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Opinion: Trump’s unlikely Manhattan saga faces unprecedented moment | CNN

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Opinion: Trump’s unlikely Manhattan saga faces unprecedented moment | CNN

Editor’s Notice: Signal as much as get this weekly column as a e-newsletter. We’re wanting again on the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and different retailers.



CNN
 — 

In 1971, an Ivy League graduate in his mid-20s rented a studio condo on Third Avenue and seventy fifth road in New York Metropolis. The window appeared out on an adjoining constructing’s water tank.

“I … tried to divide it up in order that it will appear greater. However it doesn’t matter what I did, it was nonetheless a darkish, dingy little condo. Even so, I liked it,” wrote former President Donald Trump in his 1987 guide, “The Artwork of the Deal,” co-authored with Tony Schwartz. “You must perceive; I used to be a child from Queens who labored in Brooklyn, and all of a sudden I had an condo on the Higher East Aspect. … I turned a metropolis man as an alternative of a child from the boroughs.”

Trump was not the final individual to fall below the spell of Manhattan, with its quick tempo, its hovering towers and its glamorous celebrities. There, he would construct his profession, endure divorces and enterprise bankruptcies, grow to be a legendary determine via his starring position on “The Apprentice” and mount an unlikely marketing campaign for president.

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In the end, he’d grow to be the primary New Yorker since Franklin D. Roosevelt to make it to the White Home. However Trump’s Manhattan saga may very well be coming to an in depth on Tuesday only some miles from the place it started, when he’s scheduled to seem in a downtown courtroom to face felony costs.

As with nearly every little thing concerning the former president, there’s no actual precedent for the most recent chapter of his story — and no method to inform the way it will finish.

“It lastly occurred,” wrote authorized analyst Jennifer Rodgers. “After a number of investigations over half a dozen years, former President Donald Trump has been indicted by a grand jury in New York, in accordance with sources acquainted with the matter. Trump fired again, calling the indictment ‘political persecution’ and warned ‘this Witch-Hunt’ will backfire.”

“Although we not but know the small print of the costs, we do know that Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin Bragg had been investigating Trump in connection together with his alleged position in a hush cash cover-up scheme involving grownup movie star Stormy Daniels throughout his 2016 presidential marketing campaign…It’s the first time any former president has been criminally charged. As such, we’re getting into uncharted territory.”

“It ought to be evident that nobody is above the regulation, and that Trump ought to be held accountable for his actions in the best way that some other citizen could be. These costs characterize step one towards accountability, however the journey shall be lengthy and winding.”

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Trump can proceed working for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 and if he can delay the prosecution and is elected, Rodgers identified, “count on him to argue that the case towards him have to be dismissed as unconstitutional primarily based on the Justice Division’s 2000 steering {that a} president can’t be indicted ‘or tried’ whereas in workplace.”

Elie Honig argued that the primary hurdle for Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin Bragg is to beat any movement by Trump’s lawyer to dismiss the costs. However even when he succeeds there, his prosecutors must persuade 12 jurors to vote unanimously to convict.

“Even when a case was tried in part of the nation the place Trump isn’t highly regarded, statistically you might be very more likely to find yourself with a number of Trump voters on the jury of 12 folks,” mentioned Honig. “A choose would inform jurors to place apart their political opinions and private beliefs — however I do know from my days as a prosecutor that jurors are human beings, not robots — they’re topic to the identical feelings, biases, and incentives as any individual could be. And the authorized bar at trial is much greater than within the grand jury…”

Within the political area, “there’s a distinct chance that Trump not solely survives but in addition thrives,” wrote Julian Zelizer. “Trump has an uncanny intuition for utilizing moments of peril to his benefit and his political profession is constructed on punching again towards the folks and establishments he claims are unfairly attacking him. He has already fallen again on the well-worn technique of presenting himself because the sufferer of a corrupt institution and rallying his supporters behind him.”

