Free Republic

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 26 — Out of the burning brush, from behind canyon rocks, several immigrants bolted toward a group of firefighters, chased not by the border police but by the onrush of flames from one of the biggest wildfires this week. Their appearance startled the firefighters, who let them into their vehicles. But with the discovery of four charred bodies in an area of heavy illegal immigration, concern is growing that others may not have survived. “Their hands were burned, and they were clearly tired and grateful,” Capt. Mike Parkes of the State Department of Forestry and Fire Protection...

At this writing, the fires were still raging in southern California, but already LCMS World Relief and Human Care had sent $50,000 to the Synod's Pacific Southwest District to help those who have been evacuated from -- or lost -- their homes in the disaster. The emergency grant was sent Oct. 24 to the district office in Irvine, Calif., north of San Diego, Escondido, and other cities threatened by more than a dozen wildfires. The money will be distributed among LCMS congregations that have been providing shelter and spiritual care to scores of displaced people. In cooperation with the city...

Fresh off her recent assault in which many suspect the culprit to have been 14 Bloody Marys, Air America radio talk host Randi Rhodes has now wandered into Moonbat conspiracy territory with her suggestion that Blackwater was the the cause of the current wildfires in California. Here is a partial transcript (audio available here) of what Randi said on the air on Wednesday: I started just doing Google searches to try and figure out. You know, arson, arson, it was like crazy trying to figure out why is that being downplayed? Why is that, you know, just a small part...

Editorial: Fires are terrible, arson is worse Amid so much tragedy and destruction, some of it appears deliberate An Orange County Register editorial We had hoped beyond hope that, somehow, in this season when all the conditions, including a devastating lack of rain, were ripe for the kind of wildfires that are a regular feature of life in what we like to think of otherwise as near-paradise, we miraculously would be spared. But it was not to be. Our dismay is doubled, however, by the circumstances that authorities believe caused the fire that has burned at least 8.800 acres in...

Fire update: Air battle begins early By Star staffDecember 4, 2006 Updated: 8:45 a.m. Fire crews battling the wind-whipped Shekell fire took to the air this morning to try to get control of the blaze that has burned nearly 10,000 acres. Nine helicopters and six fixed-wing aircraft went up at 7 a.m. to battle the fire that began early Sunday morning in Moorpark. It has destroyed five structures, including a building at the long-abandoned Egg City facility on Grimes Canyon Road, and damaged five others. Getting the aircraft in the air was a major accomplishment for the crews. Their flying...

(AP) YUCCA VALLEY, Calif. Nearly 4,000 firefighters worked in blistering temperatures Saturday to corral a huge complex of fires in rugged wilderness as authorities found a body in a blackened part of the desert. The body of Gerald Guthrie, 57, was found by a search-and-rescue crew, said Cindy Beavers of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. Guthrie had been missing since Tuesday, when fire swept through Pioneertown, a former Western movie locale. His body was found in a charred area at the base of a small hill less than a half-mile from his two-story domed home, which escaped the flames....

Believe it or not there is snow in the mountians above Rancho Cucamonga at about the 7,000' level. Rancho was the site of the Grand Prix Fire (the first Fire, I think) and it was still burning in the Wilderness Area yesterday. Good News.

Cal Fire Maps http://wildfire.cr.usgs.gov/ca_geomac/viewer.htm http://www.incidentcontrol.com http://www.firedetect.ssd.nesdis.noaa.gov/Run.htm Live online scanner feeds for fire, cops, CDF, air attack http://www.live365.com/stations/kb6jag FYI, this gives popups http://www.police-scanner.info/livescan.htm - No pop ups on this feed http://www.compucations.com/nuke/html/modules.php?name=LiveScanners - click on Big Bear Feed http://verdugo.ci.glendale.ca.us/radio.html - Verdugo fire scanner http://www.shoutcast.com/directory/?s=scanner&numresult=100&x=34&y=9 - Simi Valley fire scanner http://209.153.152.2:8888 - Ventura county scanner chatter Big Bear online scanner feed for CDF, cops, air attack etc. Go to Yahoo.com and register if you're not a member. Once you register you can go into any chat room In the text box of your chosen chatroom type: /join the old fire scanner:1 This should...

Cal Fire Maps http://wildfire.cr.usgs.gov/ca_geomac/viewer.htm http://www.incidentcontrol.com http://www.firedetect.ssd.nesdis.noaa.gov/Run.htm Live online scanner feeds for fire, cops, CDF, air attack http://www.live365.com/stations/kb6jag FYI, this one gives pop ups if you use it. No pop ups on this feed http://www.police-scanner.info/livescan.htm Another live scanner feed. Click on Big Bear Feed http://www.compucations.com/nuke/html/modules.php?name=LiveScanners another live feed for socal, Verdugo Fire Communications Center http://verdugo.ci.glendale.ca.us/radio.html Simi Valley fire scanner http://www.shoutcast.com/directory/?s=scanner&numresult=100&x=34&y=9 http://209.153.152.2:8888 lots of scanner chatter in Ventura county CHP Dispatch http://cad.chp.ca.gov/ CDF AIR CHANNELS Red - 151.220 - Air to ground units Blue - 151.280 - Air to air Green - 151.295 - Air to air Yellow - 151.310 - Air...

SoCal Fires Live Thread 10/28

Southern CA fires - Live Thread 10/27 Cal Fire Maps http://wildfire.cr.usgs.gov/ca_geomac/viewer.htm http://www.incidentcontrol.com Live online scanner feeds for fire, cops, CDF, air attack http://www.live365.com/stations/kb6jag FYI, this one gives pop ups if you use it. No pop ups on this feed http://www.police-scanner.info/livescan.htm Another live scanner feed. Click on Big Bear Feed http://www.compucations.com/nuke/html/modules.php?name=LiveScanners another live feed for socal, Verdugo Fire Communications Center http://verdugo.ci.glendale.ca.us/radio.html CHP Dispatch http://cad.chp.ca.gov/ CDF AIR CHANNELS ---------------- Red - 151.220 - Air to ground units Blue - 151.280 - Air to air Green - 151.295 - Air to air Yellow - 151.310 - Air to air Victor - 122.925 AM...