Huge brush fire near proposed site of Blackwater facility, San Diego County

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It's not clear at this time exactly where the fire has spread to. But it started within a couple of miles of the property that Blackwater wants to build "Blackwater West" at. The decision to allow Blackwater to build there has still not yet made by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, but Blackwater has been pushing hard for it - and now this. Maybe the knowlege that southern California is extremely fire-prone will scare Blackwater away from building here?

Story at: http://www.10news.com/news/14388572/detail.html

[tabatha]

1. Nah, they'll just remove the brush and make tarmac out of it all.

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2. At least maybe this will give the County Board of Supervisors a reason to

reject Blackwater - maybe that some of Blackwater's activities could present a fire risk. The property that Blackwater wants used to be a cow and chicken farm.

[EFerrari]

18. LBN report that seems to confirm your idea here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3037848&mesg_id=3037848

[EFerrari]

3. Holy cow! Is everyone okay?

Crossing everything for my neighbors to the south. :(

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5. 1 person dead, 4 firefighters burned as a fire passed over their van.

They survived and were taken to the burn unit of a hospital here. There is also another fire near Ramona, CA, and the Santa Ana winds are predicted to blow again tomorrow. The news is saying these fires have the potential to become as large and serious as the Cedar Fire of October 2003. That one was a cataclysm which burned 280,278 acres, destroyed 2,820 buildings (including 2,232 homes) and killed 15 people including one firefighter. It doesn't seem like the fires today are going to become that big, but if they aren't controlled and the winds keep blowing, they will just get bigger.

[Ian David]

4. Or maybe Blackwater figured this was the cheapest way to clear brush off their land. n/t

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6. I didn't think of that... But I wouldn't put it past them. The fire started very near

the location they want to build on. The first thing I thought was that someone opposed to Blackwater started the fire, as a way of ruining the site and/or scaring Blackwater away. But I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was revealed Blackwater had a hand in it.

[Ian David]

8. No, everyone knows that's not how you prevent people from moving into a site.

What you have to do is create a ghost or a monster that supposedly haunts the place, and hope that those meddling kids and that pesky dog don't show-up.

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10. Well, they still have to convince the Board of Supervisors,

so I guess they'll have to wine and dine Ron Roberts, Greg Cox, Dianne Jacobs, etc. a little longer...

[siri2k]

9. Exactly. Nothing is beneath the Blackwater terrorists. n/t

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11. I think if they did it, maybe they were trying to clear out the "opposition"

in other words, burn the whole area to get rid of the residents who oppose them moving in.

[EFerrari]

14. Never occurred to me and I think you're right.

Nothing is beneath them.

[Mutineer]

7. that's not a good thing

it just saves them $$$ in clearing the place to construct a facility.

[Seabiscuit]

12. God's warning to Blackwater?

Build your facility and I'll burn it down.. just like THIS!

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16. That's how I would like to view it.

[Donnachaidh]

13. Is the property owned by Blackwater? And insured?

Hell, perhaps they need a cash injection - straight from the insurance? Would not put ANYTHING past that group. Just think of all the pent-up rage from being booted from Iraq. No more civilians to shoot... :shrug:

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15. The last I heard, the property is still in escrow

As far as I know, Blackwater hasn't completely taken the title to the property yet, and hasn't gotten approval from the County Board of Supervisors to build there. But that didn't stop Blackwater VP Brian Bonfiglio from preventing protesters from stepping onto the property recently. Here's an article about the protests a couple of weeks ago:

http://sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/?id=6234&menu=Story

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17. Here are 2 views of the property:

It's not clear at this time whether the property was touched by the fire or not. We'll probably know tomorrow.