Pittsburg, PA
Last resort: Contra Costa County firefighters flood burning wetlands with 1.2 million gallons of water per hour
After seven weeks of failed makes an attempt to cease a marshland blaze close to Pittsburg with conventional land and air techniques, fireplace officers have switched to an unconventional, flood-the-zone tactic, utilizing 1.2 million gallons of water each hour to lastly put out the flames.
The Contra Costa Water District began diverting water from the Mallard Slough space beginning Saturday afternoon to douse the Marsh Hearth, which has burned by way of decayed peat and different vegetation because it ignited on Might 28 at a homeless encampment.
The property proprietor of the burning property additionally introduced in massive pumps over the weekend to extend the circulate, mentioned Steve Hill, spokesman for the Contra Costa Hearth Safety District.
It might take as much as every week to completely flood the world and put the fireplace out, Hill mentioned, though the 60 million gallons already poured into the world appeared to be working.
“We need to get the water there as rapidly as we are able to,” he mentioned. “It appears as if we’re getting some impact.”
1.2 million gallons, the quantity poured on the fireplace per hour, is equal to 2 Olympic-sized swimming swimming pools, or the quantity of water 25,000 Californians would use in a day.
Officers acknowledged that the flooding possibility raised environmental considerations, particularly given the drought, and required approvals from a number of businesses, but it surely gave the impression to be the one possibility left.
“We had tried all of the extra typical strategies of extinguishing that fireplace,” Hill mentioned. “It simply proved to be ineffective.”
The fireplace has burned by way of greater than 500 acres of decomposing peat and brush in an space with unstable soil, the place fireplace vans might sink or fall into holes the place the fireplace is burning beneath the grass.
It’s commonplace for wetlands fires to burn for weeks or months. Dropping water from the air — or ready it out — have been the one choices obtainable.
Whereas the fireplace had been burning for weeks, warmth and winds kicked up the flames and unfold simply over every week in the past pushing extra smoke into neighboring communities and forcing fireplace officers to launch an assault from the air.
“On Monday and Tuesday, we dumped about 400,000 gallons of water — one 660-gallon bucket at a time — on the fireplace, and it had little to no impact,” Hill mentioned. “That serves to point out the problem we face.”
The fireplace at one level threatened overhead PG&E energy traces and neared decommissioned industrial vegetation, together with a former energy plant that’s owned by GenOn.
Ready it out was now not an possibility, and flooding was the final resort, Hill mentioned.
Hearth officers mentioned final week they have been engaged on the approval for the flooding possibility, a bureaucratic battle that concerned the Environmental Safety Company, the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers, Regional Water High quality Management Board and the native mosquito abatement district, and doubtless others, Hill mentioned.
With smelly smoke persevering with to push its means throughout the area, prompting air high quality advisories for Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley and Brentwood, and after permission was granted, they lined up the pumps and opened the gates to flood the area.
Officers mentioned they have been diverting water from the Delta and Contra Costa Water District.
Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle workers author. E-mail: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
After a brutal start to the 2024-25 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have turned things around and put themselves right back into the thick of the playoff race. Before finding themselves tied for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, it seemed like the Penguins were ready to make quite a few big trades ahead of the deadline.
While obvious names weren’t going anywhere, the Penguins may have to shift their outlook on deals as they keep stacking wins. According to Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, the Penguins are open to making moves all over the lineup, but for certain targets.
“I look at Pittsburgh, the GM there, Kyle Dubas, has let everybody know that he still wants to get younger,” Friedman said. “He’s got defensemen, he’s got goalies, he’s got forwards, he’s got a bit of cap room. He’ll take a contract that you want to move, he’ll consider it as long as you give him something he wants.”
It’s not a new thing that Dubas and the Penguins have their eyes on a certain type of player, and it’s been clear since the offseason. The Penguins want to add young players who may just need a change of scenery to really reach their full potential.
