L.A. Is Burning: 200,000 People Flee Record Fire

LOS ANGELES — Disaster can strike everywhere — even in some of America’s richest and most exclusive neighborhoods.

Six wildfires have destroyed homes and caused the closure of one of America’s busiest freeways around Los Angeles while forcing nearly 200,000 people from their homes. All total, 141,000 acres have burned in the fires, which stretch from L.A. to San Diego. They are being fed by strong winds and dry conditions.

“It was dark until I saw a gigantic ball of orange,” motorist Tiffany Lynette Anderson wrote on Instagram Wednesday.

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Anderson was driving to work on Interstate 405 between South Central Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley when she encountered the Skirball Fire. The fire scorched hundreds of acres and burned several homes in the Bel-Air neighborhood just north of Beverly Hills.

The fire was so intense that it forced authorities to close the 405 — one of America’s busiest freeways during rush hour, The Los Angeles Times reported. A mandatory evacuation area for the fire included the Getty Center, a popular art museum.

One of the wildfires, the Thomas Fire in Ventura, is the largest December wildfire in California’s history.

‘I Was Going To Die In This House’

The fire is burning near some of the city’s most famous neighborhoods including Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard, Brentwood and UCLA. The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) campus is close to the fire but had not been evacuated.

“I was going to die in this house,” resident Beverly Freeman told The Times. She woke up to find her neighborhood burning. “The flames have never come so close.”

Freeman got out safely but lost all her belongings.

“It’s been years since anything here has burned at all,” Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Cody Weireter told The Times. “You’ve got heavy, heavy brush, you’ve got the dryness, obviously, we haven’t had any rain at all. A lot of the fire is topography-driven, which already becomes dangerous. The wind is going to increase that twofold.”

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Hamas Leader Says The US Has DECLARED WAR With Jerusalem Decision

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya has said the United States decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is a “war declaration against Palestinians.” And Haniya has called for a new “Intifada”, or uprising because of it.

Haniya said in a speech in Gaza City on Thursday that President Donald Trump‘s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has “killed” the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”This decision has killed the peace process, has killed the Oslo [accord], has killed the settlement process,” he said. “The US decision is an aggression, a declaration of war on us, on the best Muslim and Christian shrines in the heart of Palestine, Jerusalem. We should work on launching an intifada in the face of the Zionist enemy,” Haniya said.

Hours after his speech, Palestinian protesters took to the streets of the occupied West Bank cities, including Ramallah, Hebron, and Nablus, as well as in the Gaza Strip, to violently vent their frustration at the decision.  “Jerusalem, all of Jerusalem, is ours,” said Haniya. “We are here today at a critical point in the history of the Palestinian issue and the core of the issue is Jerusalem, a critical point in the history of the Arab and Muslim nations following the provocative decision, the unfair decision adopted by the US administration.”

Ignoring warnings from the international community Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the US formally recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will begin the process of moving its embassy to the city.  On Thursday, in response to Trump’s announcement,  Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, speaking to Al Jazeera from Ramallah, said that Trump was “joining Israel in the war crimes and in confirming the annexation of the occupied Palestinian Territories. I hope that the Palestinian Authority will not accept to meet with this American team anymore,” he said.

“Israel decided it wants everything. They want everything? Fine. We will also fight for everything,” he said. “We might be talking about a popular wide uprising but non-violent one, similar to the first intifada. That’s what we need. Israelis should see the Palestinian resistance everywhere.”

Ventura California Is Actively Burning: ‘Prospects For Containment Are Not Good’

About 27,000 people have been evacuated and 150 structures destroyed in another raging fire in California. The fast-moving, wind-fueled wildfire swept into the city of Ventura early Tuesday, burning 31,000 acres so far.

Of the 150 structures engulfed by the flames, was at least one large apartment complex. Engulfed in flames, the Hawaiian Village Apartments collapsed about 4 a.m., local time. Water gushed down North Laurel Street as firefighters worked to put out the flaming complex and residents watched with their cameras and cellphones out. Residents could hear the sound of propane tanks bursting. Many other buildings are threatened as the fire crept about a quarter-mile away from City Hall. Traffic jams were also reported as many fled their homes.

