Re: OOPS!
Yes, bad publicity. They should not be calling it a pointer, because it wasn't.
From
http://lafd.blogspot.com/ - I'm pasting it because it might be gone off the page in a few days:
Dermatology Laser Sparks High Rise Office Fire
On Saturday, January 20, 2007 at 10:17 AM, twenty-one Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, two LAFD Rescue Ambulances, one Arson Unit, one Hazardous Materials Squad, two LAFD Helicopters, two EMS Battalion Captains, three Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams and one Division Chief Officer Command Team, a total of 128 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel under the direction of Battalion Chief Fred Mathis responded to a Highrise Fire at 6200 Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile.
Firefighters responding to a reported fire in a high rise medical office building were met curbside by Security Officers who confirmed alarm and fire sprinkler activation on the twelfth floor of the seventeen story structure.
LAFD personnel took prompt control of the building by securing the lobby, stairwells, fire control room and key building systems as pursuant of protocol, Fire Department helicopters were being staffed remotely as 'Airborne Engine Companies'.
Firefighters carrying as much as 100 pounds of equipment each climbed 24 flights of stairs to access a fire held in check by a single fire sprinkler in a twelfth floor medical office.
According to witnesses, a hand-held medical laser device being prepared for use in a dermatology office was placed upon and ignited an examination table. The staff tried in vain to extinguish the flames with a portable fire extinguisher before the fire sprinkler activated to hold the flames in check.
The fire was declared extinguished in just seventeen minutes.
There were no injuries to Firefighters, or the more than one dozen occupants who calmly and properly evacuated the fire floor in advance of the Fire Department's arrival.
Following extinguishment, dozens of Firefighters worked for more than two hours assisting building staff with three inches of water removal from office of fire origin, and collateral water impact on the 8th through 11th floors.
Fire loss was limited to $200,000 ($50,000 structure & $150,000 contents).
The cause of the blaze is categorized as accidental, and attributed to carelessness with the heat producing medical laser device.
