in Palin's campaign, the church was criticized for promoting in a Sunday bulletin a Focus on the Family "Love Won Out Conference" in Anchorage. The conference promised to "help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome."
The fire was set at the entrance of the church and moved inward as a small group of women were working on crafts, Steele said. The group was alerted to the blaze by a fire alarm.
Outside temperatures were minus 20 as firefighters battled the blaze.
Steele said a multi-agency task force was being assembled to investigate the fire.
Wasilla, the governor's hometown, is 40 miles north of Anchorage.

Christopher Lloyd loses home to CA wildfires

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:29:57 -0500

Christopher Lloyd's home has been destroyed by the wildfires in California.
The Back To The Future actor's 11 million dollar pad in Montecito, a celebrity enclave near Los Angeles, was among dozens of homes ravaged by the fires.
But the star - whose other movie credits include Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and The Addams Family - told ABC's Good Morning America show that he wouldn't rebuild his house.
"You watch TV, you see these kinds of incidents happening here and there, but you look with a kind of detachment because it's happening ... elsewhere," he said, walking through the rubble.
"But suddenly to be in the midst of it, it's a very different awareness."
The actor also told how he had been putting off organising and storing memorabilia that he'd kept at the house.
"Kind of don't have to worry about that now," he said.

1.5 Million in damage to Nick Nolte’s Malibu Mansion

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 13:13:57 -0400

MALIBU, Calif. Nick Nolte suffered minor injuries while escaping a fire in his Malibu California Mansion. Although refusing medical attention at the scene, the 67-year-old actor suffered abrasions to his arm and smoke inhalation.

According to LA County Fire Dept reports, the fire was reported at 11:34 a.m. at Nolte's secluded Bonsall Drive home. The fire department believes that the fire was electrical in nature and started in the living room, Apparently Notle was home at the time and tried to put the fire out prior to the arrival of the fd.

It took firefighters about 10 minutes to knock down the fire, limiting damage to part of the structure.

A statement from the county Sheriff's Department said Nolte broke a window to escape the home.

Fire damages New Jersey Home of Geraldo Rivera

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 09:23:17 -0400

Authorities in Edgewater New Jersey say that an electrical fire destroyed the garage of the FNC anchors home. At the time of the fire, there were two fully restored 1954 Jaguar automobiles both of which were destroyed. The fire was reported at approximately 4:12AM.

Mr. Rivera suffered burns to the face and was treated at a local hospital.

The fire building is approximately sixty years old and is part of a community known as the Colony. The cooperative of very expensive single-family homes lines the Hudson River just south of the George Washington Bridge.

Ludacris (Christopher Bridges)

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:29:03 -0400

Fire destroys pool house at rapper Ludacris' home outside Atlanta

ATLANTA (AP) _ Authorities say a fire destroyed a pool house at rapper Ludacris' home outside Atlanta.
Ludacris, whose real name is Christopher Bridges, was out of town at the time of the Wednesday night fire.
Fulton County Fire Department spokesman Gregory Chambers says a relative was in the basement of the main residence when the fire started and was not injured.
Chambers says the fire was put out within 30 minutes but destroyed the pool house, which he says is larger than most homes.
The fire was being investigated but the cause was not immediately identified.
Ludacris won a Grammy for best rap album for "Release Therapy" and best rap song for "Money Maker."

Madonna’s child home destroyed in Michigan

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:40:16 -0400

Arson is suspected as the cause of a fire that destroyed the childhood home of Madonna. Fire Chief Ron Crowell told local reporters it was likely the fire started in the living room area and spread, causing extensive damage.
A passer-by noticed flames coming out of the unoccupied house in the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills on Friday.
Madonna, 49, spent some of her younger years living in the two-story brick house, along with her five siblings.

Texas Governors Mansion burns

Sun, 8 Jun 2008 10:18:25 -0400

A fire that Texas officials are calling “deliberately set” caused extensive damage to the Texas Governors mansion this morning.
Te 152 year old building was home to former US President George W. Bush is located in Austin Texas. The building was unoccupied at the the time of the fire as the building was undergoing a $10 million dollar renovation.

Thankfully all of the historical memorabilia had been removed from the mansion prior to the renovation.

Ironically, part of the renovation project included installing a fire sprinkler system.

The Texas state Fire Marshals Office, ATF and FBI are continuing to investigate the cause of this fire.

Ghost Whisperer set on Universal Lot destroyed

Sun, 1 Jun 2008 13:36:32 -0400

Just before dawn yesterday, a fire began at the Universal Backlot. Several buildings and sets were lost in the blaze, including the set for CBS series, Ghost Whisperer. According to a spokesperson for the series, two of the exterior sets were damaged. In recent years, the series had used the set known for being used in the Back to the Future trilogy, but that set including the courthouse clock tower have now been destroyed.
Several other series have been filmed over the years on this backlot area including Ally McBeal, Seinfield and most recently CSI and Desperate Housewives. The first two were filmed using two of the sets destroyed in yesterday’s three alarm blaze. The street used for the set of Desperate Housewives was not damaged. 40,000 film and video reels were also lost in yesterday’s fire. These were just copies of the originals that are stored elsewhere, but videos of many former series including I Love Lucy and Miami Vice were contained in this vault.
Over the years, Universal has truly been the home of many movies and television shows. The backot has been in use since the 1920s. Fire has ravaged this part of the backlot before, but the courthouse was saved in the fire that caused damage back in 1990. No word yet if yesterday’s fire will cause any problems for Ghost Whisperer or any of the other productions taking place. The series is on summer hiatus for the moment, so they do have a bit of time to fix things. The exterior set of Melinda’s store and the outdoor courtyard is what has been lost. This can be replaced but at some great cost.

50-Cent’s Dix Hills, NY home destroyed

Fri, 30 May 2008 00:09:17 -0400

A house owned by rapper 50-Cent (Curtis Jackson) but occupied by his ex Shaniqua Tompkins burned to the ground today. Fortunately the six occupants including the singers 10 year old son escaped without injury.

The Suffolk County Police Department’s Arson Squad is investigating.