San Diego County fires - Live Thread 10/26

[cgk]

I read on a thread after 9/11 that a Mexican News station DID show some of the WTC jumpers hitting ground, though the local stations turned their cameras away from capturing it. THAT is something to wonder at, I think. Is it news or just shock value?

[FITZ]

This could be the biggest natural disaster of 2003.

If it is "natural". And I would really wonder why the national media isn't showing the pictures of it. I guess they were so busy covering the protests going on in some places that they didn't have anyone to send to cover the fires?

[FITZ]

Yes --- they did show a lot more about the WTC.

[bonesmccoy]

rog... i agree... but if this is a set up for AQ to attack civies in the LA basin, then, we won't be able to run out of the major corridors... that's my whole point.

if AQ is trying to set us up, we have to think now about how to get assets in and civies out.

signing out for now.

[maggief]

Frightening stuff, isn't it?

I think I'll email it to FOX, too.

[nicmarlo]

10:18AM - 713X IN PROCESS OF CLOSING NB 125 TO WB 52

[Chad Fairbanks]

I'm thinking this is domestic terrorism in nature, but that's just me...

[Grampa Dave]

Earth to lainie wake up about the Watermelon Enviral Terrorists like ELF. Two months ago, ELF took credit for the fires that destroyed apartments being built in San Diego. I'm sure that the ELF Arsonists are still there.

Below is a link to their website where they fess up:

http://www.earthliberationfront.com/news/2003/090203a.shtml

August 22, 2003

San Diego Fire



Earth First! Journal
September, 2003

By Rod Coronado

In the largest act of environmental sabotage in US history, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) has accepted responsibility for a $50 million fire in San Diego, California, that destroyed an unfinished five-story condominium complex on August 1. The complex is owned by Garden Communities, the second largest developer in Southern California. Nationwide, Garden Communities owns more than 40,000 apartments and 25 million square feet of commercial space.

Fire crews arrived on the scene and evacuated apartments surrounding the 34-acre construction site. No one was hurt in the blaze, which was credited to the ELF through a painted slogan: "If you build it-we will burn it. E.L.F."

The fire was in San Diego's Golden Triangle area, which boasts a mix of luxury apartments, upscale office buildings, fashionable retail centers and biotechnology companies. The Golden Triangle is adjacent to Rose Canyon-home to bobcats, coyotes, ash-throated flycatchers, red-shouldered hawks, barn owls and orioles, as well as at least two rare and threatened plants.

From 2,000 years ago until the last century, the Kumeyaay people inhabited a seasonal village in Rose Canyon, gathering acorns from the once abundant coastal live oaks, weaving baskets from the arroyo willow and hunting not far from where a seven-million-dollar crane was destroyed by the ELF fire. San Diego County is one of the most rapidly growing regions in the US and has been identified as one of the world's 25 biodiversity "hotspots." It also boasts the fifth worst rush-hour commute in the nation.

The Garden Communities project was approved in 2000, despite opposition from nearby residents. Many who hike Rose Canyon's four-mile length are tired of the sprawl engulfing the canyon and have expressed support for the ELF's efforts to draw attention to the development of San Diego's last remaining wetlands and wild places. The US Fish and Wildlife Service transferred Endangered Species Act implementation authority to the developer-friendly San Diego government in 1998. The Multiple Species Conservation Plan (MSCP) acts as a regional Habitat Conservation Plan that was established to cover nearly 900 square miles. As one of the Southwest's first large-scale plans to protect entire ecosystems rather than just particular species, the MSCP has proven to be inadequate in preserving native biodiversity and ensuring the recovery of endangered animals and plants in San Diego County. Ê

"I think it's a positive statement that at least someone somewhere is trying to point out that over-development is clogging our already congested urban areas. This is a war to protect the environment, to raise the consciousness of people," said 41-year-old Richard Marose, a local restaurant manager. Marose also noted that rain and humidity made the night of the fire moist enough to prevent it from spreading to Rose Canyon: "The canyon would have gone up in smoke if this was done at any other time." He refused to talk to agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms who wanted to question him.

