Free Republic

Among the Colorado wildfires drawing national attention today, the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs poses an immediate threat to the Navigators’ Glen Eyrie Conference Center and Eagle Lake Camp properties. The blaze...was only at 5 percent containment... Hundreds of workers are currently on the ground battling the blaze, which has burned down an Eagle Lake tent platform and come dangerously close to its barn, auto shop, and maintenance director’s home. “They’ve been praying God would raise walls of protection around the camp,” said Melissa Anderson, a 24-year-old Glen Eyrie resident and friend of Eagle Lake’s maintenance directors. “Apparently, the...

Green agenda targets slurry bombers As fire rages out of control on the edge of Colorado Springs, threatening lives and property, it is time we listen to those who have warned us about the negative effect environmentalists and President Barack Obama have had on the federal government’s ability to fight fires. Much of what’s burning is the Pike National Forest, which is federal property. Yet it took almost three days to get federal fire fighting aircraft off the ground to begin dumping meaningful loads of slurry to slow the fire’s growth. Because the Forest Service has a shortage of planes,...

This is the Waldo Canyon fire. Winds grew to 65mph this afternoon and the fire went over the fire-breaks. The Air Force Academy and surrounding neighborhood have been evacuated. Interstare I-25 has been closed north of Colorado SPrings in order to allow local people use the highway to evacuate.

A fast-growing wildfire in Colorado forced 11,000 people from their homes at least briefly on Sunday and threatened popular summer camping grounds beneath Pikes Peak, whose vistas helped inspire the patriotic tune "America the Beautiful." Live summit video from the 14,115-foot (4,302-metre) peak showed plumes of dark smoke billowing in the air, and a cog railway that ferries tourists up the side of the famous mountain was shut down because of the wildfires.

Some of the wildfires scorching the West this year were sparked by unusual culprits: Gun owners. Or, more specifically, gun shooters. As with the Dump fire in Utah, which flared hard enough on Friday to force the evacuation of 1,500 homes and 9,000 people, nearly two dozen conflagrations, officials say, have started accidentally by careless target shooters whose bullet sparks touch off dried-up pinon and wild grasses. “Now is not a good time to take your gun outside and start shooting in cheat grass that’s tinder dry,” Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Friday. While authorities can ban certain fire-related activities...

We, perhaps, will never be able to reckon the entire extent to which the Environmentally ill and the EPA have caused the loss of life, limb, and monetary resources due to their obsessive love for Gaia, their Mother Earth. Frankly, I think they have done more harm to their Ma, than we could ever guess.New Mexico, as well as other western states, have been the latest victims of an out of control environmental policy as directed by out of control Democrats, especially in the Obama administration as of late. As Spain goes broke from going solar, as Obama works toward...

As four separate wildfires devour the state of Arizona-burning more than 17,500 acres at last count-it’s instructive to look at how our government has handled its investigation into the two enormous ones which blazed a path of destruction across the state in 2011. According to the Arizona Daily Star, both the Horseshoe 2 and the Monument Fire were caused by humans, which in the case of national forests invariably means illegal aliens and/or Mexican narco-traffickers nesting within wilderness cordoned off from American citizens. The tragedy, which should elicit anger and frustration in anyone concerned about the environment and the lives...

Al-Qaida magazine urges terrorists to set wildfires in MontanaMay 04, 2012 5:53 am • By GWEN FLORIO Terrorists who want to strike fear in the hearts of Americans would do well to set wildfires in Montana, al-Qaida advises in the most recent issue of its English-language magazine, Inspire. “It is difficult to choose a better place other than in the valleys of Montana where the population increases rapidly,” Inspire’s “AQ Chef” columnist writes. The magazine disappeared for a while after its founders, Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, were killed last year in a U.S. missile strike. But it recently reappeared...

Illegal immigrants started nearly 40 percent of human-caused wildfires along the Arizona and Mexico border between 2006 and 2010, according to a new government report that backs up claims state lawmakers made during this year’s catastrophic blazes. That number even may be understated - the report by the Government Accountability Office said federal land agencies often violate their own policies by not trying to investigate the origins of such fires. Of the 422 human-caused fires, just 77 were investigated, and of those 30 were found to have been ignited by illegal border crosses. Illegal immigration also makes battling the fires...

Obama cracks jokes about devastating Texas wildfires You know, beneath the cool exterior of the basketball-playing hipster president, behind the facade of the partisan class warrior, there lurks a core truth — Barack Obama is a jackass: While at a highdollar fundraiser San Jose, California, President Obama ridiculed Rick Perry. “You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change.” Obama said to laughter and applause, and added, “No, no, it’s true!”