The blaze started at about 6:25 p.m. Monday in the foothills near Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, a popular hiking destination. It grew quickly to more than 15 square miles in the hours that followed, consuming vegetation that hasn’t burned in decades, Ventura County Fire Sgt. Eric Buschow said.

April Vizzo-Tackett, who has lived in Ventura her whole life, told me this is Hawaiian Village Apartments, a large apartment complex. It’s burning. Smoke billowing from the roof. #ThomasFire pic.twitter.com/ohiVEwR1Ar

— Jaclyn Cosgrove (@jaclyncosgrove) December 5, 2017

Firefighters set up strike teams along foothill communities in Ventura and Santa Paula as the Thomas fire, pushed by 50-mph winds, inched close to homes.  The firefighters worked through the night to keep the fire from spreading.   Fire officials said the intensity of the fire, coupled with the high winds, made it pretty much unstoppable.

“The prospects for containment are not good,” Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said at a news conference. “Really, Mother Nature is going to decide.” By 5:20 a.m. Tuesday, winds were pushing flames toward Ojai Valley, authorities said. “The fire is actively burning in the city of Ventura and there are homes and buildings actively burning at this time,” Buschow said.

The Vista Del Mar Hospital, a psychiatric facility, was evacuated, authorities said. The area around a Ventura landmark called “Two Trees” has also burned. There have not been any human casualties reported yet, and more than 260,000 customers in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties were without power. As of 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, a Southern California Edison spokeswoman did not know when power could be restored.

Strong winds were pushing the blaze in a southwest direction toward Ventura and Highway 33, officials said. About 500 firefighters were battling the blaze, or on their way there to assist. Fixed-wing aircraft and water-dropping helicopters are expected to attack the fire at daybreak. Numerous spot fires erupted as a result of the difficult conditions.

Santa Rosa California Wildfires Force Evacuations, Kill 10 People, Destroy Homes

Photo Credit: Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group

Fast-moving wildfires have already killed ten people in California, destroyed numerous homes, and spurred the evacuation of about 20,000 people. Santa Rosa is burning, and the death toll is expected to rise.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said seven people had died in Santa Rosa. “That number’s going to change,” Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said of the death toll in his jurisdiction. Officers are still searching for people to evacuate and rescue, he said, and “it’s just logical” more bodies will be found.

The fires ignited Sunday night and Monday and spread with alarming speed because of dry conditions, Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott said at a news conference. According to CNN, more than 20,000 people evacuated, some with little notice. The fires have already destroyed an estimated 1,500 structures and have burned through 57,000 acres in eight counties.

Jesus Torres of Napa said a neighbor called to tell him the fire was bearing down on his house, CNN affiliate KPIX reported. “We gathered up a few of our things and our pets and headed out to our car,” Torres said. “We could see the sky was turning red. … We didn’t know (about the fire) until the last second. There was smoke all over the area.”

The first known fatality occurred as a result of the Redwood Complex fire in Mendocino County, Mendocino County Sheriff spokesperson Captain Greg Van Patten said. Cal Fire tweeted that two people died in the Atlas Fire in Napa County. The fire left whole blocks of residences in smoking ruins and destroyed landmark buildings like the Fountaingrove Inn, a 124-room hotel; a nearby event center, the Fountaingrove Round Barn; and classrooms at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported.

A large part of the town was evacuated, including Kaiser Permanente Hospital and Sutter Hospital. More than 100 patients were treated at Napa and Sonoma area hospitals because of fire-related injuries and issues, said Vanessa DeGier, spokeswoman for St. Joseph Health. Santa Rosa Memorial also accepted 12 patients from the two nearby hospitals that evacuated, including expectant mothers, she said. “Our hospitals are beginning to see patients with injuries incurred as a result of evacuation. This includes victims of car crashes and injuries from falling,” a statement from St. Joseph Health said.

Authorities imposed a sundown-to-sunrise curfew for parts of the city under evacuation orders. “I’m lucky,” Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey said at a news conference. “My house is fine. My family is fine. My city is not.”