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“It have to be mentioned that of all of the authorized troubles Trump faces, the indictment in New York seems to pale compared to others, such because the potential racketeering and conspiracy costs Atlanta-area prosecutors are contemplating in connection to the try and overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.”

Within the Washington Publish, Henry Olsen wrote, “Anybody who cares about equity in our felony justice system ought to be queasy that Donald Trump shall be prosecuted in one of many nation’s most liberal jurisdictions. By all accounts, this ought to be a federal case.”

“New York state’s total judicial course of is managed by Democrats who might lose their positions in celebration primaries. Alvin Bragg, the district legal professional overseeing the case, boasted throughout his marketing campaign that he had sued Trump or his administration greater than 100 occasions throughout his tenure within the state legal professional common’s workplace, one thing he in all probability did to curry favor with main voters who detest Trump. Each New York state choose who would both strive the case or hear an attraction is elected on a partisan foundation, too. It could take plenty of braveness for a choose to use the regulation pretty and doubtlessly ignore their voters’ want for vengeance.”

05 opinion column 0401

Sorrow, anger and frustration had been among the many feelings folks felt after yet one more college capturing final week — this time in Nashville, Tennessee, the place three kids and three adults had been killed at The Covenant Faculty on Monday.

Jillian Peterson and James Densley have been learning the life histories of practically 200 mass shooters since 1996. Their findings are instructive — “85% confirmed related warning indicators of a disaster and 92% had been suicidal. Additional, 93% of faculty mass shooters communicated violent intent forward of time and 86% confirmed a excessive diploma of planning earlier than the capturing. Lastly, 73% of all college mass shooters had a historical past of childhood trauma…”

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All of this raises the query of the best way to forestall shootings. And so they argued that on this entrance, there’s a optimistic growth — a transfer to carry dad and mom accountable in sure instances:

“The dad and mom of a teen who shot and killed 4 college students at Oxford Excessive Faculty in Michigan in November 2021 are set to face trial for involuntary manslaughter after an appellate court docket final week rejected their rivalry that the costs haven’t any authorized justification,” Peterson and Densely noticed.

“James and Jennifer Crumbley, who’ve pleaded not responsible, allegedly uncared for cries for assist from their son for months and dismissed critical considerations from the college the day earlier than and the morning of the capturing. But at the same time as they apparently ignored warning indicators, the Crumbleys purchased their son a gun and took him to focus on observe. Fifteen on the time of the mass capturing, their son pleaded responsible in October to terrorism and homicide costs.”

06 opinion column 0401

President Joe Biden touted efforts to oppose autocratic governments ultimately week’s White Home democracy summit, co-hosted by Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia.

However there was one nation lacking from the gathering — Afghanistan, wrote Peter Bergen.

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“This makes the premise of the democracy summit ring considerably hole as a result of whereas the Biden administration does a wonderful job of trumpeting its commitments to democracy and ladies’s rights, solely a yr and a half in the past, it cavalierly deserted 40 million Afghans to the Taliban’s misogynistic theocracy.”

Home Republicans are investigating the tumultuous US withdrawal from Afghanistan and there’s a congressionally mandated bipartisan fee analyzing the complete 20-year conflict in Afghanistan. “After all, any examination of the US report in Afghanistan is one thing of a double-edged sword for Republicans,” Bergen famous, “because it was the Trump administration that signed the settlement with the Taliban in 2020 that set the stage for the entire US withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

The drama taking part in out in Israel this week supplied an indicator of how protest could make a distinction in a democracy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s again in workplace on the power of an excessive right-wing coalition, has been urgent for an overhaul of the nation’s judiciary to put it firmly below the management of the Knesset. “For Netanyahu, the plan was handy,” wrote Frida Ghitis. “It created the opportunity of escaping his personal authorized woes, since one of many controversial payments lately handed would make it harder for a main minister to be declared unfit for workplace…

“It might sound an arcane concern to set off an enormous fashionable rebellion, however Israelis promptly concluded their democracy was at stake, and what adopted was some of the far-reaching, disciplined and decided waves of protests inside a democratic nation in latest reminiscence.”

