Leaky gas tanker truck explodes in LA
LOS ANGELES -- A tanker truck leaking gasoline caught fire and caused an explosion that injured two people and sent up a plume visible across Los Angeles on Sunday, authorities said.
The blast reverberated through storm drains and sent manhole covers into the air, Fire Department officials said.
Crews responding to reports of a gas smell found the tanker fully engulfed and then were forced back by the force of the blast, officials said. Dozens of firefighters took nearly two hours to douse the blaze in a neighborhood about 6 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
Two people were hospitalized, one with injuries described as serious. The other victim suffered minor injuries, fire officials said.
The flames burned a two-story home and displaced a family, authorities said.
The smoldering tank, which was in a storage yard, lay on its side with one end blown wide open. Officials didn't immediately know how much gas was originally inside the tank, which could hold up to 9,000 gallons.
The leak and subsequent explosion are under investigation.
Gillibrand makes White House bid official
WASHINGTON -- New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand formally joined the 2020 White House race on Sunday and previewed the hard line she will take against President Donald Trump by announcing a rally outside one of his signature Manhattan properties.
She had spent more than a month traveling around the country to gauge support for a run for the Democratic nomination.
Her announcement that she was joining the dozen-plus candidates who want to challenge Trump came in a nearly three-minute video produced by her campaign and released early in the morning. She says the national anthem poses this question: "Will brave win?"
"Well, it hasn't always, and it isn't right now," she says. "Brave doesn't pit people against each other. Brave doesn't put money over lives. Brave doesn't spread hate. Cloud truth. Build a wall. That's what fear does."
In the video, Gillibrand says that the country needs a leader who "makes bold, brave choices" and "someone who isn't afraid of progress. That's why I'm running for president."
She said her debut speech as a candidate will come Sunday in front of the Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York.
This week she plans to campaign in Michigan, Iowa and Nevada, leading up to her New York kickoff.
Gillibrand has been a vocal advocate for electing more women to office, as well as combating sexual assault and violence in politics and the military.
N.C. stabbing suspect held in Arizona
NASHVILLE, N.C. -- A North Carolina man accused of killing his wife was arrested Sunday on an Arizona interstate, authorities said, adding they will take a closer look at the death of the man's first wife more than a decade ago.
Nash County, N.C., Sheriff Keith Stone said 57-year-old Rexford Lynn Keel Jr. was arrested during a traffic stop on the outskirts of Tucson, Ariz., by state troopers. Keel had a large amount of cash and a knife with him, Stone said, and the truck he was driving was searched.
The Nash County sheriff's office said it obtained an arrest warrant Friday accusing Keel of murder in his wife's death. The man's 38-year-old wife, Diana Alejandra Keel, had disappeared March 9. Her body was found days later in another North Carolina county, and Stone said it appears she had died of multiple stab wounds.
Investigators said Keel had fled in a pickup, launching a multiday manhunt.
Stone said Sunday that the woman had a 10-year-old son with her husband, as well as an 18-year-old daughter.
Stone also said that investigators would be taking a closer look at the circumstances surrounding the death of Keel's first wife, which previously had been ruled accidental. Elizabeth Edwards Keel, 42, died at the couple's home on Jan. 1, 2006, according to the sheriff's office.
A recent news release from the Nash County sheriff's office said Elizabeth Keel's death was classified by a medical examiner at the time as accidental from "blunt trauma to the head" from falling and striking the front concrete steps of the family home.
Houston-area petrochemical plant burns
HOUSTON -- Some residents in the Houston area were being urged Sunday to find a safe location indoors after a fire broke out at a petrochemicals terminal.
The fire started at Intercontinental Terminals Co. in Deer Park, about 15 miles southeast of Houston. Deer Park officials issued a shelter-in-place directive after the fire was reported.
Harris County officials say the fire started about 10 a.m. at the terminal that stores petrochemical liquids and gases, including fuel oil and bunker oil. The company's website says the terminal has a storage capacity of 13.1 million barrels.
The fire is the second in as many days at a Houston-area petrochemical facility. A fire at an Exxon Mobil plant in nearby Baytown that broke out Saturday afternoon has been contained. Company officials say no injuries were reported.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 03/18/2019