Posted on 09/05/2002 12:23:19 PM PDT by Selmo
Ritual candles blamed in fire
ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST - The Curve fire that has consumed more than 16,000 acres in the Angeles National Forest was started by candles used in a ritual involving animal sacrifice, U.S. Forest officials said late Wednesday.
Fire investigators concluded it was candles that sparked the blaze which originated in Bichota Mesa, said Cliff Johnson, fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
"I'm not sure what they found," he said. Details about the investigation were scarce.
Arson is believed to be the cause of the fire.
Rumored reports of a Satanic cult or a group of "witches" that are regularly seen in the forest lighting candles and cutting off chicken heads are also being looked into, sources said Wednesday.
More than 1,640 firefighters continued to battle the fire on Wednesday, as the blaze moved in nearly every direction.
In the fourth day of the blaze which started during the busy Labor Day weekend crews watered the flames and scurried to build fire lines to control the burn.
"It's moving somewhat west toward the San Gabriel Valley Wilderness area, a little bit to the north ... and most of the spread will probably be to the east into the Sheep Wilderness area," said Ed Gililland, a fire information officer for the U.S. Forest Service. "We're holding along the south pretty well."
More than 16,000 acres of chaparral and steep terrain have been charred since the fire started about 12:35 p.m. Sunday. With it, at least 72 structures have been gutted, including 50 recreation cabins built in the 1920s and 1930s and a historic ranger station at Coldbrook Station.
It might be Tuesday evening before Curve Fire is contained. That's the best estimate by fire officials in charge of different areas of the blaze, officials said. By late Wednesday, 15 percent had been contained.
Firefighters are hoping that weather forecasts for rain come true. A 50 percent chance of rain is expected today through Friday, with temperatures dropping to the upper 60s and 70s in the forest and in the upper 80s and 90s for the rest of the San Gabriel Valley, said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist for the National Weather Service.
"Any moisture we can get is real helpful," Gililland said. "Our only concern being is if it comes with lightning, but we welcome the rain."
Los Angeles County firefighters broke bread during a thank-you lunch with the volunteer firefighters at Follows Camp, near the East Fork of the canyon. Several crews were stationed there to protect the trailers and motor homes at the camp in the event the blaze headed over the one ridge that separated campers there from danger.
Others stopped at the area's only restaurant for lunch and to rest on top of the fire trucks and in chairs on the ground.
Joe Davison, the longtime owner of the camp, says he lost at least $5,000 on Sunday when the fire forced him to send nearly 1,000 weekend campers home and refund some of their money.
Lou Stevens and her husband are one of dozens of families who chose not to leave their Follows Camp homes when a voluntary evacuation was put into effect Monday.
"We have nowhere else where we could go," said Stevens, 55. "We weren't that worried. It's something you get used to up here. And last night, the sky just glowed. It was beautiful, sad to say."
The camp, and another one nearby, are closed to the public and open only to residents, officials said.
Although the fire does not represent a significant amount of the 692,000-acre forest, it does make up a sizable portion of the forest accessible to the public. And officials estimate there were about 8,000 to 10,000 people camping or taking part in other festivities Sunday afternoon when the fire started.
"The San Gabriel Canyon is very, very populated," said Gail Wright, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service. "This is a very well-used recreation area and it is a large part of where people recreate."
About 300 motorists in the north end of the forest were evacuated out of the canyon via a normally locked entrance to the Angeles Crest (2) Highway from Highway 39. The entrance has been closed since 1978, and some mountain dwellers have fought to have it reopened for years, citing public safety concerns.
Barry Wetherby is one of them. Wetherby, whose Pasadena Bait Club cabin in the West Fork has been unaffected by the fire, says he shudders to think about the lives that might have been lost had it not been for sheriff's deputies who opened the gate to Highway 2.
He also says cabin owners have asked for a meeting with representatives from the Angeles National Forest Service to answer complaints about whether enough personnel was sent in and whether the proper equipment was used. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at the Glendora Public Library.
"They think that some of these cabins should have been saved and they don't know why it happened," Wetherby said. "A lot of these places have been owned by Hollywood actors, and there's so much history, I can't even tell you. One of them was made out of all saws."
Anyone with information related to the incident is asked to call the Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations at (626)574-5351.
On a related note, I was wondering if NPR has a request line. It would be fun to FReep them with calls asking that they play more Toby Keith.
Seen this yet? Don't know much about environmental terrorism. Seem to remember there being a number of pagans among the eco-nuts.
I think since these Pagans burned down the forest during an animal sacrifice, that we should sentence them to a death-match with PETA and Earth First. They could do this at night and burn the witches to illuminate the game.
Once again I will have to prove that I am not making this stuff up.
On the strength of this, it MUST have been Pagans. Most Satanists I've met think the fluffy-headed, new-age, evrio-weenie, neo-pagans running around out there are a bunch of twits. The only group I know of that still advocates animal sacrifice would be voudoun.
Anyone who thinks a tree-hugging neo-pagan vegetarian would slaughter an animal has been reading too much Jack Chick.
Also, remember Cain and Able. Able's sacrifice of the lamb was accepted by God over Cain's offering of fruits and veggies. God likes blood offerings according to the OT.
Ever cloud has a silver lining.
"A lot of these places have been owned by Hollywood actors,
Every cloud has a silver lining.
"They think that some of these cabins should have been saved and they don't know why it happened," Wetherby said. "A lot of these places have been owned by Hollywood actors, and there's so much history, I can't even tell you. One of them was made out of all saws."
Silly person, the environmental druids *want* the habitation of the forest to stop. If they have to burn a couple thousand acres to get rid of a few pesky cabin dwellers they certainly will!
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