Wildfires in southern Cal - caused by whom? [Updated]

Incredible shot of the Santiago fire by Kevin Labianco

With the massive wildfires raging in Southern California, this might be a good time to point out something the media is barely mentioning. Just how were these fires started? Most likely, there are multiple causes, including arson. Strangely, with the massive attention the story is getting, explanations on how the fires started is surprisingly scarce. This is all I could find:

At least one of the fires, in Orange County, was believed to have been set. And a blaze threatening the homes of the rich and famous in Malibu might have been caused by downed power lines, authorities said.

Mel Gibson, Kelsey Grammer and Victoria Principal were among the celebrities forced to abandon their homes over the weekend, their publicists said.

Another blaze was started by a car fire. Flying embers started new fires at every turn.

So we have a car fire (from unknown causes), the possibility of a downed power line, and at least one fire was set. I couldn't find any details on any of these, except that the fire that was set was probably referring to the blaze in in the Santiago and Siverado canyons, in Orange County, just a little ways south of Los Angeles.

Why so little information? Of course, with the effort right now focused on rescue and fire control, it's understandable that investigation of the cause is a low priority. Still, if, at this early stage, the media can already spend bandwidth discussing the celebrity angle of the fires, as well as the impact on the insurance industry, then I think they could spend a little more time on the cause. Well, Rep. Harry Reid speculated it was "global warming" (to some ridicule), but that doesn't count. Along with the dry grass and heavy winds, these are all conditions that made the fires worse but don't tell us how they ignited in the first place.

So why the silence? There may be political sensitivities involved. As I pointed out back in June, there has been a nasty trend in recent years regarding border fires:

Wildfires are being set by alien and drug smugglers, authorities said, to create a diversion in an attempt to gain undetected access across the border. The fires correspond to a dramatic rise in assaults against Border Patrol agents — up more than 100 percent over last year.

This is all speculation right now, but look at the map below. The "Harris" fire is one of the two largest of the blazes so far, and it's right on the border with Mexico. In fact, numerous fires have burned/are burning on the Mexican side as well. In addition, at least 50 illegal immigrants turned themselves into the Border Patrol today when they were caught inside the Harris fire. I hope the BP has enough sense to question them about what they have been doing in the last 72 hours.



One more thing I should point out. It's hard to really get a feel for the full scope of the damage here, but according to the State of California, as of right now, at least one life was lost, over 1,000 houses destroyed, approximately 400,000 acres of trees were burned, and 500,000 people displaced. In addition, this doesn't even include the countless loss to native wildlife and habitats. And it gets much worse - keep in mind that this inferno is still overall less than 10% contained! The worst is yet to come.

I am normally an opponent of capital punishment, but if anyone is proven to have deliberately set these fires, it would be justified here. Whoever did this has no regard at all for the sanctity of life, and has no compunction against destroying people's homes, lives, and massive amounts of our nation's resources simply for their own amusement.

So who is causing these fires? I welcome any suggestions.

UPDATE October 25, 2007 03:13:00 AM: The Santiago fire has officially been declared arson, and law enforcement officials have announced a $70,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.

Meanwhile, for some reason, Think Progress is upset (!) that the Fox show "Fox and Friends" speculated that this is the work of Al-Quaeda, referring to an earlier FBI memo on the subject. Arson is not really Al-Qaeda's style, but since they have been unable to conduct another attack in the US since 9/11 (although not for lack of trying), I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to try a new method. Moreover, whoever is responsible, its not unreasonable to label this type of arson as "terrorism".





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