The Jim Bakker Show

London fire inquiry starts amid anger, despair of survivors

Demonstrators gather outside the Grenfell Tower public Inquiry in central London, Britain, September 14, 2017. REUTERS/Mary Turner

By Estelle Shirbon

LONDON (Reuters) – A public inquiry into a fire that killed at least 80 people at London’s Grenfell Tower will get to the truth about the tragedy, its chairman pledged on Thursday, but critics said survivors of the blaze were still being failed.

The 24-storey social housing block, home to a poor, multi-ethnic community, was gutted on June 14 in an inferno that started in a fourth-floor apartment in the middle of the night and quickly engulfed the building.

Grenfell Tower was part of a deprived housing estate in Kensington and Chelsea, one of the richest boroughs in London, and the disaster has prompted a national debate about social inequality and government neglect of poor communities.

The inquiry started with a minute’s silence to honor the victims, whose exact number remains unknown because of the devastation inside the tower.

“(The inquiry) can and will provide answers to the pressing questions of how a disaster of this kind could occur in 21st century London,” its chairman, retired judge Martin Moore-Bick, said in his opening statement.

He said the inquiry was not there to punish anyone or to award compensation, but to get to the truth. A separate police investigation is underway, which could result in manslaughter charges. There have been no arrests.

The inquiry will examine the cause and spread of the fire, the design, construction and refurbishment of the tower, whether fire regulations relating to high-rise buildings are adequate and whether they were complied with. It will also look at the actions of the authorities before and after the tragedy.

But critics warned of a disconnect between the technical, legalistic inquiry process and the ongoing ordeal of traumatized former Grenfell Tower residents still awaiting new homes.

Prime Minister Theresa May pledged that all families whose homes were destroyed in the fire would be rehoused within three weeks, but three months later most still live in hotels.

Just three out of 197 households that needed rehousing have moved into permanent homes, while 29 have moved into temporary accommodation.

“We lost everything. It’s difficult for the other people to be in our shoes,” Miguel Alves, who escaped his 13th-floor apartment in Grenfell Tower with his family, told the BBC.

“Now I’m without anything, I’m in the hotel, I have to cope with my family. My daughter, she just started school. They need some stability and that I cannot give to my family,” he said.

FILE PHOTO: The spire of the Notting Hill Methodist Church stands in front of Grenfell Tower, destroyed in a catastrophic fire, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in London, Britain July 2, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

“BALLROOM DRIPPING WITH CHANDELIERS”

Emma Dent Coad, a member of parliament from the opposition Labour Party who represents the area, said the inquiry’s remit was too narrow and would fail to address the blaze’s deeper causes such as failings in social housing policies.

She also criticized the choice of venue for Moore-Bick’s opening statement, a lavishly decorated room in central London.

“We were sitting in a ballroom dripping with chandeliers. I think it was the most incredibly inappropriate place to have something like that, and actually says it all about the us-and-them divide that people see,” she told the BBC.

Many of those affected have also expressed disquiet about the fact that Moore-Bick and the other lawyers appointed to run the inquiry are all white and part of a perceived “establishment” far removed from their own circumstances.

“The experience of many residents of that tower is that they were ignored because of their immigration status,” lawyer Jolyon Maugham, who is advising some residents, told the BBC.

“We need someone on the inquiry team that can speak to that experience and at the moment on the panel we have a bunch of white privileged barristers,” he said.

One of the difficulties facing the inquiry is that it needs former residents to give evidence but some fear possible deportation.

The government has said it would grant a 12-month amnesty to anyone affected by the fire who was in Britain illegally. Supporters say only permanent residency rights will persuade people to come forward.