This particular project, La Jolla Crossroads, when completed would comprise 1,800 apartments with an average monthly rent of $1,340. The 42-acre Nobel Research Center, which will house the biotechnology company IDEC Corporation, is planned to be built adjacent to the site. Following the fire, a small, hand-printed sign was taped to a traffic barrier near the construction site: "Thank-You E.L.F. Burn Baby Burn." Tad Simmons of Carlsbad said that as an environmentalist he had mixed feelings about the fire. "Part of me thinks it's kind of cool that somebody had the guts to stand for something like this-a cause, and that nobody ever gets hurt."

No arrests have been made, but the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force said several suspects were being tracked.

On August 14, FBI agents raided the home of animal rights activists affiliated with the San Diego-based Compassion for Farm Animals (CFA). CFA organized a lecture with Rod Coronado on the day of the ELF fire. Agents seized phone lists, a computer, a video camera and videotape of the lecture, which was part of on-going Revolution Summer events in San Diego. Since the fire, CFA activists have been under constant surveillance and have had their home mysteriously broken into and vehicle stolen.

[lainie]

Oh I think it's a foregone conclusion that arson is suspected in nearly every blaze we're talking about. Yes, 2-4 a.m., as far as I can tell (from reading the overnight threads and listening to scanner traffic). What I don't think is necessarily true is that "environmental activists" are the perps. I certainly don't know who is, but that just doesn't seem right to me. (then again, what do I know)

[sarasmom]

Prayers sent to California!
Please be carefull!

[Chad Fairbanks]

Frightening? I think so, yes. I mean, the same "incendiary devices" they use to burn homes and developments could be used to start massive forest fires... why not?

They are so filled with hate, and are fighting "urban sprawl" - maybe thay got tired of hitting one target at a time?

[Diddle E. Squat]

If this were the work of Al Qaeda, instead of dozens of fires set over 3 days, we'd have seen hundreds of fires set almost simultaneously. This isn't Al Qaeda, unless by the end of the day all of the roads out of the LA/SD area are cutoff by fire(setting the stage for a worse incident).

No, more likely it is:

1) Organized eco/anarchyterrorists
2) A lone eco/anarchy nutball
3) Copycat punk kids
4) Copycat nutball pyromaniac middle age loser(s)

One or a combo of the latter two is most likely, though its too early to rule out the first two.

[jocon307]

"He was seen unbolting power towers earlier in the week."

I'm sorry, what do you mean by saying power towers were unbolted?

I can tell by your handle you must be a true Southern Californian, these fires are a serious business for sure. If it weren't for the threads here I wouldn't even know this was happening. Here in NJ there has been ZERO news on this.

Good Luck to everybody. If this is arson I'm sure it is the Greenies not the Muslims. They may well have over-played their hand finally, as they were bound to do.

[lainie]

"earth to lainie"?

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

Whoever is responsible for the San Diego fires probably watched the San Bernardino fires and saw an opportunity with the Santa Ana winds.
When I was about 8 years old the Santa Anas helped burn down some houses in L.A. foothills near my home. The street behind us was evacuated. It was very frightening.
Poway and Ramona have a lot of animals.
If this is ELF, then they have already murdered (I think I read 7) people and destroyed helpless animals as well.
The total cost will be in the billions.

Your son should be just fine in La Jolla, they must go through the drill.
The small canyons all throughout San Diego are a problem.

[Travis McGee]

Is that Green Party Pro Pali nutball still on the loose? The one who the FBI is looking for after unbolting power towers?

Note the north-south progression of the power tower sabotage, then LA and San Bern. counties, then SD county.

Could be one guy, or ELF copy cats, or a coordinated attack, based on the forecast Santa Ana winds.

[nwctwx]

interesting thought, creepy...

[bonesmccoy]

Wasn't there a website for ELF?
do you remember what it was?

[berkeleybeej]

If this is ELF

Is it absolutely necessary to have a trial....Can't we just move straight to the hanging????

[WestCoastGal]

Flames heading for NCAS Miramar, jumped freeway!!