Local news highlights some universal hazards

A few items in the local news caught our attention recently. They could have been articles from any newspaper in the country, but that they happened in the same week in our area made us reflect on the safety challenges we face every day.

The first was a fatal house fire in Yonkers, N.Y. that killed a couple in their eighties. Police say the fire started when a space heater placed too close to the bed ignited the linens. The fire had plenty of fuel in the cluttered house. (In addition, fireman had to break through the front door, which had been bolted shut by the couple to prevent intruders.)

Next there was a report from the Westchester County Department of Consumer Protection on its two-month investigation into local grocery stores. In November and December, the county sent inspectors into 59 grocery stores to look for expired foods. They found an average of 88 out-of-date items per store and removed 433 items from shelves at one store. Among the stomach-turners: cheddar cheese that was eight months past its sell-by date and four-month-old coffee creamer. Officials noted that grocery items most likely to be out-of-date were cheese (including cottage cheese and cream cheese) and yogurt, and vacuum-packed deli meat, hot dogs, and bacon. The report said that contrary to what some shoppers think, the back of the display case isn’t always where the freshest goods are, and that the top and bottom shelves of the dairy case held the most problems.

And in a sad (and sadly ironic) clash of timing and technology, an out-of-state computer technician focusing his attention on the GPS in his rental car found himself on the rails instead of the road in Bedford Hills. After the driver made a wrong turn, the car became stuck on the train tracks; the driver was able to escape before the car was hit by a commuter train leaving New York. More than 500 passengers were stranded for two hours and subsequent trains were canceled or postponed.

Perhaps we took special note of these news items because they involve issues we've covered in the past—space heater safety, food safety and GPS safety. Still, it's good to be mindful of such hazards when we're at home, on the road or at the grocery store.