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon and Elisabeth O’Leary; editing by Stephen Addison and Matthew Mpoke Bigg)

Los Angeles fire spread halted, work to contain it continues

The La Tuna Canyon fire has burned 5,895 acres and is still at 10% contained in Burbank, California, September 3, 2017. REUTERS/Kyle Grillot

By Peter Szekely

(Reuters) – Fire officials said on Monday they had effectively stopped the uncontrolled spread of the largest wildfire in Los Angeles history, with a little help from cooler weather, but were still working to contain it.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said crews had cleared brush away from 30 percent of the perimeter of a fire that started four days earlier and has consumed more than 7,000 acres (2,800 hectares). But he stressed that firefighters were still largely at the mercy of the weather.

“There’s really no active fire left,” Terrazas told reporters. “That can change, though, with the wind. Our goal today is to continue to increase our containment percentage.”

Scattered rains, lighter winds, lower temperatures and higher humidity have helped more than 1,000 firefighters in the air and on the ground battle the blaze in the rugged northern edge of the city. The wildfire claimed four houses and caused minor injuries among six firefighters.

The La Tuna Fire, named after the canyon area where it erupted on Friday, forced the evacuation of more than 700 homes, as steady winds helped it tear through thick brush that has not burned in decades and temperatures hovered around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Sunday afternoon that 90 percent of the 1,400 people evacuated from their homes had returned and nearly all would be back by the end of the day. Officials also reopened a stretch of the 210 freeway that had been closed for days.

Terrazas said there was much work to be done, but stressed that officials had already mapped out the remaining 70 percent of the fire’s perimeter that firefighters and bulldozers need to clear to keep it fully contained.

“We know what we need to do now, we just have to do it,” he said.

Researchers believe the wildfire is the largest in terms of area in the city’s history, Terrazas said.

Los Angeles County, home to 10 million people and vast tracts of undeveloped mountainous land, has suffered much larger wildfires that have burned for weeks.

California Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday declared a state of emergency for the county, which will ease the path for state and federal help to fight the fire.

More than 400 miles (650 km) to the north, the so-called Ponderosa Fire has burned 4,000 acres, or 1,600 hectares, and destroyed 32 homes in Butte County since it started on Tuesday, prompting evacuation orders to residents of about 500 homes. The blaze was 64 percent contained on Sunday evening, up from 56 percent earlier in the day.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Los Angeles ‘turns corner’ on largest wildfire in city history

Water is dropped above homes in Sun Valley during the La Tuna Canyon fire over Burbank, California, U.S., September 2,

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A smattering of rain and easing temperatures helped more than 1,000 firefighters battling the largest wildfire in Los Angeles history gain the upper hand on the blaze on Sunday, but officials warned that danger remains.

“We’ve turned the corner, but this is not over,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told reporters. “With winds this strong, anything can happen.”

Shifting winds could cause burning embers to spread the fire once more through the rugged northern edge of Los Angeles, said Garcetti.

The nearly 5,900-acre (2400-hectare) La Tuna Fire, named after the canyon area where it erupted on Friday, has destroyed three homes and damaged one. More than 700 homes were evacuated as the blaze tore through thick brush that has not burned in decades.

Firefighters evaluate houses in a voluntary evacuation zone during the La Tuna Canyon fire in Burbank, California, September 3, 2017. REUTERS/Kyle Grillot

Of the 1,400 people evacuated from their homes, 90 percent had returned by Sunday afternoon and Garcetti said nearly all would be back before the day was over.

The wildfire is the largest in terms of acreage in the city’s history, Garcetti said. It was considered 30 percent contained by late Sunday night, up from 10 percent Sunday morning.

“We do not have this fire contained,” Garcetti said, “but we do have a good sense of, in the next day or two, how we can bring this fire to rest.”

The stretch of the 210 freeway, a major thoroughfare that has been closed for several days, will reopen either Sunday night or Monday morning, Garcetti said.

Los Angeles County, home to 10 million people and vast tracts of undeveloped mountainous land, has suffered much larger wildfires that have burned for weeks.

California Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles County, which will ease the path for state and federal help to fight the fire.

