Free Republic

California Gov. Gavin Newsom blamed trapped residents of the Pacific Palisades for failing to evacuate from the advancing fire on January 7 — apparently not realizing that they were stuck due to government incompetence. The Los Angeles Times has produced a video documenting the chaotic response to the Palisades Fire, including the haphazard evacuation, which was the result of poor planning and communication by local emergency services. At 14:14 in the video, corresponding to five hours and twelve minutes after the start of the fire, the narrator notes: “Governor Gavin Newsom is unhappy with what he’s seen on a tour...

Last month, a rock climber named Kelston was scaling the natural walls of Susquehanna Riverlands State Park in Pennsylvania when he eyed something strange — a pair of wings awkwardly poking out from under a boulder. Anxious to help the eagle trapped underneath, Kelston immediately contacted Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), who sent staff members to the base of the trail. DCNR rescuers knew they’d need a bird expert to ensure everything went smoothly, so they called Maryann, a capture transport wildlife volunteer, for backup. Surveying the feathers, Maryann realized the truth — there were two eagles,...

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Rescuers freed an 11-year-old boy who slipped between two boulders near his school and was trapped for more than nine hours, a New Hampshire fire chief said Monday. The boy was pried out of the boulders in Windsor at about 3:15 a.m. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and released, according to the Wediko School, where the boy is a student. “On Sunday evening, while under supervision, a student exploring a rocky area on campus slipped between two boulders when sticks and debris gave way beneath them,” the school, a residential treatment center for...

US officials believe that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar wants to strike a deal with Israel since he is "trapped" underground and running out of ammunition and supplies, Washington Post journalist David Ignatius wrote in an opinion column on Wednesday. With their desire for a deal to end their misery, Ignatius notes that Hamas is "playing a waiting game," hoping that Iran or Hezbollah will attack Israel, a move that would transform the battlefield. However, he writes that Iran will likely disappoint Hamas. He reports that US officials estimate that Iranian leaders have decided to delay their strike on Israel, deterred...

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Valley woman has a warning for her fellow Tesla drivers after getting trapped in her car. When its power went out, she had no idea how to get out of her car, and she was far from alone. Diane has owned her Model Y for about three years without serious complaints. “Pretty happy,” she said. “It’s a fun car to drive.” But that changed last month when she tried to go for a drive. “It was fully charged,” she said. “I unplugged the car, went to get in my car, shut the door, and everything just...

There's a new trend in the automotive industry to replace physical parts with electrically-actuated systems. The most obvious example is the electrical door release system. All Teslas have such a system, which ensures that the frameless windows are lowered before the door opens. However, when the 12-volt battery dies, the same systems can pose a significant danger, especially when people must quickly evacuate the vehicle. Tesla offers a backup emergency release that works without power, but many owners are unaware of how to use it. Sometimes, the release string is hidden behind the door panel and is not always easy...

Texas governor issues disaster declaration From CNN’s Joe Sutton Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties in response to wildfire activity, saying more counties could be added. “The State of Texas stands ready to provide support to our local partners and deploy all resources needed to protect our fellow Texans and their property. Hot and dry conditions caused by high temperatures and windy conditions are expected to continue in the region in the coming days," the governor said in a statement. Those conditions could mean the wildfires continue to grow larger and more dangerous,...

(NEXSTAR) – If we’ve learned anything about the real estate market these past few years, it’s that things change fast. During the peak of the pandemic, low interest rates and the desire for more space led to a home buying and selling frenzy. At the end of 2021, home prices were 18.5% higher than they had been just a year before, according to CoreLogic. Now, in places where the real estate market was recently red hot, fewer homes are being listed than just two years ago. Those same homes now have bigger price tags and are sitting on the market...

A Massachusetts woman who disappeared late last month was found Monday at a state park, where authorities said she had been trapped in a muddy area for at least three days. Emma Tetewsky, who was reported missing on June 26, was rescued from a swampy area inside Borderland State Park, Easton and Stoughton police said in a joint statement. Hikers inside the Easton park said they heard a woman screaming for help but were unable to reach her so they called 911 at about 6 p.m. Monday. Easton police officers who arrived on the scene heard Tetewsky’s desperate calls for...

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — An 83-year-old Port Charlotte man who was trapped under a golf cart for several hours was rescued by an unlikely duo — two Waste Management workers. According to a release from the company, driver Alex Galarza and assistant driver Paulino Ortega were driving along their regular route Monday when they noticed the man trapped under a golf cart at the end of a Port Charlotte driveway. The workers immediately dialed 911 and started providing first aid treatment while authorities were en route. In talking to the man, the workers noticed he was showing signs of hypothermia...

