This was announced by the area’s district councilman, Ritchie Torres.

[contextly_sidebar id=”zbLmDgDWfUXM2TPalAiOUQv2ugfOkLnV”]Kwabena Mensah will also receive a Medal of Valor and a Soldier’s Medal from the Army, the latter being the highest peacetime honor for bravery not involving armed conflict.

The 28-year-old soldier was among the 13 victims of the fire that gutted the building on December 28, 2017.

Mr. Torres was speaking during a gathering of the community and religious leaders to announce support for the victims of the Belmont building fire, as well as the distribution of donations collected.

“Emmanuel Mensah represents the best that this country and this community has to offer,” Mr. Torres said.

Speaking to the New York Daily News, Mensah’s father, Kwabena Mensah, 62, said the street renaming would honor the grieving family.

“That is going to be nice on his legacy. He will be remembered forever. He’s gone, but when I see the street with his name on it, that will put me in a good mood… Naming a street after him will keep him here forever,” Kwabena Mensah’s father said.

After the fire broke out on the first floor of the building, the young soldier, who was home for the holidays, saved four lives.

Reports indicate that Kwabena Mensah raced in and out of the burning building at least three times bringing others to safety, but he was unable to make it out himself.

Authorities say a 3-year-old boy ignited the blaze while playing with a gas stove inside his first-floor apartment.

The boy’s mother, who escaped the inferno with the little boy and a second small child, did not close the door as she raced to safety, fire officials said.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The fire was reported just before 7am ET. New York City fire officials said it broke out in the building’s heating and air conditioning system.

A fire department statement said: “FDNY confirms three total injuries at fire earlier this morning at 721 [Fifth Avenue], Trump Tower: two civilians with non-life-threatening injuries, both were treated on scene and refused further medical aid. One firefighter with non-life-threatening injury.”

News footage showed firefighters on the roof of the skyscraper, at East 57th Street and Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan.

Smoke billowed from one corner of the tower for a while before most of it dissipated. About 80 firefighters were at the scene initially and a few remained on the roof about an hour later.

“The fire wasn’t in the building,” said the FDNY’s Manhattan borough commander, Roger Sakowich, in a statement on social media. “It was on top of the building. We had flames coming out of the vents, no smoke condition or fire was on the inside.

“We were able to extinguish the fire without any problems within the building. Everything went according to plan.”

Sakowich added: “Our units got up there quickly, we got water on the fire, which in 19F (-7C) creates more steam and smoke.”

The tower is home to a number of residences and businesses. Donald Trump, who keeps a residence in the tower, was at the White House in Washington DC.

One of the president’s sons, Eric Trump, tweeted: “There was a small electrical fire in a cooling tower on the roof of Trump Tower.” He also thanked firefighters for doing “an incredible job”.

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Source: Guardian

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The Thomas fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties has consumed 230,000 acres in the past week.

Fanned by strong winds, it has become the fifth largest wildfire in recorded state history after it grew by more than 50,000 acres in a day.

Residents in coastal beach communities have been ordered to leave.

On Sunday, firefighters reported that 15% of the blaze had been contained but were forced to downgrade that to 10% as it continued to spread.

“This is a menacing fire, certainly, but we have a lot of people working very diligently to bring it under control,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

The other fires hitting California are largely controlled, but 200,000 people have evacuated their homes and hundreds of buildings have been destroyed since 4 December.

Evacuation orders were issued overnight on Sunday for parts of Carpinteria close to Los Padres National Forest, about 100 miles (160km) northwest of Los Angeles.

Forecasters said wind speeds were expected to increase throughout the day, before dying down again overnight.

The local fire department tweeted pictures of a wall of flames advancing on homes on the outskirts of Carpinteria early on Sunday morning.

California has spent the past seven days battling wildfires. Six large blazes, and other smaller ones, erupted on Monday night in southern California.

The Thomas Fire – named according to where it started, near the Thomas Aquinas College – is by far the largest of the fires.

They swept through tens of thousands of acres in a matter of hours, driven by extreme weather, including low humidity, high winds and parched ground.

The authorities issued a purple alert – the highest level warning – amid what it called “extremely critical fire weather”, while US President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency.

On Saturday, California Governor Jerry Brown described the situation as “the new normal” and predicted vast fires, fuelled by climate change, “could happen every year or every few years”.

Several firefighters have been injured, but only one person has died – a 70-year-old woman who was found dead in her car on an evacuation route.

There are also fears the blaze will seriously hit California’s multi-million dollar agricultural industry.

