Louisiana
Louisiana residents told to ‘get out now’ in face of sweeping wildfire
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/BSH7FHMD6NCCDJ7Y7FM2DXI6Y4.png "Louisiana residents told to ‘get out now’ in face of sweeping wildfire")
A rare uncontrollable wildfire in Louisiana has forced nearly 1,000 residents to evacuate the town of Merryville in Beauregard parish, near the state’s border with Texas.
“Get out now!” the Beauregard parish sheriff’s office wrote on social media.
The Tiger Island fire started on Thursday in the nearby town of Pitkin and spread quickly. Efforts to extinguish the flames began with the deployment of air water tankers, but local firefighters have not been allowed in the fire area because of the dangerous conditions, said officials.
The fire remains uncontrolled and “fire containment has decreased from 85 per cent to 50 per cent today due to constant shifting wind conditions and the dry conditions of the vegetation”, the sheriff’s office said on Friday morning.
It is the largest wildfire seen in the state in recent years.
At least one house was destroyed. Hundreds were left without power in the town of Singer, and residents there were asked to conserve water.
Buses were standing by at the town hall ready to transport residents. First Methodist church in DeRidder was established as a shelter for evacuees.
It has not yet been said exactly how the fire started, but the Louisiana governor, John Bel Edwards, urged residents to adhere to the statewide burn ban, which was put in place earlier in August in light of the exceptionally hot and dry conditions. Mr Edwards said: “Any fire started by folks not adhering to the burn ban could quickly escalate, and even a small fire takes up firefighting resources that are needed to help fight large wildfires like the one in Beauregard parish. Do your part. Do not burn anything.”
The unusual wildfire event is another consequence of the record-breaking US heatwave fuelled by the global climate crisis. Louisiana and the surrounding region have been suffering from an extreme drought. Residents are usually bracing for tropical storms and hurricanes at this time of year.
At a press conference later on Friday, Mr Edwards said: “Nobody alive in Louisiana has ever seen these conditions. It has never been this hot and this dry for this long.”
It also comes after a devastating wildfire on the island of Maui which razed most of the historic town of Lahaina and caused a death toll that stands at 115 but is expected to rise substantially. Wildfires have also raged across Canada, causing towns to be evacuated and spreading cloying smoke across North America.
As of Monday, Louisiana has seen over 357 wildfires that have destroyed thousands of acres of land and property, said the governor’s office. The Tiger Island fire has burned through over 16,000 acres alone.
The state fire marshal, Daniel Wallis, said: “Our heroes are hitting their limits so we are thankful to our neighbouring states and federal partners for stepping up quickly with the resources our team is identifying and locating to keep up these valiant protection efforts. We are Louisiana firefighter proud.”
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Louisiana, residents were also told to evacuate from within two miles of Marathon Petroleum Garyville Refinery in St John the Baptist parish after a fire broke out at a storage tank in the huge oil plant. The facility sits in the heart of a heavily polluted region of the state known locally as “Cancer Alley”.
The fire started at approximately 7am and parish officials and Marathon said the fire is contained within the refinery’s property, said local TV station 4WWL.
After the fire was said to be contained, Bloomberg reported that Marathon was in the process of shutting down the refinery, which is the third largest in the US. Later on Friday afternoon the evacuation order was lifted, as a spokesperson for Marathon confirmed to local news that the burning material was a liquid hydrocarbon mixture named naphtha.
Naphtha is listed by the federal government as a hazardous chemical with an exposure limit of 400 micrograms a cubic meter over an 8-hour period.
The Marathon spokesman said the company had not detected any off-site impacts associated with chemical burn.
On Tuesday, a landmark lawsuit was filed by residents of Cancer Alley, calling for an end to new heavy industry, including fossil fuels, petrochemical plants and related infrastructure in St James Parish. Cancer Alley, a 136km strip along the Mississippi river, has more than 200 industrial plants.
