DUST DEVIL INJURES 14 IN MONTCLAIR

mcr Sat May 10, 2008 9:32 pm

Dust devil injures 14 in Montclair
MONTECLARA
Article Created: 04/26/2008 10:11:52 PM PDT

MONTCLAIR - Fourteen people were injured Saturday when a freak wind gust touched down during a church event.
The strong circular gust picked up debris - including tents - and sent them spiraling several feet into the air before dropping them back down to the ground at Montera Elementary School, 4825 Bandera St.

Two people were taken to a hospital - one was struck by a flying tent and the other suffered a knee injury, said Layne Shiba, Montclair fire division chief.

Firefighters responded at 5:26 p.m. after receiving a call of a tent blowing over and injuring several people.

The event at Montera Elementary was put on by Iglesia Ni Cristo church, said Rene Zafra, event organizer.

Several tents were set up around a blacktop area. The wind started swirling near a jungle gym close by.

"It started small," Zafra said. "It became big so quick, and then it started to move" toward the people on the black top.

Witnesses described the gusts as circular and resembling a tornado.

Despite the destruction, Noel Isla, forecaster with the National Weather Service, said the gust was not a tornado.

"No, no tornadoes today," he said. "It's a cloudless sky."

The incident was likely caused by a dust devil, a small whirlwind common to the Inland Empire and likely to occur on hot days.

With Saturday's temperatures climbing into the 90s, the conditions provided perfect dust-devil weather.

Generally,

dust devils are "not strong at all," Isla said.
Bits of green gelatin, fried chicken, noodles, paper, large piles of debris and the metal frames of the tents were strewn across the playground.

"We've never had anything like this," Shiba said.