Tag: wildfires

Los Angeles officials aren’t waiving building permit fees for Palisades fire victims

Isn’t it a principle of emotional intelligence for those who have it to delay a small gratification in order to get a bigger one?

They don’t have any of that in Los Angeles’s blue city government, where residents who were burned out in this year’s massive fires are apparently being told ‘no’ they don’t get their rebuilding permit fees waived. The rebuilding permits, few of which have been issued, can run about $20,000 per burned-out home, according to CBS News.

According to Palisades News:

In a letter sent this week to Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council, the [Pacific Palisades Community Council] asked city officials to approve the Budget and Finance Committee’s recommendation to waive fees and to expand the policy to include condominiums, townhomes, mobile homes, and small, owner-occupied apartment buildings.

…

The letter argues that most fire survivors are underinsured and face major financial gaps as they try to rebuild. The group said waiving permit fees would make an immediate difference for families still paying property taxes and mortgages on damaged lots while renting elsewhere.

The council also disputed city budget projections suggesting that a fee waiver would cost $250 million in lost revenue, calling those assumptions “completely unrealistic.” The letter said many homeowners will be forced to sell their properties at a loss, and that the city will actually profit from increased property taxes and development fees tied to new construction.

Best they could do was a ‘deferral‘ passed by the county supervisors back in June, assuming that was enacted. In other words, they may be willing to delay the fees, but they still intend to get paid. They saw the consultant report about the $250 million to be made and they want that money.

It’s flaming greed, because they wouldn’t be getting that money at all had the fires not happened. Now they want their $250 million, money for nothin’ given that it’s the residents who have to shell out to rebuild after the permits are issued (few of which have been, very few) which is exactly what they like.

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Palisades Fires arsonist: “I literally burnt the Bible I had. It felt so amazing. I felt so liberated”

When fires broke out in Los Angeles in January, climate alarmists were quick to point to “climate change” as the reason,  including Michael “Hockey Stick” Mann of Climategate fame.  “Conspiracy theorists” and citizen journalists who were doing their own research, of course, knew better.  Investigators, led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were not fooled by climate change propaganda either.

Yesterday, Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old Uber driver from Melbourne, Florida, was arrested and charged with malicious arson for allegedly starting the 2025 Palisades fire in Los Angeles, a blaze that caused widespread destruction, destroying more than 6,000 homes and buildings, and at least 12 fatalities.

Rinderknecht was charged with one count of “destruction of property by means of fire” and is accused of intentionally setting the Lachman fire on 1 January 2025, which later escalated into the Palisades fire.

Federal prosecutors revealed that evidence collected from his digital devices included AI-generated images of a burning city created via ChatGPT and text prompts describing the burning of a Bible and feeling “liberated” after burning a Bible:

“I am 28 years old. And… I basically… This just happened. Maybe like… I don’t know, maybe like 3 months ago or something. Like, the realisation of all this. I literally burnt the Bible that I had. It felt amazing. I felt so liberated,” Rinderknecht wrote in a ChatGPT prompt.

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Democrats, Media Rushed To Blame Deadly California Fire on Climate Change. It Was Actually Arson.

Democrats and media outlets were quick to blame climate change and oil companies for the devastating Palisades Fire that ravaged Los Angeles earlier this year. But that narrative crumbled on Wednesday when federal law enforcement officials charged a man for deliberately starting the fire.

Federal prosecutors in California charged Jonathan Rinderknecht with one count of destruction of property by means of fire, a charge that carries a maximum time of 20 years in federal prison. “While we cannot bring back what victims lost, we hope this criminal case brings some measure of justice to those affected by this horrific tragedy,” said acting U.S. attorney Bill Essayli.

The charge—which Essayli said was informed by witness statements, video surveillance, cell phone data, and an analysis of fire dynamics conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—cuts against the narrative prominent Democratic lawmakers and media outlets pushed following the tragic event.