Human Rights Watch has been investigating the threats to human rights associated with the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry in Cancer Alley, which local residents call an “environmental and public health emergency”. – Guardian
Louisiana
Lower fees coming to homeowner insurance in Louisiana but premiums still high • Louisiana Illuminator
Homeowners in Louisiana will see a small discount on the fees they pay on top of their property insurance premiums this year.
The Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Board of Directors voted Thursday to bring an early end to a 1.36% assessment added to all residential and commercial property insurance policies in the state. Louisiana Citizens is the state-run insurer of last resort for homeowners in environmentally risky areas who cannot find coverage on the private market.
The assessment, which goes toward paying off bonds for debt that Louisiana Citizens incurred from paying claims from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, was originally set to expire in June 2026 but will now end this April.
Gov. Landry signs Temple-backed insurance package
Additionally, those insured through Louisiana Citizens will no longer have to pay a 10% surcharge when they begin a new policy or renew their existing policy this year. The waiver, part of newly enacted legislation, took effect on Jan. 1 and will last for the next three years.
Both changes are part of Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple’s efforts to tame skyrocketing insurance rates in Louisiana.
“When Commissioner Temple took office and became chair of the Citizens Board of Directors, he encouraged our staff to find innovative ways for Louisiana Citizens to operate more efficiently and find savings for policyholders,” Louisiana Citizens CEO Richard Newberry said in a press release. “Our team identified this opportunity and brought it to the board for approval at today’s meeting.”
Although most policyholders will see relatively small savings from the changes, Temple said every little bit helps.
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Louisiana
Centenary College of Louisiana kicked off its year-long bicentennial celebration Wednesday
On a bright and chilly winter day, Centenary College of Louisiana kicked off its bicentennial year with a birthday celebration including a proclamation from the City of Shreveport and music by Centenary choir.
It was a grand start to the bicentennial year. Centenary College of Louisiana president, Dr. Christopher L. Holoman said, “we are really excited to be looking back at 200 years, an amazing history. We are so proud of that, but we are even prouder of what we are going to be in the future.”
Centenary College of Louisiana is a national liberal arts college in the heart of Shreveport. This college is deemed the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River, founded in 1825.
Holoman said, “200 years is an amazing length of time…Centenary is older than time zones. Centenary is older than golden doodles.”
City of Shreveport mayor, Tom Arceneaux read the citywide proclamation and said, “I am thrilled to be here for more than one reason. One, I’m really glad that Centenary is 200 years old. And two I’m glad to be here 12 days after hip replacement surgery.”
Wednesday’s birthday party is just the start of year-long celebration of special events and gatherings. These events include:
- special exhibit at the College’s Meadows Museum of Art
- festive neighborhood party during the Krewe of Highland Mardi Gras parade
- alumni trip to Centenary’s original campus in Jackson, Louisiana
- campus art stroll showcasing the talents of the Centenary community
The bicentennial commemoration will conclude with a gala event, Spotlight Centenary, in December 2025.
To keep up with all the bicentennial year events visit centenary200.com.
Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.
SHREVEPORT, LAFAYETTE, MONROE, ALEXANDRIA, LAKE CHARLES La. (KALB) – On January 8, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced that Brandon Brown would resign as as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana.
As U.S. Attorney for the Western District of La., Brown acted as the chief law enforcement officer for 42 of 64 parishes in the state, overseeing every federal civil and criminal case in the district.
Brown’s last day in office is set for January 20.
Brown was nominated to the position on November 15, 2021 by President Joe Biden, was confirmed by the Senate on December 7 and sworn in on December 10.
U.S. Attorney Brown released the following statement about his tenure:
During his tenure, Brown became the U.S. Fifth Circuit’s representative on Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Attorney General Advisory Committee (AGAC), which assists the AG in creating policy for each of the 94 districts.
According to the release, U.S. Attorney Brown prosecuted hundreds of firearms cases and set a high priority on those related to drugs, public corruption, child pornography, and human trafficking.
They said due to these efforts, both Monroe and Shreveport saw significant decline in violent crime rates.
Alexander Van Hook will reportedly assume the role of U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana until a successor can be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
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