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BEIJING: A major fire broke out in a skyscraper in the central Chinese city of Changsha, state media reported on Friday (Sep 16), adding that the number of casualties was "currently unknown". "Thick smoke is spewing from the site, and several dozen floors are burning ferociously," state broadcaster CCTV reported. "Firefighters have begun work to extinguish the flames and conduct rescues at the scene," it added. The blaze consumed a tall building that housed an office of state-owned telecommunications company China Telecom, the report said. A photograph released by CCTV showed orange flames searing through the building in a built-up area of the city, as black smoke billowed into the sky. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/china-telecom-building-fire-changsha-city-cctv-hunan-2943481 How to put out a fire this huge? Praying for all the first responders and those trapped in the building.

How many of you uses scented candles or have colleagues using them in office? Or do you use them at home? Brands like Yankee Candle, Bath & BodyWorks 3 wick candles. Are scented candles a fire hazard since it's an open flame? Recently a colleague been using it. It's nice but want to know if it's allowed since management hasn't straight out said it's not allowed. How else to reduce chance of it catching a fire? Esp. those of you who own one at home. Safe? How else

Fire said to be reduced then BOOMZ again Another explosion heard at Bukom SINGAPORE - An explosion was heard and seen at Pulau Bukom at noon today - just hours after Shell had announced in a press release that the chemical fires at the oil refinery island, which started at 1.15pm yesterday, had been "significantly reduced". Mr Ben Koh, who works at the PSA container port on the mainland across from Pulau Bukom, told Today he saw flames "suddenly shooting up from a distance" at around 12pm, accompanied by the sound of an explosion which he described as "an echoing boom". Since then, the smoke plume from the island has been visibly larger, said Mr Koh. The island is about 5km off the coast of Singapore. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed in a 12.30pm press release that "there has been a surge in the fire at the manufacturing facility", though the fire "is still contained within the bund wall" at the facility. Boundary cooling operations are being carried out using water jets, to prevent heat exposure to the storage tanks nearby, it added. Two fire engines had been "badly damaged" during fire fighting operations, while another sustained "partial damage", the SCDF said in its statement. No further injuries were reported. Earlier today, the SCDF said in a 6.30am press release that while 100 firefighters were still battling the fires, the situation was "under control". Six fire engines and 13 support vehicles were also at the site. The firefighters who had been working overnight were relieved and replaced by a fresh firefighting crew at 8am, the SCDF later added. In a 10am press release, Shell said it had "worked closely with the SCDF throughout the night to put out the fire at the Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site", adding that "the fire has now been significantly reduced and is contained to within a bunded area". The six Shell firefighters who sustained minor injuries battling the blaze have gone back to their normal duties, said the oil company. "Staff have also reported for work at Pulau Bukom and controls have been put in place on movements in the affected areas to ensure their safety," it added. "Safety is our top priority. The units in the vicinity of the fire incident remain shut down as a precaution. As such we advise that a larger flare will be visible. The flare is a safety procedure and is no cause for alarm. There are no toxic vapours released." The National Environment Agency said in a public advisory on its website that no toxic gases have been detected on the mainland. The NEA has been "closely monitoring" ambient air quality since yesterday, it added. The increase in the three-hour PSI reading this morning (peaking at 68 at 8am) is due to smoke haze being blown over from South Sumatra, and not the Buko fires, an NEA source told Today.

Taken from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/malaysia-airlines-mh370-british-sailor-katherine-tee-saw-094337496.html A British sailor has filed a report with Australian authorities stating she saw a burning Boeing 777 near Thailand on the morning Malaysia Airlines MH370 disappeared. Katherine Tee, who was sailing across the Indian Ocean from Cochin, India, to Phuket with her husband Marc Horn, said she saw what looked like an aircraft on fire crossing the night sky, with a plume of black smoke trailing behind it. Tee, 41, was alone on the deck of the couple's yacht in the early hours of 8 March. "I was on a night watch. My husband was asleep below deck and our one other crew member was asleep on deck," she told Thailand's Phuket Gazette. "I saw something that looked like a plane on fire. That's what I thought it was. Then, I thought I must be mad. It caught my attention because I had never seen a plane with orange lights before, so I wondered what they were." "I could see the outline of the plane, it looked longer than planes usually do. There was what appeared to be black smoke streaming from behind it." Posting on the sailing website Cruisers' Forum, Tee said the aircraft passed from port to starboard, which would have been approximately north to south. "Since that's not something you see every day, I questioned my mind. I was looking at what appeared to be an elongated plane glowing bright orange, with a trail of black smoke behind it." According to Tee, two other aircraft were flying in the opposite direction above the burning jet. "There were two other planes well above it -- moving the other way -- at the time. They had normal navigation lights. I remember thinking that if it was a plane on fire that I was seeing, the other aircraft would report it." She filed a report on Sunday to the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), the Australian government agency running the search for the missing airliner. Although the couple arrived in Phuket on 10 March, Tee did not alert authorities to the sighting at the time as she had been experiencing marital problems and feared being mistaken. "So when we hit land everyone was talking about the missing plane and asking if we'd seen anything," she explained. "Since I doubted what I saw and was emotionally in a bad way, I brushed over what I thought I'd seen." However after seeing a report last weekend that a Chinese ship involved in the ongoing search for the jet in the southern Indian Ocean had developed technical problems, she and her husband began to review their sailing logs. "That is when we checked our GPS log and realised that perhaps I really did see it," Tee said, as quoted by the Times. The couple discovered that their yacht was in the vicinity of one of MH370's projected flight paths on the night it disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. "This is what convinced me to file a report with the full track data for our voyage to the relevant authorities," Tee said.

