The
s Christma e on r a u the S q December
Thursday, December 12, 2013
12, 2013
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Christmas on the Square
Special Section
The n Springtopwh a Epigr
‘Iceageddon’ wreaks havoc Page 1B on local activities
Porcupines get a game in before the ice storm
Volume 50, Number 35
Page 8A
$1 Springtown, Texas 76082
Men brave flames to save neighbor BY NATALIE GENTRY A fi re consumed a double-wide trailer at 132 Rommel Court, Springtown Monday evening, Dec. 9. A neighbor said he heard an explosion while watching TV that evening. “I thought it was a propane tank exploding,” Grayson Rowan said. When he went outside he found his neighbor’s home on fire. Rowan and another neighbor, who is a volunteer with the Central Community Volunteer Fire Department, rushed to the trailer to check on the resident. According to Rowan, the front of the house was blocked by the fl ames so he and his neighbor went around to the back of the home. They opened the back door and found the resident, who had been attempting to escape. “He was burnt pretty bad,” Rowan said. “His back and head were burnt.” Rowan added that the resident still had on his oxygen hose which had melted at the end of the tube.
According to Emergency Service District Number 1 chief, Eric Vinson, trucks from the Springtown, LaJunta, and Poolville responded after 11:30 p.m. to the fire. Despite having to navigate the icy roads, fi refi ghters subdued the inferno quickly. Vinson said that the explosion was thought to be caused by the homeowner’s oxygen tanks. The resident was reportedly transferred to a Fort Worth hospital by LifeCare. “I’m just glad we were able to get him out,” said Rowan. The entire structure was lost to the fi re, as was the owner’s truck parked near the trailer. Rowan said that, although he was speaking some, no one was able to obtain much information about what happened from the resident while at the scene. According to an investigator at the Fire Marshall’s offi ce the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
This was Highway 51 south of Springtown on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 7. Few vehicles made the A fi re destroyed this home at 132 Rommel Court Dec. 9 and the oceffort to get around as the ice lingered for days. MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 11A AND 1-3B. Photo by Mark K. Campbell cupant suffered severe burns. Photo by Natalie Gentry
Christmas on the Square here Sat. BY NATALIE GENTRY A variety of vendors have secured booths at the annual Christmas on the Square event this Saturday. Guests can purchase items like handmade jewelry and leather items, as well as crocheted pieces, crosses and watches. Vendors representing Pampered Chef, Avon, Thirty-one, Scentsy, and Premier Jewelry will have booths full of items available to buy. Christmas decorations, like deco-mesh wreaths and ornaments will be displayed and available for purchase to add that last touch of holiday cheer. Santa Claus himself will be located by the Christmas tree on the western side of the lawn so children can tell him if they have been naughty or nice and let him know what they want for Christmas. The Carter BloodCare bus will be set up at the southeast corner so guests can give the gift of life An “ask the vet” booth will be available in the southwest corner of the square for those with questions concerning their furry friends. And, a petting zoo will be set up in the north-west corner to give the kids a place to interact with fun furry critters while they wait for their turn on the pony ride. Christmas on the Square is this Saturday, Dec. 14 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
SHS FFA team 8th at state BY NATALIE GENTRY The Springtown High School FFA Agriculture Advocacy Team fi nished eighth out of 216 teams on Dec. 5-6 at the state competition. Junior Madyson Nolte and freshmen Sophia Kelley and Aspen Wade’s second place achievement at the area competition on Nov. 23 secured them the opportunity to compete at the elite gathering. The agriculture advocacy competition is a Leadership Development Event (LDE) created to promote the agricultural industry on all levels – from local to the state – and to prepare students to promote agriculture in a professional and effective manner through communication and presentation skills. Qualifying teams must create a presentation that will educate the consumer and general public about the importance and value of the industry and will promote the principles of agriculture. The theme for 2013 was “Safe and Wholesome Food Supply.” FFA adviser, Emily Grant, explained a little more. “The topic is very broad, so the girls decided to focus their presentation on two questions: ‘Why do consumers
think their food is unsafe?’ and ‘How do consumers keep their food safe once they have it in their homes?’” Grant added that the girls wanted to bring awareness to some common misconceptions about the agriculture industry such as the believed benefi ts of organically-grown fruits and vegetables; the supposed side effects of the use of growth hormones in livestock intended for consumption; and the most common places of contamination of food. One element of the presentation was a scientifi c experiment. Grant said that instead of merely looking up results to previous experiments Nolte, Kelley, and Wade chose to conduct their own. “The girls asked Ms. Hornback, Mrs. Grant, and Mr. Carter to help them complete the experiment,” Grant said. “They wanted to compare the amount of bacteria on the outside of an organically grown and conventionally grown potato.” Once the team had all of the needed data, they prepared their presentation and began to practice. “Part of the presentation is a question and answer session,” Grant explained. “So the girls went around the PLEASE SEE 8TH PLACE, PAGE 3A.
Holy earthquake! Seismographic equipment headed for Azle BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN Although earthquakes in the Azle, Reno, and Springtown areas seem to have decreased somewhat in frequency, they do not appear to be losing strength. A 3.6 magnitude quake woke many folks from slumber at 12:10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 8. At the time, it had been about fi ve days since a quake had occurred. On Tuesday, Dec. 10, numerous area residents reported they felt a mild quake around 9:45 a.m.
During a conference call with EllsAt 4:15 p.m., the United States tude of 3.7. Geological Survey (USGS) confi rmed The Mayor of Azle, Alan Brun- worth, they learned the Azle area a 2.7 magnitude occurred between drett, confi rmed Tuesday that USGS quakes were already under scrutiny by Windjammer Lane and Top Gallant has shipped four seismographs to the the agency at its headquarters in CaliCourt – pretty much smack dab in the Huffi ngton Department of Earth Sci- fornia. “Ellsworth said he had the equipmiddle of Oak Harbor Estates, argu- ences at Southern Methodist Univerably Azle’s most affl uent neighbor- sity in Dallas, from which a team will ment sitting on his desk and was getbe dispatched to Azle to install the ting it ready for shipment when we hood. called,” Brundrett said. “It was alAlso, the largest of all 20-plus equipment. Brundrett explained that after city ready in his plan.” quakes that have occurred in the area since the shaking began Nov. 5 was offi cials contacted Congresswoman This week’s ice storm, coupled recorded Monday, Dec. 9, at 3:23 Kay Granger, she put them in contact with the fact that almost everyone asa.m. about 11 miles north-northeast of with W.L. “Bill” Ellsworth, an earth- sociated with the SMU earth science program is attending the American Mineral Wells. It registered a magni- quake expert with USGS.
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Geophysical Union Conference in San Francisco, have created delays in getting the seismographic equipment deployed into the area. But that should happen no later than next week, Brundrett said. In a nutshell, Brundrett said, USGS is looking at injections wells as a possible cause of the area quakes, because they believe they have linked earthquakes to injection wells in other locations. But in addition to studying whether PLEASE SEE SEISMOGRAHIC, PAGE 4A.
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