New Fire News

My daughter in BC has been told to stay inside for next couple of days, toxic smoke from those fires has reached the Vancouver area.

It seems they're still catching arsonists setting more wildfires, one guy set six more after being released for the first one. I'm wondering if those aren't related to the destructive rioting. But I guess, one way or another, preventative burns get done.

(Sep 15, 2020 06:23 PM)Syne Wrote: It seems they're still catching arsonists setting more wildfires, one guy set six more after being released for the first one. I'm wondering if those aren't related to the destructive rioting. But I guess, one way or another, preventative burns get done.

"Beth Anne Steele, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also told The Oregonian that there is "no indication that the fires are the result of coordinated criminal activity."

And the FBI Portland tweeted on Friday it has investigated reports that extremists are responsible for setting wildfires and found the reports to be "untrue."

An arson investigation is underway in Oregon's Almeda Glendower Fire, but Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara told The Oregonian that it wasn't antifa.

“One thing I can say is that the rumor it was set by antifa is 100% false information,” O'Meara wrote in an email. “We have some leads, and none of it points in that direction.”

(Sep 15, 2020 08:03 PM)Magical Realist Wrote:

(Sep 15, 2020 06:23 PM)Syne Wrote: It seems they're still catching arsonists setting more wildfires, one guy set six more after being released for the first one. I'm wondering if those aren't related to the destructive rioting. But I guess, one way or another, preventative burns get done.

"Beth Anne Steele, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also told The Oregonian that there is "no indication that the fires are the result of coordinated criminal activity."

And the FBI Portland tweeted on Friday it has investigated reports that extremists are responsible for setting wildfires and found the reports to be "untrue."

An arson investigation is underway in Oregon's Almeda Glendower Fire, but Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara told The Oregonian that it wasn't antifa.

“One thing I can say is that the rumor it was set by antifa is 100% false information,” O'Meara wrote in an email. “We have some leads, and none of it points in that direction.”

Yeah, we've been told for months that the riots and looting aren't "coordinated criminal activity" either. And it doesn't have to be coordinated to be criminal. Since antifa claims to have no organization, anyone can equivocate whether someone espousing their goals actually constitutes antifa violence. Nor is antifa the only culprit in the looting, rioting, and arson.

“One thing I can say is that the rumor it was set by antifa is 100% false information,” O'Meara wrote in an email. “We have some leads, and none of it points in that direction.”

Can't get any clearer than that. But then noone said that would convince the rightwing conspiracist mindset.

Yeah, because the Ashland, Oregon police chief has tons of resources and investigative tools, huh?
And it's not like we haven't already seen people in the FBI try to distort facts for their own political purposes.

Not saying I'm sold either way. Only that there's a huge difference between "coordinated criminal activity" and uncoordinated criminal activity by those espousing the same sort of political bent. The latter does not preclude antifa or BLM motivated actions.

There's also this: https://heavy.com/news/2020/09/jeffrey-jeff-acord/

(Sep 16, 2020 12:55 AM)Syne Wrote: Yeah, because the Ashland, Oregon police chief has tons of resources and investigative tools, huh?
And it's not like we haven't already seen people in the FBI try to distort facts for their own political purposes.

Not saying I'm sold either way. Only that there's a huge difference between "coordinated criminal activity" and uncoordinated criminal activity by those espousing the same sort of political bent. The latter does not preclude antifa or BLM motivated actions.

There's also this: https://heavy.com/news/2020/09/jeffrey-jeff-acord/

Evidently the information wasn't clear enough for you. I'll repeat it just this one time:

"Beth Anne Steele, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also told The Oregonian that there is "no indication that the fires are the result of coordinated criminal activity."

And the FBI Portland tweeted on Friday it has investigated reports that extremists are responsible for setting wildfires and found the reports to be "untrue."

An arson investigation is underway in Oregon's Almeda Glendower Fire, but Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara told The Oregonian that it wasn't antifa.

“One thing I can say is that the rumor it was set by antifa is 100% false information,” O'Meara wrote in an email. “We have some leads, and none of it points in that direction.”

Apparently you don't understand simple English. FBI has proven to have partisan leftist actors among its ranks, as per the Horowitz and Durham investigations. "No... coordinated criminal activity" does not mean "no criminal activity" nor even "no criminal activity motivated by antifa/BLM sentiment".

And this is a known BLM activist arrested for wildfire arson: https://heavy.com/news/2020/09/jeffrey-jeff-acord/

More astronomical observatory fire news. It was the University of California's Lick Observatory near San Jose a while back, now it's Mt. Wilson Observatory above Pasadena near LA. The photo below is a time-lapse facebook video (click on it) from an observatory webcam, from last evening, showing the Bobcat fire approaching. Firefighters are making another dogged defense here, with multiple dozers cutting firebreaks and aggressive air support. (It isn't a CalFire incident and is being managed by LA county fire.)

(And the astronomers were bitching about Starlinks. Here's some real trouble, astronomers.)



Photo from the webcam

https://astronomy.com/news/2020/09/bobca...bservatory

https://twitter.com/MtWilsonObs

https://twitter.com/LACoFireAirOps

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Incredibly, looks like they allowed an even a thicker woodland to grow up around and into that facility. Given the lofty realm they explore, perhaps astronomers are also more soaringly stupid than the rest of us when it comes to valuing aesthetics over safety.