As surely as night follows day, a natural disaster will be followed by the assertions of environmental activists that it was caused by “man-made climate change.”
At this point, six of the now 11 wildfires raging through San Diego county are fully contained. And before the embers have begun to cool, California Governor Jerry Brown offered his eco-activist assessment of its cause.
On Thursday, Governor Jerry Brown asserted that it is settled that climate change is a factor in the wildfires now devastating parts of San Diego County.According to a story in the U-T San Diego, the governor opined, “Despite what you may hear in Washington, climate change is a factor… This is not about theory. It’s not about politics. This is about fires on the ground, people’s homes.”..Brown, a staunch advocate of climate change theory, recently confirmed that Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is in danger of being overwhelmed by floods due to global warming.
Actually, it looks like some of the wildfires may, indeed, be “man-caused disasters.”
But not in the way Brown thinks.
The Bernardo Fire was caused by a backhoe:
A backhoe in use at a housing construction project near Rancho Bernardo sparked the first large wildfire to erupt in San Diego County this week, authorities reported Friday.Investigators determined that the Bernardo Fire began as a crew was excavating trenches to test soil at the work site near Del Norte High School.After digging and then covering one of the troughs, they started moving to the next excavation location, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. They then noticed flames spreading rapidly through dry brush and tried in vain to extinguish them before fleeing for their own safety, officials said.
And arson is a possibility for some others, especially as 2 young men were arrested for starting fires around an Escondido area park:
The public’s persistent questions about arson gained steam after 10 p.m. Thursday when Escondido police said they had taken two teenagers into custody for trying to start “at least two fires” that evening in south Escondido. Police did not link the 19-year-old and 17-year-old to the wildfires burning throughout the county, and a police lieutenant told U-T San Diego the pair are not believed to be connected to any of the North County fires.
And while the possibility of arson starting these fires remains speculation at this point, Carlsbad Fire Chief Michael Davis said, “Each fire will be treated as a crime scene until it’s proven to be accidental.” Additionally, officials are asking San Diego residents to be vigilant and local talk show lines are filled with those who are inclined to agree with the Fire Chief’s assessment, as the nature of these infernos is unlike that of previous wildfires.
In fact, one of the discussions involved an EMS and Fire map that highlighted the fire locations and noted that the fires were concentrated in the north with ready access to the freeways and highways (including the one I experienced earlier this week).
Two serious blazes are being battled at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton:Crews battled two fires at Camp Pendleton early Friday, including one that grew overnight from 600 acres to 8,000, according to base officials.The fast-moving Las Pulgas Fire is 5 percent contained, base officials said. It broke out for unknown reasons about 3:15 p.m. Thursday near a sewage plant in the Las Pulgas area and has led to hundreds of evacuations.The second fire being fought at Camp Pendleton today — known as the Tomahawk Fire — erupted for unknown reasons around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday and has scorched about 6,300 acres on the eastern outskirts of Camp Pendleton. Base officials said it was 15 percent contained.
And a third has just broken out at the Marine base.
Truly, we may be looking at a man-made, climate change disaster.
(Featured image from SkyNews Video).
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