Temperatures in the area have hovered around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) in recent days. But the mercury was in the low 90s on Sunday, and the temperatures are expected to be moderate and the humidity higher in the coming days, positive signs for containing the fire, said Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas.

Garcetti said four firefighters had suffered dehydration or minor burns.

Flames above houses in Sun Valley during the La Tuna Canyon fire over Burbank, California, U.S., September 2, 2017. REUTERS/ Kyle Grillot

More than 400 miles (644 km) to the north, the so-called Ponderosa Fire has burned 4,000 acres, or 1,620 hectares, and destroyed 32 homes in Butte County since it started on Tuesday, prompting evacuation orders to residents of about 500 homes. The blaze was 64 percent contained on Sunday evening, up from 56 percent earlier in the day.

(Writing by Gina Cherelus in New York and Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Editing by Mary Milliken and Clarence Fernandez)

California governor declares wildfire state of emergency

By Keith Coffman

(Reuters) – California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday issued an emergency declaration for a wildfire burning in the northern part of the state, the same day the man accused of starting the blaze was charged with arson.

The so-called Ponderosa Fire has burned 3,715 acres (1,503 hectares) and destroyed 30 homes in Butte County, prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders to residents of some 500 homes in the area, officials said. It was 40 percent contained on Friday, up from 30 percent the day before.

The blaze is burning east of the town of Oroville, about 85 miles (137 km) north of the state capital of Sacramento.

The declaration will free up additional resources to battle the blaze, which erupted on Tuesday from a campfire that was started outside a designated area.

The man charged with starting the fire, John Ballenger, made his first court appearance in Butte County Superior Court on Friday, District Attorney Michael Ramsey said in a telephone interview.

Ballenger is charged with two counts of arson and was ordered held on a $1 million bond, Ramsey said. Ballenger could face up to seven years and eight months in prison if convicted.

Ballenger was appointed a public defender and is due back in court to enter a plea on Wednesday. The public defender’s office could not be reached for comment.

Ballenger was camping on property his family owns, Ramsey said.

“He had a campfire burning 24-7,” the district attorney said.

Meanwhile, another wildfire broke out on Friday, more than 400 miles (644 km) south of the Ponderosa blaze, in a north Los Angeles neighborhood.

The 2,000-acre (810 hectare) blaze triggered the closure of a section of the 210 Freeway as it tore through brush, and authorities also told residents of 200 homes in the area to evacuate because of approaching flames, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart.

In Montana, Governor Steve Bullock on Friday declared a state of disaster due to wildfires as dozens raged across tens of thousands of acres during one of the worst fire seasons in state history.

Bone-dry conditions, high winds and triple-digit temperatures pose “an imminent threat” to residents, Bullock said in the disaster declaration, which would allow the state to mobilize additional Montana National Guard troops and tap other state resources to combat the blazes.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Additional reporting by Laura Zuckerman in Salmon, Idaho, and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles,; Editing by Richard Chang and Nick Macfie)

Firefighters make progress on California wildfire despite heat

A 747 SuperTanker drops retardant while battling the Ponderosa Fire east of Oroville, California, U.S. August 30, 2017.

(Reuters) – Firefighters made progress in surrounding a Northern California wildfire on Thursday despite searing heat, a day after the blaze triggered evacuation orders for hundreds of local residents.

The so-called Ponderosa Fire has charred nearly 3,600 acres (1,457 hectares), about 85 miles (135 km) north of the state capital of Sacramento, since it broke out on Tuesday, officials said.

It was 30 percent contained on Thursday, up from 10 percent the day before, officials said, even though temperatures in the area approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

The fire is one of several blazes in California as the state bakes in high temperatures this week. Authorities have warned the heat could fuel the existing blazes and help spark new ones.

Flames consume a garage as the Ponderosa Fire burns east of Oroville, California, U.S. August 29, 2017. REUTERS/Noah Berger

Authorities on Wednesday gave evacuation orders to residents of 500 houses and 800 outbuildings that were threatened by flames from the Ponderosa fire east of the town of Oroville.