A separate wildfire in Anaheim, in Southern California, has spread to 4,000-5,000 acres and burned at least six buildings.  This fire is being dubbed the “Canyon Fire.”

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Author: Mac Slavo
Views: Read by 139 people
Date: October 10th, 2017
Website: www.SHTFplan.com

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Toddler Suffers Disfiguring Burns at Police Station After Mom Jailed for Traffic Violations

Decatur, AL — It must have felt like a nightmare when Tracy Marie Garth, 34, a bank employee from Decatur, AL, was arrested April 25, 2016. The trip was supposed to be a shopping vacation for the family. However, they were brought to the police station instead where Garth’s eldest would be severely burned.

Garth and her two young children — 8 months and 2 years — were going to Nashville, TN, when Franklin police officer Sgt. James Phillips pulled her over.

Garth claims Phillips “accused her of passing a dump truck, striking an orange traffic cone, and failing to stop for law enforcement and speeding” according to the Tennesseean.

But according to the affidavit signed by Phillips, Garth’s children were improperly restrained in the vehicle. The mother had driven the nearly four-hour trip and was within 20 miles of her final destination. Nevertheless, Phillips arrested Garth for, “three counts of felony reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon (her vehicle), two counts of evading arrest with a motor vehicle, driving on closed roads, speeding, improper passing, failing to stop at a red light and two counts of violating the child restraint system.”

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Nevertheless, Phillips arrested Garth for, “three counts of felony reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon (her vehicle), two counts of evading arrest with a motor vehicle, driving on closed roads, speeding, improper passing, failing to stop at a red light and two counts of violating the child restraint system.”

The mother of two, who had never been arrested before and has no criminal record, was booked into the Williamson County Jail, and was separated from her children. At around the same time Garth was imprisoned, child protective services were called to take custody of her children. That’s when the horrific accident took place.

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While Garth was jailed, her two children were being held in a break room at the precinct. There, the two-year-old pressed a button on the hot water dispenser and was severely burned by the hot water pouring from the machine.

While ‘protecting’ the children from their mother, police allowed this 2-year-old to play with a tap of near boiling water.

Adding insult to injury, according to her recently filed civil rights lawsuit, Garth says she was forced to strip nude while a male guard was filming.

Little did she know the ordeal was only just beginning. Garth and her attorneys allege she was not allowed to make a phone call while in jail. Neither did she know her son had been severely burned. In fact, Garth spent two weeks in jail, still unaware the accident had taken place.

She would have been able to bond out of jail had she been given a phone call, which is standard jail procedure. Instead, the young banker was forced to spend the next 14 days in jail with no one to help her and no knowledge of her child’s burns.

After leaving the jail, Garth’s children were not returned to her. She’s still fighting to regain custody, and she’s now lost her banking job, a position she’d held for over a decade.

Garth is now suing the City of Franklin, The Franklin Police Department, the officers involved and others for violating her civil rights. And she’s wanting answers. According to the Tennesseean:

Franklin police transported the two-year-old child to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for treatment, while Kirby took the other child to the Franklin DCS office. No one from DCS accompanied or met the burned child at the hospital, and the agency never investigated how the injuries occurred, according to the lawsuit.

Worse still, Garth was not notified of her son’s injuries until 16 days later on May 11.

READ MORE:  WATCH: Police Blast Man Out of His Van With Fire Hose Then Kill Him

City of Franklin spokeswoman Milissa Reierson responded to the lawsuit by saying Garth’s is only one side to the story. She explained what happened from the perspective of the police department. In a classic case of blaming the victim, Reierson said:

Following Garth’s arrest, officers called DCS to assist with caring for Garth’s young children after she was unable to provide contact information for other family or next of kin

In other words, because she could not think to provide any information about who the police should call to take custody of the kids, they were remanded into child protective services. She still has not regained custody of her small children.

Garth disputes the Franklin PD’s claims and said she gave the police at least 10 names of individuals to whom they could release her children.

The young mother is suing for 2.5 million dollars for, in essence, kidnapping and allowing her child to be burned by hot water. She’s also suing two Williamson County police agencies and the Tennessee Division of Children’s Services in federal court. It could be months or longer before she gets her children back.