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A former college professor has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison over a string of arson fires in Northern California in 2021 as fire crews were battling the second-largest fire in the state’s history. Gary Stephen Maynard, 49, of San Jose, pleaded guilty in February to three arson counts in connection to fires in the Shasta National Forest and near the Dixie Fire in the Lassen National Forest. The Dixie Fire burned over 1,500 square miles after igniting on July 13 and destroyed over 1,000 homes. Maynard was accused of setting fires behind firefighters battling the...

A college professor suspected in a series of arson fires in remote forested areas of Northern California near the massive Dixie Fire has been charged in connection with one of the blazes in Lassen County and was ordered held Tuesday in the Sacramento County Main Jail. Gary Stephen Maynard, 47, is believed to have worked at a number of colleges in California, including Santa Clara University and Sonoma State University, where a Dr. Gary Maynard is listed as a lecturer in criminal justice studies specializing in criminal justice, cults and deviant behavior. ...Maynard was arrested Saturday following an investigation that...

A massive fire broke out at Farina Farms Inc. in Marion County, Illinois, on Wednesday night, resulting in the deaths of millions of chickens. The farm is one of the largest free-range egg facilities in the country. The fire, which began around 6:30 p.m. along Highway 37, quickly escalated into a 5-alarm fire, requiring the intervention of at least 20 different fire departments from surrounding areas, according to WAND TV. Described as “humongous” by Marion County Sheriff Kevin Cripps, the fire engulfed multiple buildings spanning 200-300 yards in length.

Direct hits and multiple fires near Highway 90 and Kiryat Shmona following 35 rocket launches from Lebanon; 10 firefighting teams on site; IDF responds with extensive strikes in southern Lebanon, multiple destroying Hezbollah sites About 35 rockets were fired at the northern city of Kiryat Shmona in a series of barrages from Lebanon Friday evening, causing extensive brushfires. The city reported significant damage to property and infrastructure, with dozens of homes and vehicles affected. Ten firefighting teams from the Galil-Golan station, assisted by crews from other stations in the northern district, are working to extinguish two major fires in open...

Safety concerns around electric vehicles continue to mount with Australian fire and rescue services in New South Wales stating they might have to make a “tactical disengagement” of a trapped car accident victim if the battery is likely to explode. Australian journalist Jo Nova covered the story, which was first mentioned in the EV blog The Driven, and commented: “They say the first responders need more training as if this can be solved with a certificate, but the dark truth is they’re talking about training the firemen and the truck drivers to recognise when they have to abandon the rescue.”...

Hamas claimed responsibility Sunday for a barrage of rockets fired from the town of Rafah toward the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which is responsible for the entry of trucks of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. There were several casualties. The Times of Israel reported: At least seven people were wounded in the Hamas rocket attack on the Kerem Shalom area, according to Hebrew-language media reports. Several of those hurt in the attack are listed in serious condition, the reports say.

The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revealed its ambition: to phase out gas-powered cars in favor of electric vehicles (EVs). Incredibly, this announcement comes as we are flooded with overwhelming evidence that EVs are a market loser. Indeed, the artificial boom and then meltdown of the EV market is a modern industrial calamity. It was created by government, social media, wild disease frenzy, far-flung thinking, and the irrational chasing of utopia, followed by a rude awakening by facts and reality. CEO of Hertz Stephen Scherr has been booted out due to a vast purchase of an EV fleet...

While it has gone virtually unreported on by the American corporate press, left-wing activists in Canada are waging an all-out war on Christians that has seen hundreds of churches burned to the ground. Meanwhile, American Christians are facing their own wave of persecution that shows no sign of letting up. The rash of church burnings began back in 2021 following claims from leaders of the British Columbia First Nation Band Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc that ground-penetrating radar had discovered a “mass grave” of more than 200 indigenous children. The grave allegedly dated back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries,...

a larger campaign to drive Americans out of rural areas and centralize access to food, the Biden administration is rolling out a draconian and needless new wastewater rule that could put small and mid-size food processing facilities out of business. A large group of United States senators and representatives are demanding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdraw a new meat and poultry wastewater proposal, which they claim “stands to hamper rural economies and drive small- and mid-sized processing facilities out of business.” “Given the technical complexity and high costs of wastewater treatment alterations, coupled with the massive expansion of the...

For a number of years, I’ve been observing demands of activists and promises of politicians that we transition our electrical grid to being supplied mainly by the intermittent renewables, wind and solar, with all large dispatchable sources (fossil fuel and nuclear) banished. Early on, I thought it was obvious that such a transition would inevitably mean that the only way to make the grid function full-time would be energy storage — on a vast scale never before contemplated or attempted. How much storage, and at what potential cost? This is actually an arithmetic problem, somewhat cumbersome but conceptually very elementary,...