“If you don’t believe in science, believe your own damn eyes,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D., Calif.) wrote in a post with photographs of the Los Angeles fire. The post came in response to news that President Donald Trump would withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accords in January.

After prosecutors announced the charge against Rinderknecht on Wednesday, Newsom wrote it “marks an important step toward uncovering how the horrific Palisades Fire began.”

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Newsom Blocks Firefighter Pay Raise After Record Wildfire

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday vetoed a bipartisan bill, designed to give raises to California state firefighters, only nine months after the state’s most expensive wildfire raged through Los Angeles.

The raise would have bumped their salaries by between 11 and 29 percent. 

Current base pay for state firefighters is $54,122 per year, while Los Angeles city firefighters make $85,315.

Governor Newsom argued that the bill would create “significant cost pressures for the state” and undermine collective bargaining power for salary increases. “Establishing a statutory floor for employees of a single department undermines this process, to the detriment of both the state and other bargaining units,” Newsom wrote.  

Union members condemned the governor’s decision.

“Cal Fire is an all-risk fire department, just like a San Francisco Fire Department or Santa Rosa or San Jose Fire Department,” Tim Edwards, the president of the Local 2881 union representing CAL FIRE workers, said. “We don’t have the staffing like they do. We don’t have the workweek like they do, and we definitely don’t have to pay like they do, but we do the exact same job at the exact same training, and we’re expected to do the exact same, the exact same services.”

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More Left-Wing Terrorism: Palisades Arsonist Jonathan Rinderknecht Donated to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

More left-wing terrorism.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced that 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht of Orlando, Florida, was arrested for intentionally setting the Palisades fire.

Rinderknecht was an Uber driver at the time he intentionally set the fire.

Earlier this year in January, fires exploded in Los Angeles after LA Mayor Karen Bass cut firefighting funds.

Prosecutors said Rinderknecht intentionally set the fire in January which left 12 people dead and caused more than $150 billion in damage.

According to FEC records, Rinderknecht donated to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020.

The New York Post reported:

The Uber driver accused of sparking the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history chipped in a small donation to Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, records revealed.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, shelled out $2 to hybrid PAC ActBlue on two separate occasions just days apart in 2020 – $1 on Sept. 4 and another buck on Sept. 11, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Records also show the alleged Palisades Fire arsonist — born in France — was registered to vote in Florida, though he never declared a political party.

Per Fox News reporter Matt Finn: Jonathan Rinderknecht asked Chat GPT last July to create this “dystopian” image that shows a forest burning on the left and people running from it. In the middle, people in “poverty.” On the right, the rich watching the world burn.

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Deadly Palisades Fire set ‘maliciously’ by Florida firebug Jonathan Rinderknecht, feds say

A 29-year-old Biden-supporting Uber driver obsessed with images of fire has been charged with setting a blaze that later grew into the Palisades Fire, authorities said Wednesday — nine months after the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history erupted.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is accused of “maliciously” sparking a brush fire on Jan. 1. That fire was knocked down by the Los Angeles fire department, but continued to smolder unnoticed, underground for days before high winds rekindled it into the raging Palisades inferno, federal prosecutors said.

The Palisades Fire left 12 people dead, destroyed nearly 7,000 homes and businesses and caused about $150 billion in damages.

Rinderknecht, who lived in the area at some point, allegedly ignited the flames near a popular hiking trail in the hillside of a state park at about 12:12 a.m. on New Year’s Day – just moments after dropping off his Uber passengers nearby, federal prosecutors said.

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TEN MONTHS AFTER THE FIRES: Only TWO Reconstruction Permits Have Been Issued in Malibu, California

The wildfires that swept through southern California happened in January. That was ten months ago. Since then, in Malibu, which lost more than 700 structures in the fires, only two reconstruction permits have been issued. TWO.

What are the people who run California doing all day? How is this even possible?

We are reminded of the predictions by Adam Carolla after the fires. Pretty much everything he predicted is coming true.