Adding Cody Glass in the offseason was the first sign, before signing Anthony Beauvillier, and eventually trading for Phil Tomasino. Low-risk, high-reward pieces that can help the Penguins win now and possibly play a role on a successful team in the future.
“He prefers the Tomasino’s of the world,” Friedman said about Dubas. “Young players who are either in the NHL or ready to play in the NHL who need something a little different.”
Currently out with an injury, but Tomasino has scored four goals and three assists in 16 games with the Penguins this year. Beauvillier has 12 points in 42 games played and has been able to contribute all over the lineup. Glass has also delt with injuries, but has nine points in 30 games.
The Penguins have an 18-17-8 record for 44 standings points, tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card spot.
Names like Ryan Graves, Tristan Jarry, and Marcus Pettersson are all likely on the Penguins trade block as they look to take swings ahead of the deadline. The Penguins have certain targets in mind, and it sounds like they are open for business.
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Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists to move into ninth on the NHL’s career scoring list as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Thursday night.
The Penguins captain tied Hall of Famer Joe Sakic at 1,641 points with an assist on Bryan Rust’s first-period goal. Crosby then moved past Sakic with an assist on Drew O’Connor’s sixth goal of the season later in the period as the Penguins raced to a 4-1 advantage.
Rust also had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh, which snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Oilers for the first time since Dec. 20, 2019. Alex Nedeljkovic made 40 stops for the Penguins and Rickard Rakell scored his team-high 21st goal as Pittsburgh won without injured center Evgeni Malkin.
McDavid finished with three assists. Leon Draisaitl scored twice to boost his season total to an NHL-best 31, but the Penguins beat Stuart Skinner four times in the first 14 minutes. Skinner settled down to finish with 21 saves but it wasn’t enough as the Penguins ended Edmonton’s four-game winning streak.
Oilers: Their attention to detail in the first period was shaky. While Skinner wasn’t at his best, the Penguins also had little trouble generating chances.
Penguins: Pittsburgh remains a work in progress at midseason but showed it can compete with the league’s best on a given night.
Crosby’s 12th goal 5:42 into the second put the Penguins up 5-1, some welcome wiggle room for a team that has struggled to hold multiple-goal leads.
80 — The number of points Crosby needs to tie Penguins icon Mario Lemieux for eighth (1,723) on the career list.
Edmonton finishes a four-game trip at Chicago on Saturday. The Penguins continue a five-game homestand on Saturday against Ottawa.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
The captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins continues to climb the NHL’s all-time scoring list in his 20th season. With an assist in the first against the Edmonton Oilers, Sidney Crosby registered his 1,642nd career point and took sole possession of ninth place on the list. In the process, he surpassed Colorado Avalanche legend and Hall of Famer Joe Sakic.
The Penguins’ star now sits behind none other than fellow franchise legend Mario Lemieux on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. Crosby trails Lemieux by 81 points, as “Le Magnifique” finished his career with 1,723 points.
Humorously enough, the play that gave Crosby his latest accolade was one that barely featured him. His line mate Bryan Rust did most of the work on the play as he worked behind the net and the perimeter wall with the puck before making an excellent backhand feed to Drew O’Connor, who netted a fantastic wrist shot past the Oilers’ goalie.
But in almost every other play this season, it seems like Crosby is the one doing the scoring or setting it up. He leads the team in points this season, with 46 points in 43 games, and is guiding his team back into the postseason picture in the Eastern Conference at age 37.
Crosby’s also made a habit of adding more tallies to his Hall of Fame resume this season. He notched his 600th goal earlier in the year and set a new Penguins franchise record for assists. It’s been a record-collecting 20th season for arguably the greatest player in the history of Pittsburgh hockey.
The Pens are right on the bubble of the playoff picture. They are currently the third place team in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race but are tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets in points. After a poor start to their 2024-2025 campaign, they’ve managed to get their team back to 17-17-2
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