California
Mountain Fire update: California fire threatens critical infrastructure
The Mountain Fire in Southern California continues to threaten critical infrastructure after destroying over 130 homes and injuring six people in Ventura County, according to officials and local reporting.
Sixty crews have been deployed to fight the flames of the Mountain Fire that started Wednesday morning in the Ventura County community of Somis.
The Ventura County Fire Department said Saturday night that the Mountain Fire had burned through 20,630 acres and that only 21 percent of the fire had been contained.
“Threats remain to critical infrastructure, highways and communities, while active fire continues to burn within islands of unburned fuel,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) said in an update from Saturday. “Damage inspection teams remain out in the fire area assessing affected structures.”
Newsweek has reached out to CAL FIRE via email for comment Sunday morning.
Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images
Local residents grieved the loss of their homes and their neighbors’ homes. One man’s home that had been in his family for almost four decades was destroyed in the fire.
Brandon Francis told local news station KTLA 5 on Saturday morning that he, his wife, his grandmother and his newborn baby don’t have a place to live.
Their lives were “turned upside down in a matter of minutes” by the Mountain Fire, he said.
“Those rooms had such value to us because we grew up here,” Francis said. “This was the meeting spot for our entire family.”
Suzette Barrick, another local resident, called the fire “horrible,” and said, “I couldn’t stop crying.”
She told KTLA 5 that her neighbor, “a sweet lady, her house is gone, but the one next to hers is fine.” And the home of her friend “is now gone to the ground.”
Nearly 3,000 personnel have been assigned to help fight the fire while 21 helicopters and 497 fire engines have been deployed.
According to CAL FIRE’s Saturday update, decreasing winds have helped crews “with their aggressive fire attack.” But “terrain in some areas continue to be a challenge.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Ventura County on Thursday.
“This is a dangerous fire that’s spreading quickly and is threatening lives,” Newsom said in a statement on Thursday. “California has mobilized state resources, including personnel, engines and aircraft from CAL FIRE and Cal OES [California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services], to protect communities as our fire and emergency response teams work around the clock to combat this fire.”
He added: “Stay safe and remain alert for instructions from local authorities as dangerous fire weather conditions continue.”
On Wednesday, the governor said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant to help crews on the ground.
Meanwhile, there are currently multiple evacuation orders and evacuation warnings in effect. Details can be found on CAL FIRE’s website.
Item 1 of 2 The podium for the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is seen at FBI headquarters in Washington, U.S. June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Sign up here.
On September 11, FBI agents searched Continuum’s Newport Beach, California, offices, law firm Paul Hastings wrote in a September 12 letter seen by Reuters.
Representatives for Continuum did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment. The FBI is an enforcement arm of the Justice Department. Spokespeople for the agencies did not respond to requests for comment. An attorney for Cantor Group said the firm upheld the terms of the Zions and Western Alliance loans and did not provide comment on the government scrutiny.
Allen Matkins, a law firm that represents other entities linked to Continuum, wrote in an October 2 letter that it learned on September 11 that certain of its clients were the subject of search warrants “in connection with a pending criminal investigation,” and that a grand jury had been convened in the case.
Prosecutors typically convene a grand jury when they intend to gather more evidence. The letters did not say which specific criminal authority was leading the case or what potential misconduct or individuals it was focused on.
Criminal investigations do not necessarily mean any wrongdoing has occurred and many do not result in charges.
Reuters is reporting the FBI search and probe for the first time. The government scrutiny could have ripple effects for what legal filings and public records show is a complex web of investors and lenders tied to Continuum’s real estate dealings, some of which are entangled in civil litigation.
Paul Hastings and Allen Matkins are representing parties embroiled in a complex real estate dispute. The letters relate to those proceedings. The Allen Matkins letter was disclosed in a California court.
When asked about the letter by Reuters, a lawyer for Paul Hastings said the firm was “working to unravel multiple levels of alleged fraud,” but did not provide more details.
Allen Matkins did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
PASSIVE INVESTORS
Zions on October 15 sued Cantor Group fund guarantors Andrew Stupin and Gerald Marcil, among others, to recover more than $60 million in soured commercial and industrial loans. The next day, Western Alliance flagged that it had sued the pair and a different Cantor fund in August to recover nearly $100 million.
Both suits allege key information was misrepresented or not disclosed, breaching the loan terms. Western Alliance also alleges fraud on the part of the Cantor fund.
Continuum acquires and manages distressed real estate assets for groups of investors, and its largest investors include Stupin and Marcil, according to a February arbitration ruling related to the real estate dispute. That ruling found Cantor “consists solely” of Continuum’s legal owner, Deba Shyam, and shares the Continuum offices. Shyam did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
Cantor upheld its contractual obligations and was transparent with its lenders, while the loans were audited and independently reviewed multiple times over the years, said the Cantor attorney Brandon Tran, who also represents Stupin and Marcil.
The pair are passive investors in Cantor and held no operational roles, he added. Cantor in legal filings has disputed that the Western Alliance loan is in default.
In a statement, Marcil said he had invested in several of Continuum’s properties. He denied wrongdoing and said that he was a victim.
Spokespeople for Zions and Western Alliance did not respond to requests for comment.
Reporting by Douglas Gillison and Chris Prentice; Editing by Michelle Price
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
California air quality officials have sued four truck manufacturers for breaching a voluntary agreement to follow the state’s nation-leading emissions rules, the state announced Tuesday.
What happened: Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office filed a complaint Monday in Alameda County Superior Court, arguing that the country’s four largest truck-makers — Daimler Truck North America, International Motors, Paccar and Volvo North America — violated an enforceable contract that they signed with the California Air Resources Board in 2023.
The lawsuit comes two months after the manufacturers filed their own complaint in federal court, arguing the agreement — known as the Clean Truck Partnership — is no longer valid after Republicans overturned California’s Advanced Clean Truck rule in June through the Congressional Review Act.
Why it matters: The move sets up a fight to determine whether the federal system or state courts — where CARB would have a higher likelihood of prevailing — will review the case.
Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks addresses his name connected to LSU AD opening
Kapiolani Medical Center nurses stand in solidarity with fellow staff on strike
Illinois lifts nuclear ban, but tightens grip on energy supply
Atlanta Hawks vs Indiana Pacers: Starting Lineups For Tonight’s Game
Previewing Arizona State-Iowa State – Keys, Game Prediction, and More
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Trump and Xi skip Taiwan talk despite years of war preparations
Al-Qaeda linked JNIM says one killed in its first Nigeria attack
Trump puts candy on trick-or-treater’s head at Halloween event
Video: Mamdani Leads in Latest Polls
Fox News Politics Newsletter: 2025 Election Day survival guide
-
New York1 week agoVideo: How Mamdani Has Evolved in the Mayoral Race
-
News1 week agoVideo: Driver Crashes Car Into Security Gate Near White House
-
News1 week agoVideo: Inside Our Reporter’s Collection of Guantánamo Portraits
-
World1 week agoTrump to host NATO chief at White House as Putin meeting collapses
-
Politics1 week agoJack Smith defends subpoenaing Republican senators’ phone records: ‘Entirely proper’
-
News1 week agoNew York City ICE raid nets 9 arrests of illegal aliens from West Africa, 4 protesters also arrested
-
News4 days agoWith food stamps set to dry up Nov. 1, SNAP recipients say they fear what’s next
-
Milwaukee, WI3 days agoLongtime anchor Shannon Sims is leaving Milwaukee’s WTMJ-TV (Channel 4)