“One of the issues we ran into on this fire is there’s a lot of people who didn’t actually evacuate,” said Paul Lowenthal, a spokesman for the team of 1,600 fighting the blaze.

The evacuation orders remained in place on Thursday, and officials opened shelters to house people.

The fire in steep and rugged terrain has destroyed 10 homes and 20 outbuildings, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has said.

John Ballenger, an Oroville resident, was arrested this week on suspicion of causing the fire by starting a campfire outside a designated area and allowing it to spread out of control, officials said. He is set to appear in court on Friday.

It was not clear on Thursday evening if he had been charged. A representative for the Butte County District Attorney’s Office could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Fast-moving wildfire destroys homes in Northern California

(Reuters) – A fast-moving wildfire destroyed several homes and forced the evacuation of residents in Northern California on Tuesday, local media and fire officials said.

The fire started at 1.15 p.m. and burned 1,000 acres (405 hectares) in Butte County, about 85 miles (135 km) north of Sacramento, according to information on the Cal Fire website. At least nine houses were destroyed, local media reported.

Photos on social media showed the fire turning houses into ash as smoke billowed into the sky and flames ripped through trees and vegetation.

“My grandparents’ house is gone. Everything on their road burned and it feels like losing my grandma all over again,” said a Twitter user.

A mandatory evacuation order was placed on residents who live in the remote area. It is unclear how many residents were evacuated. Two shelters were opened for displaced residents, local media reported.

Cal Fire officials were not immediately available for comment.

Northern California is facing a heatwave over the next few days with temperatures expected to top 105 degrees Fahrenheit, the National Weather Service said.

Since the beginning of the year, wildfires in the U.S. West have burned more than 6.8 million acres, about 50 percent more than during the same time period in 2016.

More than 45,000 fires have burned so far this year across the region, 15 percent more than in 2016, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Montana wildfire triggers hundreds of evacuations

By Keith Coffman

(Reuters) – A lightning-sparked wildfire burning for more than a month in western Montana has flared anew, prompting the evacuation of nearly 750 homes on Thursday as firefighters braced for more hot and windy weather forecast for the weekend, authorities said.

The so-called Lolo Peak fire, burning about 12 miles south of Missoula, has scorched more than 15,000 acres of timber since it erupted in mid-July, as tinder-dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blaze.

“When the winds kicked up last Sunday, it made a run of one and a half miles in an hour and has been growing since,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman James Stone said.

Erratic winds pushed flames close to housing subdivisions in two counties on Thursday, prompting mandatory evacuations of residents from 743 homes, said Jordan Koppen, a spokesman for the fire management command.

Fire retardant drops from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft have been deployed to douse the flames in an effort to assist some 500 firefighters on the scene.

No property losses have been reported, but a 29-year-old member of an elite “hotshots” firefighting crew from California was killed this month when a falling tree struck him.

Koppen said weather forecasters have issued red-flag warnings for the area on Friday, and he expects the burned acreage to increase when the fire is mapped again Thursday night.

The northern Rocky Mountain region has been in the grips of a prolonged drought, and this year wildfires have blackened 393,000 acres in Montana and parts of neighboring Idaho, Stone said.

In Oregon on Thursday, Governor Kate Brown authorized the state’s fire marshal to mobilize additional resources to aid local firefighting efforts near the Cascade town of Sisters, where a wildfire threatened more than 400 structures. An estimated 1,200 residents of the area were advised to stand by for possible evacuation notices.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Steve Gorman and Leslie Adler)

U.S. wildfire preparedness raised to highest level

FILE PHOTO: Rose fire burns near Lake Elsinore in Western Riverside County, California, U.S. in this undated photo obtained by Reuters July 31, 2017. Riverside County Fire Department via Facebook/Handout via REUTERS.

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. fire managers on Thursday raised the nation’s wildfire readiness status to its highest level for the first time in two years, as California and several other Western states faced heightened danger from lightning storms.

