Posts from — September 2009

Update from KTLA:

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE — Forest Service officials say they have determined that the Station Fire was caused by arson.

As a result, L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has initiated homicide investigation.

Fire crews located the point of origin in the deadly blaze on Wednesday and that the area is being investigated as a crime scene.

The ignition point has only been identified as mile marker 29 on Angeles Crest Highway, about 2 miles from La Canada Flintridge.

The fire in the Angeles National Forest has now burned over 144,743 acres and at least 64 homes, three commercial buildings and 49 outbuildings. The cost estimate is $27 million. It is 38% contained.

The Station Fire was started off Angeles Crest Highway (SR 2) about one mile above Angeles Crest Fire Station around 3:30pm [PDT] Wednesday August 26, 2009.

Two Los Angeles County firefighters have died in a motor vehicle accident escaping a burnover. In addition there have been 7 others injured.

Currently there are 44 hand crews, 399 engines, 43 water tenders, 48 dozers, 8 air tankers, 13 helicopters, and 4,735 total personnel assigned to the fire.

The aircraft now include the 747 Supertanker [20,000 gallons], Tanker 910 [DC-10 12,000 gallons], Mars Hawaii Superscooper [7,200 gallons], and two Canadair 415 water scoopers [1,600 gallons] from the Province of Quebec.

Links: InciWeb, LA Times, KTLA, and Pasadena Star-News

Maps: LA Times fire map, the Enplan Wildfire Viewer, and the Weather Underground Smoke Map.

Webcams: Tujunga and Altadena

[For more information go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Fires” for all of the posts related to wildfires on this site.]

Position: 16.8 N 65.6 W [10 PM 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [280°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [50 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [65 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1009 mb ↑.

It is 115 miles [185 km] South-Southeast of San Juan Puerto Rico.

It is now a remnant low, and this is the final advisory. Erika could never get it together and found all of the available wind shear in the area.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 27.5 N 111.7 W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: East-Southeast [120°] near 1 mph [2 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1004 mb ↑.

It is 40 miles [65 km] East-Northeast of Santa Rosalia Mexico.

The storm is over the Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez just off the East coast of Baja.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Mustang Bobby wrote about the Potemkin Town Hall held by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Mel Martinez (R-FL) in Hialeah, Florida. One of the lines in the news article, “McConnell’s call to protect doctors from lawsuits drew steady applause”, shows the ignorance of everyone there, as well as the news media.

Florida is one of 38 states that passed a “tort reform” law, limiting the rights of patients to recover punitive compensation in malpractice suits. JEB Bush called a special session of the legislature to get the law passed because the cost of malpractice insurance was supposedly a major burden for Florida’s doctors and the insurance companies said that they would be able to lower rates if there was tort reform.

The state probably spent more on that special session than doctors saved on malpractice insurance since that law was passed. If there were any real savings, it was obviously channeled to the healthy profit margins of the insurance companies, not to reduce rates.

I don’t want to point fingers, but very few malpractice suits are actually filed in the US, which is amazing as we know that about 100,000 people a year die from identified medical mistakes. The bulk of the money awarded is for the medical care that the victims have had and will need to have to correct the mistake. HR-676 would eliminate that cost. Medical malpractice suits are almost unheard of in countries with universal health care.

From the BBC, because you can’t expect the corporate media to say bad things about other corporations: Pfizer agrees record fraud fine

US drugmaker Pfizer has agreed to pay $2.3bn (£1.4bn) in the largest healthcare fraud settlement in the history of the Department of Justice.

A subsidiary pleaded guilty to misbranding drugs “with the intent to defraud or mislead”.

Pfizer illegally promoted four drugs and caused false claims to be submitted to government healthcare programmes for uses that were not medically accepted.

US officials said Pfizer would have to enter a corporate integrity agreement.

It will be subject to additional public scrutiny by requiring it to make “detailed disclosures” on its website.
…

The civil settlement also relates to allegations that Pfizer paid bribes to healthcare providers to induce them to prescribe four named drugs. These are Bextra, an anti-inflammatory drug, Geodon, an anti-psychotic drug, Zyvox, an antibiotic and Lyrica, an epilepsy treatment.

The investigation was trigged by allegations made by six whistleblowers. They will receive $102m of the civil fines paid by Pfizer.
…

[Read more →]

The fire in the Angeles National Forest has now burned over 140,150 acres and at least 62 structures and cost about $21 million. It is 22% contained.

The Station Fire started off Angeles Crest Highway (SR 2) about one mile above Angeles Crest Fire Station around 3:30pm [PDT]Wednesday August 26, 2009.

Two Los Angeles County firefighters have died in a motor vehicle accident escaping a burnover. In addition there have been 6 others injured.

Currently there are 44 hand crews, 399 engines, 43 water tenders, 48 dozers, 11 air tankers, 13 helicopters, and 4,735 total personnel assigned to the fire.