Lithium-ion batteries used in E-bikes and other electronic mobility devices are now a leading cause of fires in New York City following their popularity surged during the pandemic’s delivery boom, FDNY officials say. FDNY Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn told The Post that fires related to lithium-ion batteries have gone up nearly nine-fold since the pandemic, with more blazes related to the batteries happening in the last two months than in all of 2019. “It’s the prevalence of these e-devices on our streets, there’s way more of them now than ever before,” Flynn said.

Since 2017, hospitalizations due to e-bike injuries have risen 43-fold, ... Over 45,000 Americans were injured as a result of e-bike injuries between 2017 and 2022, indicating a 30-fold rise in the number of injuries caused by the popular mode of transportation. Nearly one in 10 of those injuries required hospitalization. ... 2022, e-bikes accounted for 4 percent of the bike market in the United States, up from 0.06 percent in 2015. ... between 2017 and 2022, the number of injuries rose from 751 to 23,493—over a 108 percent annual increase. Men were those most often injured, receiving between 69...

A massive fire broke out at a French industrial site used for recycling hybrid and electric car batteries on Saturday, sending thick clouds of smoke into the air. The town of Viviez in the department of Aveyron in Southern France was shrouded by black clouds of smoke after a fire broke out at a warehouse used to hold hybrid and electric car lithium batteries. Overall, the site held an estimated 900 tonnes of lithium batteries, however, officials claimed that the cause of the fire has still not been determined, Le Figaro reports.

There has been an almost total media blackout on this story… In fact, the only place I’ve seen it covered is on Twitter/X. Thank you Elon! Basically, a large part of Chile (a tourist city named Valparaiso) has been completely burned to the ground, and the similarities to what happened to Maui are impossible to ignore. The recent wildfires in Chile have caused widespread devastation, claiming at least 112 lives and leaving hundreds more missing. The fires, which have been burning across the country, have prompted the government to declare a state of emergency. One of the most severely affected...

South Korean drivers are concerned that their future EVs could catch fire while charging or in a car crash ... In 2020 and 2021, several high-profile cases of EVs catching fire were reported in South Korea. Three years ago, an electric bus manufactured by Hyundai Motor caught fire while in use. A few months earlier, Hyundai Motor recalled more than 77,000 Kona EVs sold globally after 13 of the electric crossover vehicles caught fire. Hyundai and its battery supplier LG Chem were at odds over the reasons for the recall, with the battery cell maker saying it wasn’t its battery...

France’s President Macron had a plan to make millions of electric vehicles a year. Chancellor Scholz planned to put 15 million on Germany’s roads by 2030. President Biden trumped the lot with a $174bn (£138bn) plan to make the US the world leader. Even Boris Johnson Get info without leaving the page. – remember him – had a £1bn plan to beef up our charging network. Rewind only a couple of years, and almost every president or prime minister was making electric vehicles the cornerstone of an industrial strategy. And yet, this week we have learned that Renault is abandoning...

He got iced. Starbucks fired a barista who was toiling to pay for paramedic school after he helped subdue two robbers who pistol-whipped him. Michael Harrison, 20, told The Post he was manning the drive-thru last month when two masked men entered his downtown St. Louis location around noon and told everyone to get on the ground. With one of the invaders waving what appeared to be a gun, the roughly ten employees and one customer present got on their stomachs in terror. Many of them, the aspiring EMT said, were crying in fear.

An electric double-decker bus caught fire in southwest London on Thursday, prompting the city’s transportation agency to remove a fleet from service as a precaution while the incident is investigated, according to reports. Passengers on the bus in Wimbledon during rush hour had to be evacuated, but no injuries were reported, according to BBC News. Video of the incident show flames and smoke engulfing an apparent rear section of the bus. "Safety is our top priority and we are working with the operator, London General, and the bus manufacturer, Switch, to investigate what happened," Transport for London’s head of business...

A Quebec man who posted conspiracy theories online that forest fires were being deliberately set by the government has pleaded guilty to starting a series of fires himself that forced hundreds of people from their homes. Brian Paré, 38, pleaded guilty Monday to 13 counts of arson and one count of arson with disregard for human life at the courthouse in Chibougamau, Que. Prosecutor Marie-Philippe Charron told the court that two of the 14 fires set by Paré forced the evacuation of around 500 homes in Chapais, Que...

Officials today launched an investigation after one of Sadiq Khan's electric buses exploded during today's rush hour. Terrified residents in Wimbledon described a massive 'bang' after a double decker burst into flames during this morning's commute, sparking chaos on the roads as black smoke filled the streets. Astonishing video obtained by MailOnline shows the dramatic moment firefighters battled to put out the inferno. Transport for London (TfL) today launched an investigation after the blaze destroyed the rear and blew out the back windows ... 'It took a long time for them to get it under control with flames flying out...