“What burning ‘paper money’ really meant those days.” During a funeral ceremony in ancient China, paper-made models of houses, sedan chairs, treasure chests, clothes, daily utensils, and even effigies of servants, were burnt as the cortege was leaving home for burial in the cemetery. The ORIGINAL meaning of such an act is to show everyone present that all former possessions of the deceased cannot be brought along to the next life. At one’s death, everything one had ever owned has to be left behind. The burning only emphasizes this message, as it is the most graphical, symbolic, and dramatic way of showing total loss! There is a Chinese saying that ‘no possessions can be brought along to the next existence; the only thing that follows one is his deeds, or ‘karma’ ‘ ( 万般带不去，唯有业随身 ). Furthermore, his relatives and friends only follow the deceased up to the grave, but soon turn to go home, leaving the dead alone in his tomb! Thus, the burning of cheaply-produced paper models and effigies served as an effective educational tool. Witnessing how fire consumes every ‘former possession’ of the deceased, even an illiterate peasant or young child was able to understand this sense of total relinquishment at death. Today, this practice is completely misunderstood by the majority of Chinese. Instead of the original meaning, paper-made models have been turned into “paper offerings” – with the mistaken thought that whatever one burns, his departed relatives will obtain in the netherworld! Hence people nowadays burn paper models of the latest i-Pads, smartphones, LED screens, and “paper money” in inflated sums in order to please the dead. All these will not help the departed ones at all. In fact, this misunderstanding will only harm the living by maintaining their ignorance and delusions. http://www.nalanda.org.my/what-burning-paper-money-really-meant/

A construction worker has been rescued from a burning building in Houston, Texas moments before it collapsed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJX5qHISWd0

Post-PSLE book-burning photo inflames netizens Published on Oct 08, 2013 In this picture that was initially published in Shin Min Daily News, a group of children and parents appear to be burning textbooks following the recent PSLE. The photo later made its rounds on Facebook, sparking complaints over the message it sent and the wastage of the books themselves. By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh And Joanna Seow WHILE many families breathed a sigh of relief after the Primary School Leaving Examination ended last Wednesday, some took celebrations a step further - by setting their books on fire. A photo of a group of children and parents burning what appears to be textbooks has sparked discussion after being shared online. Some concerned netizens accused them of degrading knowledge and education, while others questioned why the books were not given to needy students instead. After the photo was published in Chinese evening paper Shin Min Daily News, it made the rounds on Facebook and forums such as kiasuparents.com. Mrs Kelly Yeo, 40, who saw the original photo on Sunday, said she felt very sad for the children. "It shows how stressed they are and what kind of mindset they have (about) exams. They don't see them as part of the learning journey. "The source of it all is the great emphasis on exam grades in the education system." The homemaker and mother of four boys aged eight to 14 said that after her two older sons sat their PSLE, their books were kept for the younger siblings and members of their extended family. "Some of the books my children have are also passed down from other friends," she added. Another parent, Madam Lim Shu Min, 41, said of the children in the photo: "It's worse that their parents are there encouraging them. Education starts at home. There must be something wrong if children think it's okay to burn their textbooks." Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education Lim Biow Chuan said the photo sent the wrong signal from the parents. "Books are a source of knowledge meant to help and educate a person so whatever the amount of stress one may have I don't think they should burn the books," said Mr Lim, who is also the MP for Mountbatten. His younger daughter sat the PSLE this year and he plans to ask other families if they are interested in her used books. However, Secondary 1 student Jaren Pang, who still remembers the PSLE stress from a year back, admitted he understood the pupils' feelings. "You can be quite happy after your exams, so maybe that's why they burned the textbooks. To celebrate, and because they don't want to see the books ever again," he explained. But he said the furthest his friends went was to tear their books and worksheets. Jaren gave his books away to his neighbour, a Primary 3 student. "It's selfish (to burn them)," he added. "You might not need it anymore but other people do. It will help them." Parents can donate used textbooks to needy students through NTUC FairPrice's annual Share-A-Textbook drive. The start date will be announced in November and people can pass old textbooks to cashiers in any NTUC FairPrice supermarket. The drive accepts school books from any education level. While the Salvation Army does not have a drive for textbooks, it accepts used books of any sort at its donation centres. Although I ever thought of doing that during my school days, never had the guts to do it. Now the students did that with parents' approval!