A gym fanatic was left trapped under weights for 33 minutes while he waited for emergency services to free him. The man, aged between 25 and 35, was working out at Snap Fitness in Spring Hill, Brisbane, Australia at 5:47 am on Thursday when he got into trouble. Firefighters did not arrive until 6:20 am to rescue him, with paramedics arriving shortly afterward. It took six minutes to extract the man from under the weights. By this point, the man was unconscious and required CPR. He was taken to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in critical condition. There were no...

The horrifying attacks on Ukraine yesterday– are a sign that the Russian president is, if not yet desperate, getting nearer to it. They represent a highly significant psychological shift for the beleaguered leader. He is no longer trying to win the war: now he is simply trying not to visibly lose it. Previously he could have defined victory however he wanted. But by annexing Ukrainian regions, he has upped the already high stakes. If he cedes so-called ‘Russian’ territory, he will become the Tsar who gave away Russian land instead of the strongman who restored the empire. And by ordering...

A Mexican migrant woman has died after she got stuck upside down trying to scale the US border fence, authorities said. The 32-year-old woman was found dangling in a harness on a section of the fence near Douglas, Arizona, late Monday.

Crews in Morocco raced to rescue a 5-year-old boy that's been trapped in a well more than 100 feet deep since Tuesday. The scene has been playing out on multiple livestream videos watched across the globe via platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

New video from the Capitol tunnel raises the appalling—but still believable—possibility that the Capitol Police may have killed another woman. After January 6, although the media initially reported that MAGA protesters had trampled Rosanne Boyland to death but, the D.C. coroner attributed it to a drug overdose. Now, though, footage has emerged showing a Capitol Police Officer brutally beating a woman in the Capitol tunnel—a woman who may have been Rosanne Boyland. Julie Kelly has written about a motion for the release of a January 6 prisoner, Ryan Nichols. Nichols, a former Marine with a career as a volunteer search-and-rescuer,...

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R-TX) stated that there are around 10,000 interpreters who worked with U.S. forces still in Afghanistan, and they “are gone. The Taliban will not allow them to leave.” And are “already being executed.” McCaul said, “The interpreters who worked with our special forces, they are gone. The Taliban will not allow them to leave.” Host Wolf Blitzer then cut in to ask McCaul if he was referring to SIV holders. McCaul responded, “Special Immigrant Visas, these are the guys that worked right with our special...

An American woman identified as Fatima is begging the Biden Administration to help citizens trapped in Afghanistan get home She pleaded: 'We are in danger. We are in danger Mr. President, please help us' Fatima, whose children are currently in the United States, is just one of an unknown number of Americans who remain trapped in Afghanistan She said it is nearly impossible to get to the Kabul airport and that the evacuation process has lacked guidance with 'a lot of miscommunication' The U.S. ramped up airlifts to evacuate more than 23,000 people in the last 48 hours from Kabul...

An American mom trapped in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is worried she'll never see her kids again and in hiding with family members and Afghan allies – unable to reach Kabul's U.S.-held airport for a chance at an evacuation, she said Saturday. "I really have given up hope, given up on the hope of going to the airport," the woman, whose identity is being withheld due to concerns for her safety, told Fox News. "It’s just not possible to make it through all those people." She said there are as many as 20 Taliban checkpoints between her and the airport – and...

Thousands of U.S. citizens are trapped in Kabul with no ability to get to the airport. As Taliban soldiers go door to door, searching for Westerners, these U.S. citizens are now reaching out to Washington for help. “We’ve been screaming at the State Department over this issue,” one senior GOP Senate staffer told me. “This is a s---show everyone saw coming, and they didn’t do a damn thing about it until about 24 hours ago, after days of pounding on them by the Hill.” State Dept and DOD have two options: negotiate safe passage for American citizens with the Taliban,...

A dozen Chinese gold miners trapped thousands of feet underground for over a week have sent up an urgent note saying that four are injured and that the others were in dire shape, according to reports. “We are in urgent need of medicine, painkillers, medical tape, external anti-inflammatory drugs, and three people have high blood pressure,” the note reads, Agence France-Presse reported. It was unknown if 10 other miners were still alive, according to the Xinhua Nerws Agency. Twenty-two workers were trapped about 2,000 feet below the surface after a blast eight days ago near the city of Qixia in...