“On Monday, below practically insufferable stress, Netanyahu agreed to postpone the overhaul -— which was being rammed via the Knesset — till the subsequent legislative time period. The disaster, nonetheless, shouldn’t be over.”

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For extra:

Anshel Pfeffer: What on earth was Netanyahu pondering?

“Breakups suck.” So goes the introductory video for a marketing campaign that New Zealand is conducting to assist folks deal with relationships which have ended. “Our conduct doesn’t must” comply with swimsuit, wrote Holly Thomas.

“The nation’s Love Higher marketing campaign … goals to assist younger folks get well from breakups and construct resilience. The marketing campaign features a devoted cellphone, textual content or e-mail helpline run by Youthline, a company devoted to supporting folks ages 12 to 24.”

“It’s a part of a broader technique to assist eradicate household and sexual violence, and it follows a survey of 1,200 16-24-year-olds, 68% of whom reported experiences encompassing self-harm, substance abuse, dangerous sexual behaviors and violence and coercion following rejection. Given the breadth of the potential harm, it’s wild that campaigns like these aren’t ubiquitous in different nations as properly … On the very least, it will enhance our collective psychological well being. At most, it would save lives.”

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Is Utah main the best way in fixing what’s mistaken with social media? Kara Alaimo thinks so. Below two new state legal guidelines, “social media corporations must confirm the ages of all customers within the state, and youngsters below age 18 must get permission from their dad and mom to have accounts.”

“Dad and mom may even be capable to entry their children’ accounts, apps received’t be allowed to point out kids adverts, and accounts for youths received’t be capable to be used between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. with out parental permission.”

“It’s about time,” wrote Alaimo. “Social networks in america have grow to be doubtlessly extremely harmful for youngsters, and oldsters can now not defend our youngsters with out the instruments and safeguards this regulation supplies. … Congress ought to comply with Utah’s lead and enact an analogous regulation to guard each little one on this nation.”

04 opinion column 0401

For extra:

Mary Ziegler and Naomi Cahn: From Michelangelo’s David to the 2024 presidential race, ‘dad and mom’ rights’ are all over the place

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Final weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded on his plans to station nuclear weapons in Belarus, which borders each Russia and Ukraine. There was little or no new within the announcement, wrote Keir Giles, however it nonetheless set off alarms that the analyst thinks are exaggerated.

“The flurry of alarmist reporting on what this meant highlights a lot of what’s mistaken with Western responses to Russian nuclear intimidation.”

“How Putin’s phrases have been spun within the West could also be a shock to Moscow — however there’s little question it is going to be a extremely gratifying one. As a result of Russia has already ‘used’ nuclear weapons. It’s used them extremely efficiently with out firing them, by buying and selling on empty threats about potential nuclear strikes to very successfully deter the West from absolutely supporting Ukraine towards Russia’s imperialist conflict.”

“By now although, we should always have realized to not confuse what Putin has mentioned with what Russia has performed or is about to do.”

03 opinion column 0401

David Axelrod: The sports activities whiz who may simply save Main League Baseball

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Marja Heinonen: Finland’s the happiest nation as soon as once more. Right here’s how we do it

Christina Wyman: How Michelle Obama is deploying her superpower of vulnerability

Sophia Brown: I selected New Faculty as a result of I didn’t have to depart my id on the campus door

02 opinion column 0401

Allison Hope: This Transgender Day of Visibility is extra necessary than ever

Lola Akinmade Åkerström: Why is Sweden afraid of publishing this guide on race?

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AND…

01 the real captain american opinion

A yr earlier than the US entered World Struggle II, a gutsy artist and his writing colleague launched a brand new superhero, with the debut cowl of the brand new comedian exhibiting him punching the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Captain America was born, greater than 82 years in the past. In a bit for CNN Opinion, Roy Schwartz explored his again story, and that of the artist, who adopted the identify of Jack Kirby. Each author and artist had been the youngsters of Jewish immigrants.