Hot Air reports:

Malibu Lost 720 Structures in the Fire; 2 Building Permits Have Been Issued So Far

Remember the halcyon days of January 2025, when every politician representing the Los Angeles area, from city councilmen to the governor, promised to expedite permitting to help residents rebuild after the disastrous fires the Democrats created?

It was all bulls**t, and everybody knew it then, but of course, everybody in California’s Pravda pretended to take them seriously. After all, this is California, where the sun shines ever day and Gavin Newsom has a perpetual 10-year plan to end homelessness. Democrats are GOOD and Republicans are EVIL.

Well, as predicted by every sane person, the politicians have failed to follow through with their promised expediting of the permitting process. Of the 720 structures destroyed, only two have gotten permits to rebuild. One suspects that Newsom’s promise to rebuild the area better than ever actually means that he and the Democrats want to reshape it into their version of utopia.

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Media Fail: So-Called ‘Firefighters’ Arrested by ICE Agents in Washington Are Actually Criminal Illegal Aliens

Democrats and their allies in the establishment media are falsely claiming that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested a pair of “firefighters” in the sanctuary state of Washington. In actuality, the two men are not firefighters, but rather illegal aliens with past criminal records.

Last week, the establishment media ran wild with a story claiming that two firefighters were arrested by ICE agents in Bear Gulch, Washington, amidst an ongoing fire.

Jose Bertin Cruz-Estrada of Mexico, one of the illegal aliens arrested, has previously been charged with delivering and selling methamphetamine. Cruz-Estrada has been encountered by Border Patrol agents a total of 15 times.

Cruz-Estrada was ordered deported by a federal immigration judge in April 2015 and deported by ICE agents on February 27, 2016. After his last deportation, Cruz-Estrada crossed the southern border again on an unknown date.

The other illegal alien arrested by ICE agents was previously charged with illegally carrying a concealed weapon. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials told Breitbart News that the pair were not firefighters and had been working for a company that was involved in cutting firewood, not actively fighting the Bear Gulch fires.

The facts of the case did not stop Democrats from turning the arrests into a false talking point that the establishment media breathlessly picked up.

A headline from NBC News reads “Trump’s immigration crackdown sweeps up 2 firefighters battling a wildfire in Washington state,” while a piece from Reuters reads “Two firefighters held at Washington ICE detention center amid wildfire, US representative says.”

Democrats were quick to latch onto the unfounded claims.

“Donald Trump ran his campaign on sending out the worst of the worst,” Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) wrote on X. “I’m not sure who’s more the best of the best than our firefighters, actively fighting the largest fire in Washington.”

Rep. Emily Randall (D-WA) did an interview with Reuters where she suggested that ICE agents were potentially trying to hide information from her regarding the arrests.

Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR) similarly posted on X that she had detailed knowledge of one of the illegal aliens arrested, continuously referring to him as a firefighter and omitting his criminal record.

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No, That Wood-Chopping Illegal Alien in Washington State Is Not a ‘Firefighter’ or ‘Victim’

Friday night, a relative sent me a text. That wasn’t unusual. He’s recently discovered texting as a vehicle to rant, and specifically, to rant at me. The context also wasn’t unusual. It was a rant about “fascist Trump.” Trump, he wrote, had sent his stormtroopers to Washington state and they had pulled two, brave firefighters off the front lines of a forest fire. Fascist! He cried – they are pulling  firefighters away from fighting fires!  What amount of children and puppies will die because of Trump?!  

This relative is a card-carrying leftist. I don’t know the source of his Kool-Aid. I could guess. Maybe it’s just ghosts in his head, but he’s not alone. Politicians who know better disseminate nonsense and half-truths to agitate the base. Gavin Newsom has been stumping lately, claiming that Trump will “cancel” the 2026 elections. 

