California
Firefighters continue battling massive wildfire in California ahead of thunderstorms, lightning
CHICO, Calif. — Firefighters made progress Saturday against California’s largest wildfire of the year ahead of expected thunderstorms that could unleash fire-starting lightning and erratic winds and erode progress made over the past week. Dry, hot conditions posed similar threats across the fire-stricken West.
“We’re not completely out of the woods yet, but we’re looking very, very good,” CalFire official Mark Brunton said in a video update Saturday. “This is moving at a very fast pace.”
Containment of the Park Fire, now California’s fourth-largest wildfire on record, is at 27% as of early Saturday. Brunton said the relatively milder weather the last few days allowed firefighters to build containment lines.
But hotter weather, fuels and terrain will continue posing challenges for the estimated 6,500 firefighters battling the fire, which has spread over 626 square miles (1,621 square kilometers) since allegedly being started by arson in a park in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of the Sacramento Valley city of Chico. For comparison, the city of Los Angeles covers about 503 square miles (1,302 square kilometers).
Suppression crews will also start removing damaged infrastructure in some areas Saturday to allow residents to return home.
The fire originated at low elevations, where it quickly burned through thick grass and oaks, destroying at least 567 structures and damaging 51 so far. As it has climbed higher, the vegetation has changed to a greater concentration of trees and brush, Cal Fire said.
The fire’s push northward has brought it toward the rugged lava rock landscape surrounding Lassen Volcanic National Park, which has been closed because of the threat.
“There’s a lot of really steep drainages in that area,” CalFire spokesperson Devin Terrill said. “It takes a lot more time to access those areas.”
After a brief respite, firefighters are now bracing for treacherous conditions of hot and dry weather, along with expected thunderstorms with potential thunder strikes and gusty winds.
The collapse of thunderstorm clouds can blow wind in any and all directions, said Jonathan Pangburn, a fire behavior analyst with Cal Fire. “Even if there’s not lightning per se, it is very much a safety-watch-out environment for our firefighters out there,” Pangburn said.
The Park Fire is among almost 100 large fires burning across the western U.S. Evacuation orders were in effect for 28 of the fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Three wildfires burned in Colorado on Friday near heavily populated areas north and south of Denver, with about 50 structures damaged or destroyed, thousands of people under evacuation orders and human remains found in a destroyed house earlier this week.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a blaze threatening hundreds of homes near the Colorado city of Littleton as arson.
Karlyn Tilley, a spokesperson for Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, said the investigation is ongoing and they are using a dog specially trained to sniff out sources and causes of fires. Tilley said just because they suspect the fire was human-caused doesn’t mean it was intentional.
Firefighters were making good progress on the fire despite the steep, rocky terrain and blistering heat, and no houses had been burned, officials said.
The cause and origin of a fatal blaze west of the town of Lyons was being probed by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with specially trained fire investigators from the agency helping local authorities, agency spokesperson Crystal McCoy said. The area blackened by that fire remained relatively unchanged after it burned five houses.
The largest of the Colorado fires, west of Loveland, grew to 14.9 square miles (38.5 square kilometers) after previously burning 49 homes and other structures. Its cause is under investigation.
Scientists say extreme wildfires are becoming more common and destructive in the U.S. West and other parts of the world as climate change warms the planet and droughts become more severe.
California
Letters to the Editor: The entire premise of California’s proposed one-time wealth tax is misleading
To the editor: Having been a tax practitioner now for more than 60 years — much of it involving the very wealthy — the entire project of the California wealth tax is ludicrous because the premise for its one-time imposition is misleading, if not dishonest (“Is California’s proposed billionaire tax smart policy? History holds lessons,” Jan. 26).
The proposed tax is being sold as a replacement for the imminent loss of federal Medicaid. Any “tax expert” with common sense is well aware that many — perhaps a significant majority — of the targets of the tax will contest it (and aggressively discount their assets in self-assessing their tax) at the administrative (appeals) level and, if not satisfied, will proceed with litigation.
This process takes years to play out. The state administrative behemoth will be spending enormous amounts of (non-billionaire) taxpayer dollars to collect money that will arrive far into the future and long after the alleged need for imminent spending on any healthcare needs — if it arrives at all.
The proponents should know this quite well, indicating that the entire initiative is an asset seizure masquerading as moral virtue.
Kip Dellinger, Santa Monica
This writer is the former tax policy and practice columnist for Tax Notes magazine.
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To the editor: Rather than imposing a “wealth tax,” wouldn’t it make more sense to just rewrite the tax code so that the loopholes that essentially give multimillionaires and billionaires a free ride were sewn up so that they had to pay their fair share?
Susan Greenberg, Los Angeles
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To the editor: The backers of the wealth tax bill claimed that they learned from Europe’s experience. But why did the European countries that repealed such wealth taxes repeal them outright instead of learning from what happened and improving on how the taxes were implemented?
Ming Lai, Frisco, Texas
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A California mother was arrested on felony child abuse charges after a viral video showed her 19-month-old child falling from a moving SUV at a busy Fullerton intersection, police said Monday.
The Fullerton Police Department said it became aware of the video, which shows a black SUV turning at an intersection when a passenger-side door suddenly opens. A small child then falls out of the vehicle and onto the roadway.
The SUV immediately stops, and a car following behind narrowly avoids colliding with it. The car stops just short of the child on the roadway.
The video shows an adult woman running from the driver’s side, picking up the child and placing the toddler back inside the SUV before driving away.
MAN RUNS INTO FLORIDA STREET TO SAVE TWO YOUNG CHILDREN WHO WANDERED AWAY FROM RENTAL HOME
A black SUV turns at an intersection when a passenger-side door suddenly opens and a small child falls out of the vehicle and onto the roadway. (Fullerton Police Department)
A witness called police on Saturday and provided identifying information about the vehicle. Officers traced the SUV to a home in La Habra, where they located the vehicle, the child and a suspect believed to be the woman seen in the video.
A car following the SUV narrowly avoided hitting the child and SUV. (Fullerton Police Department)
Police identified the child as a 19-month-old who suffered injuries consistent with the fall. The toddler was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.
FLORIDA DEPUTIES RACE TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD WHO STOPPED BREATHING AND HAD NO PULSE ON INTERSTATE, VIDEO SHOWS
The suspect was identified as Jacqueline Hernandez, 35, of La Habra, and the child’s mother. She was arrested and booked into the Fullerton City Jail for felony child abuse, police said.
The child’s mother, identified as Jacqueline Hernandez, 35, of La Habra, picks the child up from the road. Hernandez was later arrested and charged with felony child abuse, police said. (Fullerton Police Department)
Neighbors told FOX11 Los Angeles that the family has several children and could not believe the mother would put her children in such a dangerous situation.
“I can’t excuse something like that, I’m sorry,” a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous told the local station.
Investigators believe the incident occurred between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Jan. 20. Police said they did not receive any emergency calls related to the incident at the time.
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The investigation remains ongoing, and police are asking anyone with additional information to contact the Fullerton Police Department’s Sensitive Crimes Unit.
Several of the candidates vying to become California’s next governor gathered Monday at the University of California, San Francisco to make their case to voters.
Seven Democrats took the stage at UCSF to outline their priorities for their first 100 days in office. Republican candidates were invited but declined to participate.
On June 2, California voters will narrow the field to two candidates in an open primary. Those two will then face off on Nov. 3.
NBC Bay Area’s Velena Jones has more in the video report above.
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