A year after deadly library fire, Porterville perseveres through the pain
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PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) A serious accident review team, or SART for short, will soon release an independent report on last year s deadly Porterville Library Fire.
Its purpose is to provide more information about what happened, and prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future. There s not a day that goes by that they re not on my mind, Porterville Fire Chief Dave LaPere said. And that goes for my command staff too.
LaPere says he s proud of how his entire staff has shouldered the burden of losing two of their brothers: Captain Raymond Figueroa and firefighter Patrick Jones.
They both touched my life : Porterville firefighter shares memories of Patrick Jones and Raymond Figueroa
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The men rushed into the burning building after it was reported someone was still inside.
That person had actually escaped, but after a Mayday call, Jones and Figueroa were never heard from again.
They were two of the best firefighters Coy Farnsworth ever knew. I feel really fortunate to have met both of them because I feel like they both touched my life in such positive but different ways, Farnsworth said.
He said Ray was skilled with tools, highly trained, and a mentor to younger firefighters like Patrick-who was eager to learn, always willing to lend a hand, and loved busting down doors (when he wasn t saving kittens).
Listen to the conversation here.
Next week marks the one year anniversary of the fire in Porterville that destroyed the city’s public library and took the lives of firefighter Patrick Jones and Fire Captain Raymond Figueroa. It was a tragedy that shook the community and left its residents without the many resources a library provides. But a group of community members have launched a project to fill part of that void. Tim and Janet Baker, along with their neighbor Kristy Noble, have started the Porterville Little Library Initiative, an effort to dot the town with 100 little libraries, giving children and adults more access to books while they wait for the library to be rebuilt. Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock spoke with them about the project.
Beloved Elephant Man, a fixture at San Antonio Zoo for 47 years, dies of COVID
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Keith Hodges, right, and Raymond Figueroa who reunited after four decades watch a zoo keeper work with Lucky the Elephant. Hodges and Figueroa worked with Lucky in the early 1970s.Vince Davis, StaffShow MoreShow Less
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Keith Hodges, center, who has stage 4 lung cancer, worked at the zoo for a year with Lucky the elephant and got to reunite with Lucky and Raymond Figueroa, the San Antonio Zoo s former elephant handler that worked with Lucky and Hodges, on Monday, June 6, 2016.Bob Owen, Staff / San Antonio Express-NewsShow MoreShow Less
Hearing for teens accused in library fire continued to January 21 recorderonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from recorderonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.