[Wallace T.]

Speculation that terrorists could cause large scale forest fires in the West date back at least to the 1960s, when authorities feared that the Weathermen and similar radical leftist groups would do so. In the initial stages of World War II, the Japanese sent high altitude balloons with incendiary devices aboard to land in California and ignite forest fires. However, nothing came of it, as the balloons did not reach the coast for the most part. Since al Qaeda has ties to Russian/Soviet intelligence, as did the New Left groups in the 1960s, it is possible that they may even have received some of the old plans from their FSB contacts, updated to reflect current topography and conditions.

Of course, it could just be the result of natural causes, given the extraordinary weather conditions Southern California has experienced recently.

[Doctor Raoul]

The Japanese Fu-Go balloons did kill a minister and some if not all of his family. Since they were kept a secret to avoid giving away where they landed and how ineffective they were, the family had no idea what they were dealing with.

[Jeff Head]

The stories of both the Japanes high altitude balloon attempts and their large, aircraft-carrying submarines that made some inconsequential attacks, both make very interesting reading.

I believe that there is a strong possiblility that the fires we are seeing in Southern California...with so many of them cropping up all at once, despite the Sanata Annas and heat wave (which I have personally experienced down there) are very suspicious.

I would not put it past the enemies of this nation to have been the cause...and I am speaking of both the domestic, hard left, useful idiot enemies, as well as the Islamic terrorist enemies. In my mind, during this time of war, they are very much one and the same. They spout the same reason and purpose behind their action and in their public pronouncements support one another.

[VOA]

“In the initial stages of World War II, the Japanese sent high altitude
balloons with incendiary devices aboard to land in California and ignite
forest fires. However, nothing came of it, as the balloons did not reach
the coast for the most part.”

For the vast part of the Japanese effort...correct.

But they did manage to kill six of a church-picnic (IIRC) party.

(see “Fire Balloons” about 1/3 down the page)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attacks_on_North_America_during_World_War_II

[bobby.223]

I thought those ballons were launched by the japs in the last days of WW2 not at the start. am I thinking of something else?

[JimSEA]

Even further back than the 1960's:

Fire balloons or balloon bombs were hot air balloons with one 15 kilogram antipersonnel bomb and two incendiary devices attached. They were launched by Japan during World War II to wreak havoc on American cities, forests and farmlands. They were called the Fu-Go Weapon, supposedly a revenge bomb for the 1942 Doolittle Raids on Tokyo.

More can be found Here