BASTROP, Texas – The number of homes destroyed by a Texas wildfire has risen to 1,554 and is expected to further increase as firefighters enter more areas where the blaze has been extinguished, officials said Sunday. Seventeen people remain unaccounted for.

Did Perry Slash the Volunteer Fire Fighter Budget? By Katrina Trinko September 07, 2011 Talking to MNSBC host Larry O’Donnell last night, former Perry opponent Jim Hightower accused Rick Perry of making draconian cuts to the volunteer fire fighter budget — no small accusation, considering the wildfires in Texas.  “Perry with his Republican supermajority in the legislature managed to slash the budget of the volunteer fire departments in our state by 75 percent in the last legislative session. We don’t have firefighters enough to come to fight these fires. People’s homes are burning down because of his failure,” Hightower said....

According to KVUE-TV, the state of Texas, under Gov. Rick Perry, cut state funding for the volunteer fire departments that protect most of the state from wildfires. Firefighters have actually been dipping into their own pockets to fight fires. Volunteer departments that were already facing financial strain had their funding cut from $30 million to $7 million. There are 879 volunteer fire departments in Texas; 114 are paid fire departments, while 187 departments are a combination of volunteer and paid. At a press conference Monday, Perry promised to seek federal disaster relief and said that FEMA would be in the...

Firefighting air tankers are siting idle at a California airport, grounded by the Obama administration Nearly half of the federal government’s firefighting air tankers are siting idle at a California airport, grounded by the Obama administration in a contract dispute just weeks before wildfires swept through Texas killing a mother and her child, and destroying 100,000 acres. The massive blazes forced Texas Gov. and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry to abruptly call off a campaign appearance in South Carolina earlier this week to respond to the crisis, and may force him to cancel his first debate appearance Wednesday night....

Nearly half of the federal government’s firefighting air tankers are siting idle at a California airport, grounded by the Obama administration in a contract dispute just weeks before wildfires swept through Texas killing a mother and her child, and destroying 100,000 acres. The massive blazes forced Texas Gov. and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry​ to abruptly call off a campaign appearance in South Carolina earlier this week to respond to the crisis, and may force him to cancel his first debate appearance Wednesday night. The U.S. Forest Service terminated the contract with Aero Union five weeks ago to operate...

Reporting from Bastrop, Texas, and Los Angeles— Out-of-control wildfires — among the worst in state history — leaped across Texas' parched midsection, destroying 1,000 homes and killing four as firefighters called for more resources and the governor, a Republican presidential hopeful who's made his mark blasting federal spending, asked Washington for help. Winds were expected to abate, but only slightly, and the dry conditions will persist for days. Gov. Rick Perry complained about the slow pace of assistance from Washington and Ft. Hood as Federal Emergency Management Agency officials arrived in Bastrop, where 600 houses were burned, to survey fire...

BASTROP — Firefighting-trained volunteers from around the state converged on Bastrop and Smithville Tuesday to lend a hand to the beleaguered local firefighters battling the Bastrop County Complex Fire — only to be sent away as federal officials arrived at the scene and took command, apparently because local officials never made a formal request for volunteers. “We were at the station getting set up into strike teams, and this guy came up and said that the U.S. Forest Service had ‘assumed control of the situation, and that ‘If you don’t have a vehicle that squirts water, go home,’” said Gordon...

HOUSTON -- At the moment, Rick Perry's camp confirms the governor still plans to participate in Wednesday night's GOP debate in California. The governor's campaign just released his schedule showing two events in California after the debate. It appears he will leave the wildfires to appear Wednesday night in California and will continue on with planned fundraisers Thursday and Friday. It appears his brief break from campaigning hasn't hurt.

http://ticc.tamu.edu/Response/FireActivity/default.aspx map of all the active wildfires in Texas

Wildfire Update – Sept. 5, 2011 Current situation: · Texas Forest Service responded yesterday to 63 new fires that burned 32,936 acres, including 22 new large fires. · Strong winds and low relative humidity from Tropical Storm Lee caused numerous wildfires to spread rapidly yesterday. Additional National Guard Blackhawk helicopters and Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) strike teams, as well as a heavy airtanker from South Dakota were mobilized Sunday to assist with the large number of fires. Weather conditions are expected to reach critical levels again today. · Texas Forest Service has dozens of aircraft ready to...