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Ammon Bundy and 6 others associated with Oregon federal building takeover arrested; shots fired, one killed

Bill GabbertJanuary 26, 2016February 1, 2016Uncategorizedarson, Hammonds, Oregon1 Comment

Ryan and Ammon Bundy and five others associated with the armed seizure of the Malheur National Wildlife refuge on January 2 were arrested late Tuesday afternoon in Oregon. The FBI reported that shots were fired and one person is deceased.

In addition to the six arrests and one fatality in Oregon, at 8:30 p.m. PST Tuesday Jon Eric Ritzheimer, age 32, was arrested in Arizona on a federal charge related to the armed occupation. Mr. Ritzheimer turned himself in to the Peoria, Arizona, Police Department. The arrest was without incident.

The seizure of the Refuge was triggered by the resentencing of Dwight Hammond, Jr., and his son, Steven Hammond who set fires on Bureau of Land Management property not far from the Wildlife Refuge. It escalated into demands that public lands be turned over to states, individuals, or corporations.

Below is the press release from the Portland FBI office:

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“At approximately 6:30 p.m. (PST), the FBI arrested Peter Santilli, age 50, of Cincinnati, Ohio, in Burns, Oregon. He faces the same federal felony charge as the individuals listed below. The arrest was without incident.

At approximately 4:25 p.m. (PST) on Tuesday, January 26, 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Oregon State Police (OSP) began an enforcement action to bring into custody a number of individuals associated with the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. During that arrest, there were shots fired.

One individual who was a subject of a federal probable cause arrest is deceased. We will not be releasing any information about that person pending identification by the medical examiner’s office.

One individual suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital for treatment. He was arrested and is currently in custody.

The arrested individuals include:

Ammon Edward Bundy, age 40, of Emmett, Idaho
Ryan C. Bundy, age 43, of Bunkerville, Nevada
Brian Cavalier, age 44, of Bunkerville, Nevada
Shawna Cox, age 59, Kanab, Utah
Ryan Waylen Payne, age 32, of Anaconda, Montana

These probable cause arrests occurred along Highway 395.

In a separate event in Burns, Oregon, at approximately 5:50 p.m., Oregon State Police arrested the following individual:

Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy, age 45, Cottonwood, Arizona

All of the named defendants face a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 372.

We continue to work with Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward and his deputies; Oregon State Police; and the United States Attorney’s Office to address any further outstanding issues. As the investigation is ongoing, we cannot comment further at this time.

All defendants should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

Bushfire threatens coastal towns in northwest Tasmania

Bill GabbertJanuary 26, 2016UncategorizedAustralia, Tasmania

Some evacuation routes may be cut off by the fire.

Northwest Tas bushfire 1325 UTC Jan 25 2016 — The icons represent heat detected by a satellite at 1:25 p.m. UTC, January 25, 2015.

Residents in some coastal towns in northwest Tasmania, Australia have been advised to evacuate as a bushfire spreads closer to the communities. The fire is within four to eight miles (6 to 12 km) of Arthur River, Nelson Bay, Couta Rocks, and Temma.

The Tasmania Fire Service warned at 6:52 a.m. local time on January 27 that Nelson Bay and Temma were “at high risk NOW”, advising that “burning embers … will threaten your home before the main fire”.

Residents from Temma and Couta Rocks may not be able to travel north to their evacuation center. The TFS said “there is a nearby safer place at the beach”.

Close call for two engine crews in South Australia

Bill GabbertJanuary 26, 2016August 25, 2019Uncategorizedentrapment, South Australia

Fire engines were overrun by fire.

south australia near miss fire — Fire engine crews were overrun by a bushfire in South Australia. Screen grab from 3 News video.

A video has surfaced that documented what must have been a terrifying ordeal for fire engine crews that were working on a bushfire in South Australia on November 25, 2015. As they were responding to the fire the 90km/h (55mph) wind shifted, catching them by surprise and overrunning their position.

In the video (which you can see here) a fire official said the rapid rate of spread through recently cut, dried, agricultural stubble helped the firefighters by moving the fire past their location relatively quickly. The exposure to extreme heat was less than if heavier fuel had been present.

Many of the wildland fire engines in Australia have protection systems that discharge water through nozzles around the entire truck. The two firefighters that left the vehicle to start the pump may have been attempting to activate the system.

Thankfully there were no injuries.

Pile burning in the Black Hills

Bill GabbertJanuary 25, 2016Uncategorizedpile burn, prescribed fire, South Dakota

The Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota and Wyoming is taking advantage of the recent snow to ignite some large slash piles left over from thinning or logging operations. Constructed with mechanized equipment, the Forest likes to call them “machine piles. If a person is not familiar with the practice, it may cause them to envision piles of machines:

Fire as a natural process in wilderness

Bill GabbertJanuary 25, 2016Uncategorizedresearch

The U.S. Forest Service released this video today in which Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research lnstitute’s Research Ecologists Sean Parks and Carol Miller talk about their research on studying natural fire regimes in wilderness areas. Their work looks at understanding how climate change drives fire frequency and fire severity, and how climate is expected to change. They hope that the research will help us anticipate changes in fire regimes.

Houses with thatched roofs saved in South Africa wildfire

Bill GabbertJanuary 25, 2016UncategorizedSouth Africa, thatched roof

Thatched roofs a problem for firefighters in South Africa fire.

thatched roof fire — A thatched room on a home in Cape St. Francis begins to burn as a wildfire approaches. Screen capture from SABC video.

Firefighters and residents applying water to houses with thatched roofs were able to prevent them from being destroyed when a large vegetation fire spread into an upscale community in South Africa. The roofs that did ignite from airborne burning embers were extinguished before major damage was done.

Officials from the National Sea Rescue Institute said on Monday that the fire at Cape St Francis (map) was most likely started by a flare that landed in brush and eventually burned thousands of hectares.

A video showed helicopters dipping water out of swimming pools, even though the ocean was a few hundred yards away.

Thatched roofs, made from dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge, rushes, or heather have been used for centuries, but in recents years have become the choice of affluent people who desire a rustic look for their home or prefer a more ecologically friendly roof material.

Description for the video above which was uploaded to YouTube on January 25, 2016:
“25 Jan 2015. Early morning hours. A raging brush fire somehow goes past the Hide-out most probably due to the efforts of Mush, James, Romeo and Lawrence spraying water on the thatch roof for hours before the fire arrived. Big thanks to the CSF, SF and PE fire departments as well.”

The next video from SABC News includes on scene reports of the active fire and has a couple of shots of small fires on the roofs of homes.