The aircraft now include the 747 Supertanker [20,000 gallons], Tanker 910 [DC-10 12,000 gallons], Mars Hawaii Superscooper [7,200 gallons], and two Canadair 415 water scoopers [1,600 gallons] from the Province of Quebec.

Links: InciWeb, LA Times, KTLA, and Pasadena Star-News

Maps: LA Times fire map, the Enplan Wildfire Viewer, and the Weather Underground Smoke Map.

Webcams: Tujunga and Altadena

Note: The Mount Wilson webcam is down, probably a loss of communications lines due to the fire.

[For more information go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Fires” for all of the posts related to wildfires on this site.]

Position: 16.1 N 62.4 W [10 PM 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1008 mb.

It is 290 miles [470 km] East-Southeast of San Juan Puerto Rico.

A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for the islands of Dominica, St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, Saba, St. Eustatius, Guadeloupe, St. Martin, and St. Barthelemy.

A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for Puerto Rico, and the US and British Virgin Islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 27.0 N 112.3 W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 70 mph [110 kph].
Wind Gusts: 85 mph [140 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [225 km].
Minimum central pressure: 988 mb ↑.

It is 20 miles [35 km] South of Santa Rosalia Mexico.

The center of the storm made landfall between Puerto San Andresita and San Junico Mexico as a Category 2 storm.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

The people who write headlines for the AP need to get out more, maybe watch some news, read a newspaper, something.

All over I have been seeing this headline: “Huge wildfire portends bad Calif. fire season”.

Were they living in a cave for the Lockheed and La Brea fires?

InciWeb indicates there have been 24 wildfires of 5,000 acres or more on Federal land in the last 90 days. Fifteen of the them are still classified as “active”. It has been a bad fire season for months, even if you ignore what has been happening in British Columbia, and it sure isn’t apt to get better when the Santa Ana winds start kicking in.

Position: 17.5 N 57.6 W [10 PM 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [300°] near 8 mph [13 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 60 mph [95 kph].
Wind Gusts: 70 mph [110 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 120 miles [195 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1004 mb.

It is 365 miles [585 km] East of the Leeward Islands.

A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for the islands of St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

The BBC reports on the ceremony as Poland remembers World War start

A day of commemorations is taking place in Poland to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.

Leaders from 20 countries laid candles during a ceremony near Gdansk, on Westerplatte peninsula.
…

The ceremony marked the exact time on 1 September 1939 when the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire at point-blank range on the fort.

At the same time, the German Wehrmacht invaded Poland from east, west and south. The attacks triggered Britain and France’s declaration of war against Germany two days later.

The justification for the attack on Gdansk was The Gleiwitz incident, “a staged attack by Nazi forces posing as Poles on 31 August 1939, against the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany (since 1945: Gliwice, Poland) on the eve of World War II in Europe.”

Because they have such “warm relations” with Russia, the Polish President reminded everyone of the Soviet-Nazi pact, and the resulting occupation of parts of Poland by the Soviet Union.

The fire in the Angeles National Forest has now burned over 127,500 acres and at least 53 structures. It is 22% contained.

The Station Fire started off Angeles Crest Highway (SR 2) about one mile above Angeles Crest Fire Station around 3:30pm [PDT]Wednesday August 26, 2009.

Two Los Angeles County firefighters have died in a motor vehicle accident. In addition there have been 3 civilians burned, and one firefighter treated for heat exhaustion.

Currently there are 44 hand crews, 399 engines, 43 water tenders, 48 dozers, 8 air tankers, 13 helicopters, and 3,655 total personnel assigned to the fire.

Among the aircraft is at least one DC-10, capable of 12,000 gallon drops. Update: Two water scoop aircraft have staged in the area, and will be available after the standard crew rest period.

The facilities on Mount Wilson are safe for the moment, and a series of successful backfires have protected the houses on the southern border of the fire. There is a hope for cooler temperatures and higher humidity to slow the growth of the fire, the largest in Los Angeles County since at least 1897.

Links: InciWeb, LA Times, KTLA, and Pasadena Star-News

Maps: LA Times fire map and the Enplan Wildfire Viewer

[For more information go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Fires” for all of the posts related to wildfires on this site.]

Position: 23.2 N 111.3 W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northwest [345°] near 13 mph [20 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 115 mph [230 kph].
Wind Gusts: 140 mph [225 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [225 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 45 miles [75 km].
Minimum central pressure: 960 mb ↑.

It is 90 miles [145 km] West-Northwest of Cabo San Lucas Mexico.

a Hurricane Warning is in effect for the southern portion of the Baja California peninsula from Punta Abreojos southward on the West Coast and from Mulege southward on the East Coast including Cabo San Lucas.

This a small, intense storm in the Pacific, that might produce some rain for Southern California, but will be a major problem for the people of Baja. It is currently undergoing an eyewall replacement and should regain some strength after the new eyewall is established.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]