Author: CNN Newsource

By Madisen Keavy

Click here for updates on this story

    ROSEVILLE, California (KOVR) — Authorities are warning residents not to throw lithium-ion batteries in the trash after one sparked a dangerous fire inside a Roseville garbage truck.

The City of Roseville released dramatic video showing the moment the battery ignited in the back of the truck.

First came a cloud of white smoke. Seconds later, flames.

“It’s not a slow ignition process. It’s very rapid,” said Justin Sylvia with Sacramento Fire.

Officials said the lithium-ion battery had been thrown in the trash and was crushed inside the garbage truck, sparking the fire. It was the fourth such fire in Roseville this year.

Sacramento Fire officials say the smoke from those fires can also create a toxic gas cloud.

“Fire, chemical reaction, chain reaction, something could happen and it could produce toxic results, as well as that fire hazard,” Sylvia said.

Lithium-ion batteries have also sparked fires in Sacramento. They are commonly found in laptops, e-bikes, power tools and other rechargeable devices.

Officials say warnings not to throw them into regular trash bins go beyond city limits.

“Once you see a lithium-ion battery rupture inside the back of a trash truck, the chain reaction happens so quickly and so violently that it causes that fire to expand very rapidly,” Sylvia said.

It may sound like a warning people already know, but fires caused by lithium-ion batteries are rising as the devices become more common.

Many cities, including Roseville, offer free drop-off and pickup options to help residents safely dispose of dead batteries.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Charlie Lapastora

Click here for updates on this story

    STOCKTON, California (KOVR) — Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and mental health battles are common among first responders, and one retired Stockton firefighter, who’s battled with PTSD himself, decided to do something about it after he almost lost everything.

CBS Sacramento’s Charlie Lapastora takes us up the mountains to Sonora, where Douglas Satterfield wants to bring the joys of taking his kids to ice cream trucks to the community he grew up in, to give back to first responders.

Doug is no longer hopping in a fire truck to fight fires, but hopping in his newly built ice cream truck, looking to fight for first responders’ mental health.

“I know the struggle,” Doug said. “And first responders, they deserve the best, man. They put it all out there and they don’t deserve to lose it in the end.”

It’s something Satterfield holds near and dear to him because he almost lost it with a mental breakdown himself in 2021 and was later diagnosed with PTSD.

“I didn’t know I had PTSD,” Doug said. “I had no idea. I was living life. I was still enjoying the job, enjoying the calls, and our family was doing what I thought was great. I mean, we were surviving and no arguments or anything, but there’s just an underlying tension, and you just live at such a high level in life in this career. You’re always in a fight. You’re never in flight and that’s 24-7. So, it’s exhausting, but I just didn’t know what was going on with me.”

Little did Doug know, amidst the long hours and dozens of weekly calls, the fight was also 24/7 in his mind.

“I just keep adding things to my backpack and then things started happening, things that were totally out of my character,” Doug said. “So, there was a time that I was involved with law enforcement, officers, and something that I would never have done in the past and now I’m finding myself engaged with law enforcement, of possibly being arrested, but I didn’t recognize at that time that I was having a mental break because I was totally out of control.”

After resisting help and realizing the coping mechanisms he was using were what he says “very destructive,” Doug found help with the West Coast Post-Trauma Retreat (WCPR), run by volunteers, including the clinicians. It was during that retreat that he learned about the “backpack” we wear every day that can pile up, bills, family tension, and, in the case of first responders, calls. It can get so heavy to drag it around all the time, so WCPR helped him learn how to get rid of those rocks.

“I was going to lose everything,” Doug said. “And if I knew I was going to lose everything, I knew what the next step was going to be and that scared me. And so, I sought help, and thank God I did.”

After what his family calls a transformation in Doug, he decided to purchase an old mail truck he found on Facebook Marketplace, with all tips and part of the proceeds to help pay for other first responders and their spouses to go on the retreat that rescued him and his family.

“He came to me with this, he’s like, ‘I’m going to buy an ice cream truck’,” Lori Satterfield, Doug’s wife, said. “And I was like, ‘Okay, all right,’ but it just kept morphing and kept morphing and kept morphing and getting better and better and better. I just couldn’t, I can’t sit back and just not be a part of it. I mean, it’s so exciting, but it’s absolutely, this is his vision. This is his dream and I am just along for the ride and here to support as much as I can.”