a group of parents led their children to celebrate the end of PSLE by ..... burning the books!! since they won't need the book anymore, and the syllabus may change and can't pass it to the P5 students.... it will still end up with the karung guni what do you think of this?

Hi Anybody know when the burning of joss paper will be most intense? This morning I smell something liao.. So on the midnight of 14th, or the night of 15th will have most number of pp burning right? I need to hibernate somewhere as my nose throat is v sensitive.. Thanks all for the info..!

Not trying to start a religious war but need to ask the following question: When will most pp who observed the 7th month burn the most paper? Some pp told me its tonight, first day, some said 7th of 7th month, some said it should be last day, the midnight of 14th when it strike 12am 15th, pp will start burning. Need to ask so that I can take leave and hide in Mcdonalds, happy burning..! Thanks..

It's time to reminding keep fire extinguisher in our car for fire emergency, wonder what brand of this burning car ? Damn scary !

Don't know what happened but can see a car (or maybe more cars) burning on AYE, just after the Keppel Road exit. It causes a massive traffic jam behind and the fire engine (which came from the other direction) will have a hard time to reach the site even after it can u-turn back. CNY coming bros. Drive safe.

Feb 17, 2011 Father gets jail and cane for burning his kids' buttocks By Elena Chong A SECURITY officer was given 48 months' jail and eight strokes of the cane on Thursday for burning the buttocks of his two young sons and subjecting them various forms of ill-treatment. The 26-year-old father of three had admitted to nine charges committed at his home between October 2008 and August 2010. Seventeen other charges were taken into consideration. The court heard that the accused had been taking care of his children at home while his wife went to work. The first time he caused hurt to his then five-year-old son was in October 2008, when he burnt him on the buttock with a hot ladle. The following year in 2009, he came home and found some burnt tissue paper in his ash tray and believed that the victim had played with his lighter. He decided to teach him a lesson by lighting the tip of his lighter and pressed it on his buttock. In 2010, he slapped and punched the boy on his arm and used a shoe to hit him for climbing the window grille. Months later, he lashed him with a telephone cable, for messing up the house. Among the abuses he inflicted on his younger boy were to tie him to a pipe in the toilet on two occasions in 2010, to stop the four-year-old from damaging items at home or hurting himself. When the boy was 3 1/2, he had burnt his buttock with the tip of a lighted cigarette, for wetting the newspapers. District Judge Ronald Gwee agreed with the prosecution that deterrent sentences were appropriate in view of the aggravating factors. He said the various acts of the accused over a prolonged period were rather cruel involving the use of lighted cigarettes, a hot ladle and spatula to burn the victims' buttocks. The accused could have been jailed for up to seven years on each count of hurting with a heated substance. For ill-treatment, he could have been fined up to $4,000 and/or jailed for up to four years on each charge. Have children for the sake of having them, dunno how to love and protect them. Give him a life sentence oso no diff.

saw a van burning furiously on CTE just before YCK exit hope the driver is ok mata and fire engine not arrived yet PS: dun flame me... took the pic when i was stuck in the acceleration lane

ELECTRONIC Road Pricing (ERP) charges at four areas will go up by $1 from Nov 1. The changes are as follows: >>Gantries at the East Coast Parkway (ECP) at Fort Road and the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway slip road from 8.30am to 9am. Old: $3 New: $4 >>Westbound on the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) near Kallang Bahru from 7.30am to 8am. Old: no charge New: $1 >>The Central Business District and Bugis-Marina Centre cordon on weekday CBD from 6.30pm to 7pm Old: $2 New: $3 >>Orchard cordon on weekdays from 6.30pm to 7pm Old: $1 New: $2 >>Orchard cordon on Saturdays from 6.30pm to 8pm Old: $1 New: $2 The rates for the other gantries will remain unchanged. The next ERP review will take place in November for the December school holidays.

I was driving on Benjamin Shears Bridge when I noticed a flame at the top, somewhere around around 2am.. ? On closer look its a burning Camry... Also there was a Mercedes E-class that stopped about 4-5m infront of the burning wreck. My apologies for no pictures as the TP was standing around and I didn't want to be booked for using a phone while driving. :/ So many fires recently, from Mercedes to Ferrari... now Toyota.