The National Fire Preparedness Level was elevated one notch from “PL-4” to “PL-5,” the top ranking on a five-point scale, recognizing that firefighting resources have been strained to their limits by the large number and scope of blazes in the west.

It also reflects the probability that severe weather conditions conducive to wildfires will continue for at least a few days.

The move allows for emergency assistance to be called upon from the U.S. military and even other countries, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

“Wildfire activity has escalated in recent days after thunderstorms, many with little or no moisture, moved across parts of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, sparking hundreds of new fires,” the fire center said.

The decision to raise the preparedness level was made by a multi-agency group of federal and state fire managers. The readiness status had been posted at PL-4 during most of July and into August before Thursday’s move, said fire center spokesman Randy Eardley.

The higher alert level means fire managers may be forced to let some large blazes they otherwise would have fought in remote locations burn unchallenged in order to make resources available to suppress fires posing a greater threat to life and property, Eardley said.

Nearly 41,000 individual wildfires of all sizes have scorched more than 6 million acres in the United States so far this year, well above the 4.2 million acres burned on average over the last 10 years, according to the fire center.

The last time an alert level of PL-5 was invoked was in August 2015. That same year, 200 U.S. Army soldiers were assigned to battle fires in Washington state for 30 days, while personnel and aircraft were brought in from Canada, Australia and New Zealand to support fire suppression efforts in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies.

Thursday’s elevation to PL-5 marked the fifth time the highest point on the readiness scale has been reached since 2007.

The National Interagency Fire Center reported 38 large, active wildfires burning across seven Western states on Thursday, primarily in California, Montana and Oregon.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Elite firefighter killed while battling western Montana blaze

(Reuters) – An elite California firefighter was killed by a falling tree while battling a blaze in western Montana, the second firefighting death in the area over the last two weeks, officials said.

Brent Witham, 29, of Mentone, California, was killed on Wednesday while fighting the so-called Lolo Peak Fire about 30 miles (50 km)south of Missoula in the Lolo National Park. It was sparked by lightning on July 15, the Missoula County sheriff and coroner said.

Witham was given CPR at the scene, but could not be revived, the Missoulian newspaper reported.

“Please keep wildland firefighters on the Lolo Peak fire and firefighters across the nation in your thoughts and prayers,” Leigh Golden, the fire department’s public information officer, said in an emailed statement to the newspaper.

Witham was a member of the Vista Grande Hotshots, an elite firefighting crew, one of 113 20-member specially trained squads in the United States that fight wildfires at close range with hand tools.

Witham’s death comes two weeks after Trenton Johnson, 19, was struck by a tree and killed while fighting the Florence Fire, a blaze in the Lolo National Forest, on July 19.

An elite squad of 19 Arizona firemen were killed in Arizona in 2014, the worst U.S. wildland firefighting tragedy in 80 years.

Witham was one of about 350 firefighters battling the Lolo Peak Fire that has burned 6,500 acres (2,600 hectares) of high elevation timber 10 miles (26 km) southwest of Lolo, forcing some evacuations.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; editing by Clelia Oziel)

Evacuation order lifted as wildfire threatens California homes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An evacuation order was lifted on Monday at the edge of a national forest in Southern California, after a wildfire threatening dozens of homes in the path of the flames.

The so-called Rose Fire, which broke near foothill communities east of the Cleveland National Forest in mid-afternoon, had charred some 150 acres (61 hectares) within several hours, according to the Riverside Fire Department.

The blaze was zero-percent contained at 8 p.m., as local television showed images of the flames bearing down on several homes. There were no immediate reports of injuries or structures destroyed.

Fire officials lifted all evacuation orders at about 8 p.m. local time.

More than 200 firefighters were deployed to battle the flames, assisted by three helicopters and six fixed-wing air tankers.

Investigators determined that the fire was caused accidentally by equipment, the Riverside Fire Department said.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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