Hopping along for the ride means something different to Doug these days, taking care of putting out fires at home with porch therapy with his wife every evening and working in tandem with his family in his “Fire and Ice cream” truck.

“I’m done with tragedies and now I’m looking to just fulfill the smiles,” Doug said.

And he’s encouraging his fellow first responder brothers and sisters fighting on the front lines to take care of the battles they face, within, wanting the process to get help to be more streamlined.

“We just deserve to live,” Doug said. “It’s just so heartbreaking and so that’s just my panic. So this is another thing with this is that, man, when I came out of the retreat, I was in such a panic because I felt like I needed to get to all the guys and gals that I had the golden ticket. I figured it out and I couldn’t get to everybody quick enough. I was calling everybody on the department. I was calling the chief and everybody. And I was even telling the chief, ‘You need to go to this program. You’re, you’re messed up.’ They just weren’t hearing it. And so with this, it provides so much opportunity to talk to other first responders and to give them my experience and how well it’s worked for me.”

As many as one-in-10 first responders report experiences of PTSD- nearly 3-times the rate in the US general population, according to Texas A&M’s Dr. Anka Vujanovic, whose done research on first responders’ trauma, and the National Institutes of Health and Mental Health. And that’s not including other mental illnesses, like depression, anxiety, or general psychological distress, which can be even higher. Dr. Vujanovic’s research also shows that suicide rates among first responders are comparable to rates documented among military service members and veterans.

“In that profession, nobody comes out unscathed,” Doug said. “It’s the ego. It’s the pride. It’s that people just don’t want to be vulnerable enough to find that healing. and so there’s a stigma to it. There’s a stigma to asking for help. And the issues are, man, you’re trying to do your best. The public gets the best of you, but your family ends up getting the worst of you and that’s where we end up failing and we just don’t recognize it. And so I’m just asking for my brothers and sisters to stay aware because you’re worth it. And thank God for WCPR. Thank God I had the courage to ask for help.”

Lori and their three children — Kaitlyn, Ryan and Reid — experienced a different side of Doug growing up as he put in hours fighting fires, not dealing with what was going on internally, and have seen how much he’s changed.

“After he’s put in so much work and has changed so much, that I look back on those days now and realize how hard it really was,” Lori Satterfield said. “But now our communication is so fantastic. We sit on the porch. We have our porch therapy. We sit on the porch at night and listen to the crickets and the frogs and just talk about our day. And a lot of times we talk about our past and the things that our family has gone through. And man, we’re just stronger for it. It’s been amazing.”

“Definitely a struggle growing up, but now, since all the hard work he’s gone through, it’s been incredible to see the transformation he’s gone through,” Reid Satterfield, Doug and Lori’s 18-year-old son, said.

A transformation started with getting help. Then, it moved into learning the art of “patience” in transforming his truck to make sure it’s ready to go.

“I was just asking and praying and believing that something’s going to happen,” Doug said. “And then here we are.”

Satterfield is looking to uplift first responders to help fight their fires with ice cream.

The Satterfields are now just waiting on the county for their permit and they will also do private events, already getting requests for reservations. Once they are in operation, you can track their routes on their website.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By James Taylor, CBS13 Photojournalist

Click here for updates on this story

    SACRAMENTO, California (KOVR) — A new effort is underway to reduce Sacramento’s drug overdose crisis.

More than 1,400 people in Sacramento have died from fentanyl in the last five years.

Local Christian rapper Exoduzmusic says he was inspired to write a song about fentanyl after seeing so many tragedies in his South Sacramento neighborhood.

“I see addictions, I hear about overdoses all the time, I see people that are dying,” Exoduzmusic said.

The performer is now shooting a music video in the neighborhood to help raise awareness about the dangers of the potentially deadly drug.

“A lot of times in hip hop, a lot of people are glorifying the drugs and glorifying that lifestyle, so I just want to do something different and show them, ‘look, there’s a different side to rap,’ ” Exoduzmusic said.

Alyssa White is among those participating in the video performance. She says one of her family members died due to an overdose of the drug.

“It’s really heartbreaking,” White said.

Just this year, the Sacramento County coroner says 61 people died from fentanyl related overdoses, and last year, 253 people were killed.

“I think that’s too many for Sac County,” White said. “I think we have a problem.”