After I got the text from my relative (and sighed deeply), I looked up what actually happened. This is from a  U.S. Customs and Border Protection news release:

Due to the remote location of the work site, BLM requested USBP assistance verifying the identities of all personnel present. The work crews, totaling 44 individuals, required identity verification to ensure that the individuals on-site matched the contractor rosters.

…

USBP agents supported BLM rangers in verifying the identities of the contracted personnel. Several discrepancies were identified, and two individuals were found to be present in the United States illegally, one with a previous order of removal. The two individuals were arrested and transported to the Bellingham Station on charges of illegal entry and 8 US Code 1326 – Reentry of removed aliens. Forty-two individuals were released from the scene and escorted off Federal lands. 

The contract termination and enforcement action did not interfere with firefighting operations or the response to any active fires in the area, nor did it pose any danger to the surrounding community. 

Border Patrol had been alerted that those illegal aliens had been hired by an independent, third-party contractor based in Oregon. They were “firefighters” on paper but neither were fighting fires. Border Patrol checked records, and the contractor’s records didn’t match the people on site. Officials found two guys who had entered the US illegally and detained them. 

Those two were not out on the fire line stopping a fire. They weren’t saving babies. They weren’t rescuing puppies. They were chopping wood. Those two were detained and transported to a detention center. But legacy media turned the narrative into CBP and ICE pulling heroes away from the front lines. My relative bought that myth, like every myth he’s consumed since Trump was sworn in.  

Dem politicians are fond of pouring gas on the fire. They are also fond of lying. 

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Canadian Hikers Get the COVID-Style Tyranny Treatment

Canadian politicians are creating one bonfire after another of freedom and individual rights. COVID crackdowns established persecution precedents that politicians in some provinces refuse to allow to gather dust. Politicians are claiming the right to financially cripple anyone who makes a single misstep in violation of the latest idiotic decrees.

On August 5, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston decreed a $25,000 fine for anyone walking in the woods or otherwise violating a new prohibition that covered both government and private lands. The prohibition will continue until October. Houston declared, “Most wildfires are caused by human activity, so to reduce the risk, we’re keeping people out of the woods until conditions improve. I’m asking everyone to do the right thing—don’t light that campfire, stay out of the woods and protect our people and communities.”

Canadian politicians are exploiting wildfires the same way that former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exploited COVID to lockdown the entire nation. One critic on X/Twitter scoffed that “the province needs 10 weeks of no walking in the woods to flatten the curve”—paralleling the “two weeks to flatten the curve” crapola that initially sanctified the most onerous COVID restrictions. During the pandemic, Nova Scotia heavily fined citizens caught walking their dogs or exercising in park.

The government failed to document how the environmental peril situation this year was fundamentally different than in previous years. Author Peter Clark observed, “Fears of arson or climate hysteria appear to be behind bans on fishing & hiking in Nova Scotia’s forests. Canada’s forest fires have fallen almost half in the last 40 years & seem unrelated to weather or climate.” At the same time that Nova Scotian politicians are treating every resident and visitor like an arsonist, Canadian governments have let actual arsonists go free with legal wrist slaps.

Canadians are denouncing the new decree as “climate confinement”—an ominous development in a nation whose politicians have long swooned over the World Economic Forum. According to Travel and Tour News, “Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has officially ended, the consequences of restrictive policies are still being felt. With domestic travel restrictions now in place due to wildfire risks, many Canadians feel that their freedom to explore their country has been drastically reduced.”

“They’ve turned the great outdoors into the Forbidden Forest,” scoffed one critic. A photography website warned: “Photographing in the Woods in Nova Scotia Is Currently Illegal.” The government decrees provoked a firestorm of opposition:

“How does hiking in the woods with my dogs come across as a fire hazard?”

“Please tell me the difference between a trail and an unpaved road.”

“I’m confused. We’re banned from the woods? Half of us live in the woods.”

Nova Scotia established a snitch line so people could report neighbors or hooligans who strolled in the woods, and it quickly received thousands/tens of thousands of complaints.

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