California Fires Declared Arson

I have been biting my tongue (or at least my typing fingers) the last two days, denying the uncontrollable urge to respond to reports that the California fires are caused by Global Warming. Several news outlets have made the assumption with liberal bloggers picking up on it and running so fast they actually found a way to blame the Bush administration. CBS News is now reporting the Santiago fires are the results of arsonists, not global warming.

CBS News has learned a task force of agencies, including the FBI, ATF, the Orange County Fire Authority and the California Department of Forestry will announce shortly that the massive Santiago Canyon Fire - which has caused an estimated $10 million in damage - is being officially declared an arson, and a $50,000 reward is being offered to find the arsonist.

Investigators have identified two separate "points of origin" where they believe the fire was set, CBS News has learned. FBI agents secured the scene to "maintain its integrity."

I have resisted writing about the subject because I feel it is wrong to politicize an event that as of this moment has killed 6, injured 50, and destroyed over 1500 homes. It is one thing to look back and wonder what could have been done differently, in an effort to learn from our mistakes, but it is juvenile to point fingers while the fire still burns and lives are still at risk. Having said that I must admit that I am about to join the ranks of the juvenilles. I can only listen for so long to the left, including Senator Harry Reid, ranting about global warming being the cause of this fire without going out of my mind. The truth is, it is those on the left who are to blame for these events, at least in part (although it would not surprise me to find out the arsanists were liberal activists protesting one thing or another).

Michelle Malkin points us to an article printed several years ago reminding us that environmentalist will not allow the government to thin forests in an effort to reduce the potential of, or at least the damage caused by a forest fire.