State Attorney General Rob Bonta says keeping fentanyl off the streets is a top priority.

“Since 2022, the DOJ has seized more than 22 million fentanyl pills, more than 7,000 pounds of fentanyl powder,” Bonta said. “That’s enough to kill every Californian 40 times over.”

Exoduzmusic is hoping his song will help prevent any more families from the sadness of losing a loved one to fentanyl.

“If we start making noise, we start raising about this issue, then I feel like we can make a difference,” Exoduzmusic said.

The state attorney general says more than 620 people have been arrested across California in connection with fentanyl sales and distribution in the last four years.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Michele Gile

Click here for updates on this story

    GARDEN GROVE, California (KCAL, KCBS) — While Orange County officials say the toxic chemical crisis in Garden Grove has moved out of the emergency response phase and into a cleanup phase, a group of affected residents joined mass tort litigation after being evacuated from their homes for days.

Orange County-based attorney Shawn Steel announced the lawsuit on Friday, saying he is presenting individual cases rather than a class action, as the compensation requested for each person varies depending on their experiences due to the incident and evacuations.

So far, Steel said there are 30 plaintiffs and “Many of these cases are six figures,” he thinks, in terms of financial compensation.

“Many of the clients here were given 15 minutes’ notice. A police man went to their door, knocked on the door and said ‘you gotta leave, now,'” Steel said.

He noted that people in the area didn’t know much about GKN Aerospace and were quite surprised by the crisis.

Shadi Dababneh spoke at Friday’s news conference announcing the litigation and said his parents have owned their Westminster home, directly across from the manufacturing plant, for 30 years. He said he grew up in the house and still lives there.

“I grew up there my entire life, and countless times I have driven past this plant, not knowing that it could possibly blow up one day.” He said his father is fending off buyers, making low-ball offers on the property because of its location near the plant.

Steele said some issues people are dealing with are anxiety, fear, and psychological harm.

“Hard to measure, but it’s real. For example, one of our clients, Roxanna, she was driving back into town, she started hearing what was going on with her family, she had a panic attack and went to the Kaiser emergency room,” he said.

Officials say they averted disaster. There was never an explosion or a leak. GKN Aerospace has apologized and said the company is committed to understanding what happened and identifying ways to support those affected.

Steel said his clients are seeking compensation for various things like temporary lodging, hotel costs, food expenses, transportation, medical evaluation, relocation and moving expenses. Devalued property is also a concern.

Orange County leaders have already initiated action and launched an investigation into GKN Aerospace, as District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced an open probe into the company. He’s asked anyone working there who wishes to be a whistleblower over illegal conduct or misdoings to come forward.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Julie Sharp, Austin Turner, Dean Fioresi

Click here for updates on this story

    RIVERSIDE, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Riverside fire crews battled flames at a large apartment complex near UC Riverside on Friday afternoon, with officials saying as many as 50 units were destroyed after a contractor accidentally started the blaze.

Aerial views on Friday afternoon show that flames spread throughout the large, sprawling University Riverside Gardens Apartments at 2996 Iowa Avenue. UC Riverside staff said the apartment complex is not owned or operated by the university, but students do live there.

The Riverside Fire Department said about 150 people were displaced as a result. Firefighters saved 62 units from destruction, the department said, but it’s unclear when those tenants will be allowed to return home.

Crews from Riverside city and county departments responded, tackling flames as they consumed much of the complex. Ontario Fire and Riverside County Cal Fire crews also responded.

Firefighters believe a contractor accidentally started the fire in the attic when they were working on a pipe that turned hot. Without fire stops in the attic, the fire quickly spread through the building.

“Water tower operations are up to put as much water on this fire as we can,” said Riverside City Fire Department Division Chief Jeff White. “The type of what we call a garden-style apartment, that open attic space that can run across, around the entire building, allows the fire to spread unchecked if there wasn’t any type of fire suppression system within the attic system.”

Evacuations were quickly executed, and the American Red Cross has been requested to assist displaced people at the complex.

UC Riverside said the property is not owned or operated by the university, but that “the university is working to determine how many UCR students reside at that location and provide resources and basic needs.”

School officials said they were conducting outreach to students affected by the fire to ensure they had the proper support. They urged anyone else to contact UCR Basic Needs at 951-827-3663 or housingsupport@ucr.edu.

No injuries or rescues are reported.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.