Free Republic

MONTECITO, Calif. - Family and friends are mourning the loss of Rebecca Riskin of Riskin Partners in Montecito. The 61-year-old is one of 17 people who died in the flooding and mudslides in Montecito. It has been reported that her dogs died, too. Riskin was a professional ballerina before she become known as the first lady of luxury real estate. She sold more than $2.17 billion dollars in real estate during her career and didn't talk about her celebrity clients.

FORT HUACHUCA — After more than a year of effort, Fort Huachuca is being recognized for its efforts to prevent wildfires. During a short ceremony Thursday with Army personnel and fire officials, the installation was recognized as a “Firewise community” that has taken proactive steps to reduce fire risks. Fort Huachuca is the first Army post to receive this recognition and only the second military installation, after the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Both are now part of a collection of 1,479 communities across 42 states that have earned this distinction since the program was started in 2002...

A cross at Ventura Park is still standing after the Thomas Fire devoured all around it.  Many in California see this as a sign of hope while all else around them is lost.  There was little time to gather belongings and flee.  Firefighters died as they fought to save homes, as innocent horses perished in fires that defied anything we have ever seen. The Serra Cross had stood since World War II, but rumors of the cross burning down had broken on social media. As power lines and everything else around the cross were destroyed, many reported the cross was...

...To Damon Young, a columnist for GQ.com, Wadnan’s kind deed was a glaring symbol of white American racism. Young’s article, “The Video of the Man Saving the Rabbit from the Fire Captures Everything Wrong with Whiteness in 30 Seconds” ... contends that Wadnan’s act of bravery proves that whites care more for animals than for black people.

Costs of fighting all six major fires have risen to nearly $40 million, officials said. More than 9,500 firefighters from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington state are working the flames, with 7,000 of those on the Thomas Fire alone. In addition to the 1,000-plus structures destroyed, hundreds of homes have been torched, almost 100,000 people have been evacuated, 85,000 have been left without power and damages total about $10 billion.

California Gov. Jerry Brown and former Vice President Al Gore lead the list of those blaming climate change for Southern California’s devastating wildfires, calling them “the new normal,” but others insist the science just isn’t there. That includes climate scientists such as University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass, who moved to extinguish the “now normal” narrative by arguing that the data “strongly suggests there is no credible evidence” that global warming is fueling this fall’s California coastal wildfires, and that claims to the contrary are “baseless, if not outright wrong.” “The bottom line of all this is that observations and...

The so-called Thomas Fire is only 15 percent contained, now threatening the city of Santa Barbara and the nearby coastal town of Carpinteria, and is on track to become one of the worst wildfires in California history. It has already destroyed 583 structures and scorched 173,000 acres, the authorities say. New evacuations were ordered in Carpinteria, which been under fire threat for days. The new evacuation zone extends within two miles of the Santa Barbara Zoo.

California's governor has said that deadly wildfires in the winter will be 'the new normal', as fire crews rushed to contain the fires, with dry desert winds expected to intensify over the weekend. Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday toured Ventura County neighborhoods ravaged by a weeklong wildfire that killed at least one person and destroyed hundreds of homes and other buildings. At a news conference, the Democrat said drought and climate change mean California faces a 'new reality' where lives and property are continually threatened by fire, at a cost of billions of dollars. He added that gusty winds and...

Devastating wildfires fueled by climate change are “the new normal”, California’s governor has said. Jerry Brown said vast fires, such as the ones that have ravaged southern California in recent days, “could happen every year or every few years”. “We’re facing a new reality in this state,” he said. Mr Brown made the comments after surveying the damage in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles. Thousands of firefighters have been battling the fires since Monday. Mr. Brown, a Democrat who has attacked the Trump administration’s stance on climate change, said: “We’re facing a new reality in this state, where fires...

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) says President Trump's stance on climate change demonstrates that he does not appear to fear the "wrath of God" or have any regard for the "existential consequences" of his environmental policies. “I don’t think President Trump has a fear of the Lord, the fear of the wrath of God, which leads one to more humility ... this is such a reckless disregard for the truth and for the existential consequences that can be unleashed,” Brown said in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes," which is set to air on Sunday. Brown, who studied to become...

Wildfires in Southern California aided by wind have driven 200,000 from their homes, and have forced schools throughout the area to close. The largest fire started in Santa Paula, California, on Monday, but there are now five separate fires. Here’s a glimpse into some of the destruction California is facing.

Hundreds of elite thoroughbred race horses sprinted away from flames Thursday as one of California's major wildfires tore through a training center in San Diego County. Not all made it. There was no official count of how many animals were killed in the hazy confusion as both horses and humans evacuated, but trainers at San Luis Rey Downs estimated that at least a dozen had died, possibly far more. Horses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars who are usually carefully walked from place to place were simply set free and encouraged to run away as flames engulfed the center near...

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for homes on Moraga Drive, Linda Flora Drive and Casiano Road down to Bellagio Road. Residents for the area east of the 405, Mulholland to the North, Sunset to the South and Rosomare to the East were warned to prepare for an evacuation. Los Angeles Fire Dispatcher Margaret Stewart said the fire could grow with winds blowing at over 25 mph.

Live TV News coverage. Multiple fires in Los Angeles area. Brush fire near Getty Center 0% contained, i-405 freeway closed.

Another terrible set of fires in California. Live broadcast from ABC7 in LA.

Lint to Ventura Fire Dispatch. https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/2858

I had a pistol that was destroyed in the Tubbs fire. How do I cancel the registration of a gun that no longer exists? Short answer: With the California Department of Justice. But local law enforcement can help. The wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes in Sonoma County also damaged or destroyed many guns. While a firearm may no longer be functional, local law enforcement asks residents to bring them to the Santa Rosa Police Department or Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office for disposal. If the damaged gun has a visible serial number and its make and model are discernible, local...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Tom Homan confirmed on Thursday that a man arrested in connection with setting a fire in Sonoma County Wine Country is an illegal alien from Mexico who has been twice returned to his “home country.” Homan also confirmed that ICE has issued detainer requests for Jesus Fabian Gonzalez five times now in the past year alone, including the one issued on October 16 in relation to his most recent arrest on suspicion of arson. All of the arrests were made “by Sonoma County on various felony and misdemeanor charges,” according to Homan.

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Tom Homan confirmed on Thursday that a man arrested in connection with setting a fire in Sonoma County Wine Country is an illegal alien from Mexico who has been twice returned to his “home country.” Homan also confirmed that ICE has issued detainer requests for Jesus Fabian Gonzalez five times now in the past year alone, including the one issued on October 16 in relation to his most recent arrest on suspicion of arson. All of the arrests were made “by Sonoma County on various felony and misdemeanor charges,”...

SONOMA COUNTY, CA (Breitbart) – The U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) issued a detainer request on the Sonoma County Jail for Jesus Fabian Gonzalez, who was arrested Sunday on suspicion of arson in Wine Country fires that have killed at least 40 residents. Breitbart News reported earlier this week that Sonoma County Sheriffs had arrested Jesus Fabian Gonzalez, 29, at Maxwell Regional Park in Sonoma County after a series of reports of ongoing fires in the region. Mr. Gonzalez was observed around 3:00 p.m. PDT wearing a jacket and walking “out of the creek area and a plume...