Schwartz wrote that Kirby’s son mentioned “he was fearful and livid on the rise of Nazism in Europe and the US, particularly after (British prime minister Neville) Chamberlain’s appeasement and Kristallnacht. He and Simon created their hero in direct response, and Kirby plainly said, ‘Captain America was myself.’ When he drew him punching Hitler, it was his ‘personal anger coming to the floor.’”

That was removed from Kirby’s solely contribution to the historical past of comics.

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As Schwartz famous, “After the conflict, superheroes fell out of favor and Kirby wrote and drew different genres of comics. When Stan Lee, by then the editor and head author at what would quickly be named Marvel, requested him to strive superheroes once more in 1961, the 2 created collectively the Unbelievable 4, the Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, Iron Man, the Avengers, the X-Males, Black Panther and numerous others. This, mixed together with his inventive innovation, earned Kirby the moniker ‘King of Comics.’ It additionally made him some of the influential artists of the twentieth century.”

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Los Angeles Fire Chief Faces Calls for Resignation

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Los Angeles Fire Chief Faces Calls for Resignation

Three years ago, when Kristin Crowley became the first female chief in the history of the Los Angeles Fire Department, she was lauded as a force for stability.

“There is no one better equipped to lead the L.A.F.D. at this moment than Kristin,” the mayor at the time, Eric Garcetti, said of the 22-year veteran of the department. “She’s ready to make history.”

Now, as Los Angeles reels under an extended onslaught of wind-driven wildfire, its fire chief is being buffeted by challenges in and outside her ranks, tension with City Hall and questions about her department’s preparedness. The fires, which are still unfolding on the city’s west side and in the community of Altadena outside the city, have so far leveled nearly 40,000 acres and claimed at least 27 lives.

Last week, complaints about funding for her department boiled over into a public dispute between Mayor Karen Bass and Chief Crowley. This week, veteran fire managers charged that she and her staff should have positioned more engines in advance in high-risk areas like Pacific Palisades, where the fires began on Jan. 7.

At a news conference, she struggled to explain why an outgoing shift of about 1,000 firefighters was not ordered to remain at work last Tuesday as a precaution amid extreme red-flag conditions. “We surged where we could surge,” she said.

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A Jan. 13 letter signed by unnamed “retired and active L.A.F.D. chief officers” accused her of a host of management failures and called for her to step down. “A large number of chief officers do not believe you are up to the task,” the five-page letter read in part.

In an email on Thursday, a fire department spokesperson said that the chief was “focused on mitigating the fires” and unable to respond to the letter. The chief has repeatedly emphasized the progress her crews are making.

“Our firefighters are doing an incredible job,” she said in a news briefing on Thursday, as a continuing air and ground assault brought hot spots in Pacific Palisades closer to containment. “As their chief, I’m extremely proud of the work that our people did and continue to do.”

With thousands of evacuees clamoring to return to the remains of their homes and more red-flag wind conditions in the forecast, many civic leaders in Los Angeles have reserved judgment.

“This was a huge natural disaster not any single fire chief could have prevented, whether they had unlimited resources and money,” said Corinne Tapia Babcock, a member of the Los Angeles Fire Commission, which oversees the department and its chief. “You cannot attack a single person for a situation that is this catastrophic.”

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Zev Yaroslavsky, a former member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and City Council, said that “an accounting should and will take place when the smoke clears.”

“But these issues can’t be resolved while the city’s on fire,” he added.

Other civic leaders predicted that, sooner or later, the chief would be held to account.

“She’ll be gone in six months,” said Fernando Guerra, who directs the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

Even before the fire, the chief faced strong political challenges, Dr. Guerra said. Her appointment in early 2022 by the prior mayor, Mr. Garcetti, was seen as an attempt to steady the department after years of complaints of harassment and discrimination raised by female L.A.F.D. firefighters.