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Julian Simpson, 30, accidentally slipped from a seventh-floor ledge of his Manhattan building and fell to a landing on the second floor, New York police said.

US media report he was playing a “trust game” with a friend before he fell.

Mr Simpson was a junior diplomat representing Australia at the United Nations.

Police were called to the scene about 01:00 local time on Wednesday (06:00 GMT). Mr Simpson was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Australian envoy had been out with his wife and friends when they returned home to view the Empire State Building, which was lit up to celebrate Australia’s same-sex marriage vote result, police said.

An NYPD spokesperson would not confirm reports that he was playing a “trust” game that involved putting himself at risk and relying on one of his guests to catch him.

“He’s described as somebody who liked to play games and had sat on the balcony railing and accidentally lost his balance,” Martin Brown said.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the accident a “shocking tragedy”.

“Our hearts go out to his family but I cannot provide any more details at this stage,” he told the local Seven Network.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she was saddened by the death of Mr Simpson, who she had met recently in New York.

“Julian was a diligent, professional and highly skilled diplomat, whose support I valued, during UN Leaders’ Week,” she said.

Mr Simpson had been in the US for two years.

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Source: BBC

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An armed man said to be dressed as a doctor opened fire at the 972-bed Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, reports say.

At least two people are believed to have been shot, although other reports speak of multiple shootings and an ongoing situation.

Messages on social media spoke of doctors and nurses barricading themselves inside the building.

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Source: BBC

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Citing officials, separate reports said both had mobile phones and Christmas lights as makeshift detonators.

The blast, in the Chelsea area of Manhattan, injured 29 people.

The FBI said it stopped a “vehicle of interest” in Brooklyn on Sunday but made no arrests.

Five people were taken into custody for questioning, officials told US media. But a spokeswoman said no-one had been charged and the investigation was continuing.

The Manhattan blast followed a pipe bomb explosion on the route of a charity race in New Jersey on Sunday.

Investigators are also examining a suspicious device found near a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage said a bomb squad had determined the device containing wires and pipes could be a live bomb.

Reporters for two US news outlets said a loud explosion was heard in the area early on Monday.

• How events unfolded
• ‘People running for their lives’

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said a second device discovered over the weekend in the city appeared to be “similar in design” to the exploded device.

It was found four blocks from the site of the blast and was removed and later destroyed in a controlled explosion. No-one was hurt.

Earlier on Sunday, New York Mayor Mayor Bill de Blasio said: “Was it a political motivation? A personal motivation? We do not know.”

“We know there was a bombing. We know it’s a very serious incident. But we have a lot more work to do to be able to say what kind of motivation was behind this.

“All possible theories of what’s happened here and how it connects will be looked at but we have no specific evidence at this point in time.”

Mr Cuomo said: “Whoever placed these bombs – we will find them and they will be brought to justice.”

Some 1,000 extra security personnel are being deployed to New York’s transport hubs, police said.

Windows blown out

The Chelsea explosion occurred at about 21:00 (01:00 GMT on Sunday) on West 23rd St. The force of the blast blew out windows and could be heard several blocks away.

Some reports said the bomb went off in a black metal construction toolbox, others that it was in a rubbish bin.

Chelsea is among the most fashionable districts of Manhattan and its bars and restaurants are usually crowded at the weekend.

Mr de Blasio said there would be a “bigger than ever” police presence in New York in the coming week.

On Tuesday, President Obama and other world leaders are due to attend the UN General Assembly in New York.

How the election candidates reacted – BBC’s Anthony Zurcher

Governor Andrew Cuomo called it a politician’s “nightmare scenario” – a late-night phone call with news of a crisis. The weekend’s attacks in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota have put national security squarely back in the centre of the US presidential election.

A similar scenario unfolded in June following the Orlando nightclub shootings. That was an opportunity for Donald Trump – the “change” candidate who touts his hard line on security issues – to make his case… and he blew it. Mrs Clinton’s lead grew as Americans soured on Mr Trump’s bellicose response.

This time Mr Trump has been more measured, offering only condolences on Twitter. He did call the New York incident a “bombing” before official confirmation and said the US needed to “get tough”, but that was hardly comparable to his jarring comments on Orlando.

Meanwhile, Mrs Clinton cautioned against premature conclusions – perhaps hoping her opponent would again overreact.

With the race tight once again and the first TV debate just over a week away, both candidates are under intense pressure to display their leadership qualities. Saturday’s “nightmare scenario” was another test – and it probably won’t be the last.

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Source: BBC

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