Federal Emergency declared in California Fires
[Guest post by DRJ]
President Bush today declared a major disaster in California, clearing the way for “people affected by the fires to begin to receive federal grants for temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.”
With fire crews reportedly gaining control over the LA-area fires, the winds are easing and the focus has turned further south:
“With wildfires in Los Angeles County largely under control, attention and resources shifted today to still-raging blazes elsewhere in Southern California, especially in Orange and San Diego counties, where numerous communities continued to be threatened.
In San Diego County, a fifth evacuee died; he had been moved from a nursing home. In San Bernardino County, police shot and killed a man they suspected of arson. In the fourth day of the one of the largest and most disruptive fire disasters in state history, the winds were diminishing and optimism was cautiously growing.“
Police report arrests for looting and arson, and one suspected arsonist was shot dead as he tried to ram police vehicles in an effort to escape. In addition, critics are starting to weigh in:
“More questions were emerging about the government response to the fires, many from those on the front lines. President Bush planned to visit Thursday, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was dispatched to California.
“We’re not getting a lot of new resources … not nearly what we need,” Coronado Fire Chief Kim Raddatz said today. Orange County Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather expressed a similar frustration Tuesday. “If we had more air resources, we would have been able to control this fire,” he said, referring to the Santiago blaze. “Instead we’ve been stuck in this initial attack mode on the ground where we hopscotch through neighborhoods as best we can trying to control things.”
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dismissed the criticism this morning when questioned by an ABC News reporter. He praised the rapid deployment of fire crews and equipment across a region from north of Los Angeles to the Mexican border.
“Anyone that is complaining about the planes just wants to complain, because there’s a bunch of nonsense,” he said in the broadcast interview. “The fact is that we could have all the planes in the world here — we have 90 aircraft here and six that we got especially from the federal government — and they can’t fly because of the wind situation.”
Early estimates are that home losses alone are over $1 billion.
– DRJ
Arson? Combine this with the tree huggers preventing controlled burns and construction in an area known to be subject to these types of fires and you have a witch’s brew.
I wonder what the background of the arsonist was but I’d be willing to bet on his leanings.
Comment by Thomas Jackson — 10/24/2007 @ 1:35 pm
I was wondering the same, about the nationality of the arsonist. Religion of peace, crazy enviro-nutt job or what?
Comment by carl — 10/24/2007 @ 2:40 pm
Yesterday Boxer attempted to make this political by making the claim that too many national guard (and equipment) is in Iraq, but she back-tracking bigtime today. Even al-CNN ran her non-sense blather followed by an interview with the head of Cal National Guard that said, she’s full of it.
The recovery and evacuations are running so smoothly it’s driving the left nuts trying to find an angle. But the fire’s are far from out, and so is the rhetoric.
Comment by Rovin — 10/24/2007 @ 2:40 pm
Just posted up on CNN, looks like they might be starting to get a handle on the fires:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/24/fire.wildfire.ca/index.html
Comment by chaos — 10/24/2007 @ 3:40 pm
The last arsonist caught up here was lonely, angry wasp who didn’t seem like the voting type.
A different angry white guy was found liable in a civil suit for costs associated with the Painted Cave Fire in 1990
Hundreds of homes burned, one woman dead.
The guy was said to have been mad at his neighbor and wanted the fire to burn the neighbors home.
Temperatures were 109 degrees, humidity was in the single digits and wind gusts topped 70MPH.
Arsonist guys home burned too which is one reason why the DA didn’t think they could win a circumstantial criminal case… the no one could be *that* stupid defense would come into play.
The story goes that the County of SB was certain the guy whose last name I think is Ross was the murderer/arsonist. They leaked his name to the press and in a stunningly bad move the guy brings suit against the County for libel… which made the DA piss all over himself with joy, because now the County could do all kinds of discovery to defend itself and in the process hoped to develop enough to file driminal charges. The libel suit was dropped, the County didn’t find enough to file a criminal case but after some time the County brought a civil suit for damages and won.
In this fire, the County of SB district fire HQ was overrun by flames, Public works, the county jail. Sheriff HQ overrun within two hours of start.
Comment by SteveG — 10/24/2007 @ 4:59 pm
One arsonist arrested, another killed, via the DogTrainer
Comment by Scott Jacobs — 10/24/2007 @ 5:33 pm
there is no comparision between the deaths of disaster Katrina and Disaster California Fires.
only Monetary Comparisions can be made.
Katrina had far more deaths.
Comment by gotfreedumb? — 10/24/2007 @ 5:37 pm
The two volunteer firefighters who “discovered” the 1993 Malibu fire under suspicious circumstances were arrested for arson, but the case couldn’t be proved.
Evidently arson among volunteer firefighters is a recognized problem. Sometimes it’s a volunteer who wants to be hired on permanently, sometimes it turns out that the person just likes to light fires.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/20/60II/main530103.shtml
Comment by Itsme — 10/24/2007 @ 5:41 pm
The Earthquake will make the Fires look like armatures
the fires are just a warning of the upcoming main event.
the earthquake will put the entire west coast under water.
Comment by gotfreedumb? — 10/24/2007 @ 5:49 pm
Sometimes it’s a volunteer who wants to be hired on permanently, sometimes it turns out that the person just likes to light fires.
That’s a whole new definition of “creating your own job.”
Comment by Paul — 10/24/2007 @ 6:01 pm
Paul #10:
No kidding.
Comment by Itsme — 10/24/2007 @ 6:02 pm
I remember reading a few years back about a retired couple who were being made to repay the firefighting costs for a brush fire they’d started.
Seems they were towing their car with their big ol’ RV, and somehow the car’s tire blew and the rim was throwing sparks, which were starting little fires along the side of the highway for about a mile.
People honked and waved and shouted at them the whole time and they just ignored them.
They were crying their eyes out over the unfairness of the whole thing … being asked to pay the costs and all that.
Comment by Itsme — 10/24/2007 @ 6:08 pm