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But it challenged the male-dominated culture of the department, Dr. Guerra noted, as did the election later that year of Ms. Bass as the new mayor. Like other top managers in Los Angeles city government, fire chiefs are mayoral appointees and can be replaced by a new administration. Ms. Bass kept her on.

Even with more than two decades with the department, Chief Crowley was still new in her post — just beginning to develop a base of support — when the Palisades burst into flames last week.

As the fire turned into a catastrophe, critics of Mayor Bass, including Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of The Los Angeles Times, and Elon Musk, the owner of X, the social media platform, charged that the fire department had been underfunded. A December memo from Chief Crowley surfaced, in which she warned the fire commission that a $7.9 million cut in firefighter overtime and the elimination of dozens of civilian positions had “severely limited” the department’s ability to respond to large-scale emergencies.

Ms. Bass had approved a budget last June for the fire department’s current fiscal year that was $23 million less than the prior year’s. But a new contract with the firefighters’ union led to raises, and the final fire budget was actually $53 million more than last year’s.

The claims about underfunding sparked a dayslong dispute with the mayor and her allies. By the end of last week, Chief Crowley had doubled down, telling a local Fox News affiliate that she felt the city government had failed the fire department.

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Within hours, she and Ms. Bass — facing criticism herself for having been out of the country when the Palisades fire started — disappeared into the mayor’s office for so long that they missed an evening news briefing. Outside the closed doors, the mayor’s staff repeatedly denied an erroneous report from a British news outlet that the chief had been fired.

By Saturday morning, the mayor and the chief were projecting a unified front, though the tension was apparent. “The chief and I are in lock step,” Ms. Bass said. “And if there are differences that we have, we will continue to deal with those in private.”

But criticisms of the chief flared again this week amid reports in The Los Angeles Times that the firefighting force that was on duty when the Palisades fire started could have been much larger. In years past, the department often paid outgoing shifts overtime to stay at work in times of alarming wind forecasts and tinder-dry conditions.

Internal documents reviewed by The New York Times also showed that the department’s plan on the day of the fire called for advance positioning of only nine additional fire trucks — near Hollywood, the Santa Monica Mountains and elsewhere in the San Fernando Valley — but none in Pacific Palisades.

Patrick Butler, a former L.A.F.D. assistant chief who is now chief of the Redondo Beach, Calif., fire department, said that positioning firefighters and equipment near fire zones in significant numbers well in advance during periods of high wildfire danger has long been a key strategy in the department. “It’s unfathomable to me how this happened, except for extreme incompetence and no understanding of fire operations,” he said.

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Others said the fire chief should have kept both the incoming and outgoing shifts of firefighters on duty before the fire as a precaution.

“I can’t speak to why she didn’t exercise it, but it’s a known tactic and it would have doubled the work force,” said Rick Crawford, a former L.A.F.D. battalion chief who is now the emergency and crisis management coordinator for the U.S. Capitol. “I’m not saying it would have prevented the fire, or that the fire wouldn’t have gotten out of control. But she lost a strategic advantage by not telling the off-going shift, ‘You shall stay and work.’”

In the letter purportedly signed by current and retired officers in the department, there were complaints that Chief Crowley had also failed to temporarily call back experienced fire commanders who had recently retired.

“While no one is saying that this fire could have been stopped, there is no doubt among all of us that if you had done things right and prepared the L.A.F.D. for an incident of this magnitude, fatalities would have been reduced, and property would have been saved,” they wrote.

Sharon Delugach, a member of the Los Angeles Fire Commission, said that rumors of disgruntlement within the department had been on the radar but had not risen to the commission’s formal attention before the fires broke out.

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Much of the criticism, she said, seemed to reflect sentiments of sexism or homophobia — Chief Crowley is the first lesbian to lead the department — or came from those who were unhappy about change.

Whatever the source, Ms. Delugach said, the timing of the latest dissent is not ideal when many outside of the department seem intent on scoring political points.

“I’m sure they do have very legitimate concerns and I’m sure everybody in the department is there for the right reason,” Ms. Delugach said of the internal criticism. “It’s a shame all this dirty laundry is being aired in the moment of fire.”

