Fast-moving wildfires have ravaged the Los Angeles area this week, killing at least 11 people and destroying more than 10,000 structures. Nearly 200,000 people have been displaced, and at least 35,000 acres of land have burned.
With at least three of the fires still out of control, the result is increasingly larger areas being subject to mandatory evacuation orders. Once the orders go out, criminal elements then know which areas are less secure, with the result being the looting of residences, businesses, banks, and pharmacies.
And the faster people were forced to flee, the more ripe the 'pickins left behind. This situation was greatly amplified by city leaders and authorities encouraging evacuating residents to leave their doors and windows unlocked to assist firefighters if they need to enter the structure.
The resulting crime spree has led to at least 20 arrests, as well as stern public warnings from the governor, LAPD, LA County Sheriff's Office, and the Los Angeles District Attorney. A nightly curfew has been ordered from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am in all evacuation & warning areas, and the National Guard has been deployed around the disaster areas to assist police with traffic control, the manning of checkpoints, as well as critical infrastructure security.
As of the time of this report's preparation Friday evening, there were six active blazes, including the Palisades and Hurst fires, which are zero percent contained. LA's fire chief called the fires “one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles.”
Causes
Wildfires are as natural a part of California as sunshine and blue skies. In 1542, Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo wrote in his ship's log that there was so much smoke on the shore near present-day Santa Monica that he named the place Bahía de los Fumos, or Smokes Bay.
The most common causes of recent wildfires in California have been arson, poorly maintained power lines (which caused the 2018 Camp Fire that killed 84 people), and even poorer forest management. California forests are choked with young shrubs, brush, and other dry fuels. Add to this the warm, dry climate, and the setting is primed for major fire outbreaks from even the smallest spark.
During his first term in office, President Trump repeatedly warned Governor Newsom regarding his state's poor job at forest management. In a 2019 social media post, Trump stated the following:
“Every year, as the fire’s rage & California burns, it is the same thing-and then he comes to the Federal Government for $$$ help. No more. Get your act together Governor. You don’t see close to the level of burn in other states.”
Arson Arrests
There have been two arrests and one detention of suspected arsonists in relation to the fires. One suspect is a 60-year-old woman who allegedly started a fire on Jan. 8 near Leo Carrillo State Park in Los Angeles County. The detained individual was eventually released, with police citing 'insufficient probable cause' to apply the charge of arson.
A Possible Terrorism Angle?
Readers should not be surprised to learn that both Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have long encouraged followers to use forest fires and arson as weapons with which to carry out attacks.
Al Qaeda's first English-language magazine, known as Inspire, encouraged American Muslims to attack non-Muslims and Western interests using fire. Quoting that issue:
"Assassinations, bombings, and acts of arson... are all legitimate forms of revenge against a system that relishes the sacrilege of Islam in the name of freedom."
This was back in 2010.
In 2012, Russia's internal security service accused al-Qaida of waging what they called "forest jihad" in Europe... by sparking the wildfires that have ravaged the continent.
Also in 2012, the Department of Homeland Security released an unclassified threat assessment titled, "Terrorist Interest in Using Fire as a Weapon."
"International terrorist groups and violent extremists have long shown interest in using fire as a weapon, due to the low cost and limited technical expertise required, the potential for causing large-scale damage, and the low risk of apprehension...Use of this tactic is directed at Western audiences and supports homeland attacks."
[...]
"For terrorists, setting fires has several advantages over other methods... including duration of the fire and long-term effects, the potential for casualties, economic damage, wide media coverage, and the accompanying psychological effects of fear and terror."
In 2017, the Islamic State's now-defunct Rumiyah magazine told would-be jihadists that “incendiary attacks have played a significant role in modern and guerrilla warfare, as well as in ‘lone wolf’ terrorism,” and that wildfires set around Israel demonstrate the lethality of such effortless operations.
In 2020, the Islamic State released a four-minute video titled, “Incite the Believers,” within which followers are taught that arson is the highest-rated of the low-skill terror tactics. An animation in the film shows a hand marking a spot on a map between San Francisco and Sacramento. The graphic then lights on fire, burning through the California map.
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