Tata Motors' Nano city car is once again making headlines in India for all the wrong reasons. Following three incidents in 2009 whereby owners of the Nano in Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Delhi reported seeing smoke and flames coming out of their vehicles' dashboard, another Nano caught fire. However, the situation has turned for the worse this time and Tata's much-vaunted 'world's cheapest car' literally went up in flames. According to Indian news sites, the particular Nano was owned by insurance agent Satish Sawant who had just bought the car from a dealership in Prabhadevi, Mumbai. About forty-five minutes into the drive the car burst into flames. Luckily, both Sawant and the driver managed to escape unhurt. "I have no idea what happened. A motorcycle rider overtook me and told me that the vehicle was on fire. The engine was behind me and I did not realize that the car was on fire," Sawant told reporters. Since the incident is currently under investigation, it is not clear if Sawant's car suffered from a similar problem as the three aforementioned Nanos (electrical glitches) or if this is a new issue that Tata has to address. Either way, if Nanos keep bursting up, Tata could end up with a scorching problem in its hands. Most of us Singaporeans like things that are cheap and good. Take the above case as a lesson and don't risk your life in the process of saving A 'pre-burnt' Nano

Suppose you have a boss that is influentual and not unknown in the industry. How do you tell the boss YOU QUIT without burning bridges? And given your role is not easily replaceable...how do you stand firm on your decision that you will not extend your notice?

The government has done a very good job of creating places to burn for the 7th month and yet we have singaporeans who insists on burning the ground of our hdb dwellings y is tat even worse these ppl burn around the designated area do they not understand the simple concept of alocatted area?

i was exiting Taka B3 carpark n i was doing half clutch in stop start traffic on the slope from B3 all the way to level 1..... i cld hav stopped, engage hand brake, when mov off, do a half clutch n press accelerator...... but i was doing half clutch with the accelator slightly depressed so that the car wont roll back.... suddenly there was a very strong burn smell in my cabin...... after a while the smell was gone... do i need to send my car for checks??? i wll never enter B3 taka carpark ever again..... cos the exit route is alwaz jammed... n its a nitemare for manual cars to be stuck on a very steep slope......

anyone passed by the above location..some UFO crashed isit? and cause a pretty long jam for those cars turning into KJE.. [laugh] seems like the 'object' burned quite long..i heard on the radio about it at about 5pm and when i passed by the location at about 7, the jam is still there

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,...,201665,00.html? He gets lost outside Marsiling flats, then sets fire to clothes with cigarette butts By Amanda Yong May 12, 2009 Print Ready Email Article ONE wrong turn, and he ended up lost in a block of flats. Derrick Ee, 35, could not find his friend's unit and decided to have a smoke. When he was through, he flicked the cigarette butt onto some clothes hanging outside a flat and caused about $50 worth of damage. Then, 1 1/2 hours later, around 4am on 2 Apr, he did the same thing to clothes outside a neighbouring unit. They ended up catching fire, and when Ee saw them burning, he ran off. This time, he managed to find his friend's flat. The police tracked him down and arrested him a few days later. Ee pleaded guilty to one charge of mischief by fire and was jailed five months. Another similar charge was taken into consideration during sentencing. The court heard that Ee had been living in his friend's flat on the fourth storey of Block 18, Marsiling Lane. He was headed there in the early hours after drinking at a coffee shop. Lost But Ee went up the wrong staircase and when he got to the fourth floor, he could not find the unit. It was after that that he began flicking cigarette butts on to the clothes. The second time he did that, he ended up burning 12 pieces of clothing and four bamboo poles worth $100. When Ee saw them alight, he got frightened and took off. The owner of the clothes woke up to find her clothes burnt. She called the police later that morning. In his mitigation, Ee pleaded for a light sentence. He said: 'I recognise that I did wrong and I seek the forgiveness of Your Honour and of my neighbour... I will not commit the offence again.' For committing mischief by fire, he could have been jailed seven years and fined. ERMMMM, 5 months jail for burning. 1 day for murder... WHAT DO U GUYS TINK???

Asking for my buddy. He was washing his car about an hour after he came home. As he was washing his front left rims, he rinse it down and there was steam coming out. He move his hand nearer and felt that heat was emitting from the brakes. He was puzzled that he didn't do any hard braking and it'a already an hour since he reached home. He also mentioned that for his car was vibrating a little like it's going over speed bumps for about a minute when he was on his way home. The vibrations disappeared after a while so he didn't think much about it. Anyone has similiar experiences? What's the possible cause?