Ms. Delugach predicted that Chief Crowley’s future would hinge less on internal and external critiques than on her relationship with Ms. Bass.

“It’s whether she and the mayor can work together, that’s the real question,” Ms. Delugach said. “I hope they can.”

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Rachel Nostrant, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Kate Selig and Katie Benner contributed reporting.

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Brussels orders X to hand over documents on algorithm

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Brussels orders X to hand over documents on algorithm

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Brussels has ordered Elon Musk to fully disclose recent changes made to recommendations on X, stepping up an investigation into the role of the social media platform in European politics.

The expanded probe by the European Commission, announced on Friday, requires X to hand over internal documents regarding its recommendation algorithm. The Commission also issued a “retention order” for all relevant documents relating to how the algorithm could be amended in future.

In addition, the EU regulator requested access to information on how the social media network moderates and amplifies content.

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The move follows complaints from German politicians that X’s algorithm is promoting content by the far right ahead of the country’s February 23 elections. Musk has come out in favour of the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, arguing that it will save Germany.

When asked if the expanded probe was a response to a controversial interview Musk conducted last week with AfD co-leader Alice Weidel, a Commission spokesperson said the new request “helps us monitor systems around all these events taking place”.

However, he said it was “completely independent of any political considerations or any specific events”.

“We are committed to ensuring that every platform operating in the EU respects our legislation, which aims to make the online environment fair, safe, and democratic for all European citizens,” said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s digital chief.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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A huge fire broke out at one of the world's largest battery storage plants

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A huge fire broke out at one of the world's largest battery storage plants
  • A fire broke out at California’s Moss Landing Power Plant on Thursday.
  • The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office urged residents near the plant to evacuate.
  • 40% of the battery plant has burned, according to a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson.

A major fire has broken out at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants, located in California.

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said the North County Fire Protection District was responding to a fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant in an X post on Thursday.

Out of an “abundance” of caution, it urged residents in nearby areas to close windows and doors, shut off air systems until further notice, and avoid the area so that emergency vehicles could respond.

A few hours later, it issued evacuation orders for areas of the plant and shut down parts of California’s Highway 1.

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A Monterey County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told KSBW 8 that 40% of the battery plant had burned.

A law enforcement spokesperson told CNN that efforts were being made to limit the fire, and the incident was not related to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area.

They said the fire broke out at about 3 p.m. local time, and that evacuation orders were issued at 6:30 p.m. due to concerns about hazardous materials and potential chemical spills.

Over 2,000 individuals were instructed to evacuate, they added.

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Neither Vistra Energy, the plant’s owner, nor the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office specified the cause of the fire, and they didn’t respond to Business Insider requests for comments made outside working hours.

Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church told KSBW-TV that this was the “worst-case scenario” and a “very severe” situation. But he said he didn’t expect the fire to spread beyond the concrete building it was enclosed in.

Even so, “there’s no way to sugarcoat it,” he added. “This is a disaster.”

The National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area said heat signature could be seen in satellite imagery.

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Jenny Lyon, a spokesperson for Vistra Energy, told Politico that the cause of the fire has yet to be identified but that an inquiry would begin once it’s extinguished.

In a press release announcing the plant’s expansion in 2023, Texas-based Vistra Energy said it was one of the world’s largest battery storage plants.

It’s not the first time the facility has experienced fires, power outages, or technical issues. In 2015, a transmission tower at the power plant collapsed, resulting in a significant power outage.

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A failing heat detector also caused damage to the battery complex in 2021, and in 2022 a fire broke out at a nearby Pacific Gas & Electric-owned battery plant.

North Monterey County Unified School District said all of the county’s schools and offices would be closed on Friday due to the fire.

Thursday’s fire comes as wildfires across Los Angeles area have ravaged over 40,000 acres and killed at least 25 people.

AccuWeather has put the total estimated cost of the LA wildfires at $250 and $275 billion.

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