CFB Wainwright Tragedy

A serious tragedy in Alberta, Canada occurred last night at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright. 

CFB Wainwright is a very large training base for the Canadian Forces and NATO with lots of room for maneuvering and exercises.

The most recent live fire exercise there has resulted in a major tragedy. 

Global News: At least 7 dead, dozens injured in explosion and fire at CFB Wainwright: Sources

An explosion, whose origin is not yet confirmed, possibly from an errant munition hitting a gas well or gas pipeline during a live fire exerciser, then caused a rapidly moving grass fire fueled by 60 mile per hour winds.

The fire killed seven soldiers and wounded dozens more.

Medical reinforcements were sent in by parachute drop to the site and nearby hospitals have initiated mass casualty protocols.

In short, it is a terrible tragedy and we'll likely know more as to what occurred.  

For now, here's to hoping the fires are brought under control, and the wounded make as full and complete recoveries as possible.

Everyone in Michigan Right Now

 Ron Swanson speaketh the truth.

Where There's Smoke

There's more smoke.

Thanks to Canada's mismanagement of their forests, currently pumping out 200 tons of carbon per hour, we have haze and Low IFR conditions in the area.

 

Wisps of smoke are actually visible, not just this all-encompassing haze.

The only upside? This entire town smells like BBQ.

Mmmmm, BBQ. 

Verdict Is In But Not Out On The Pacific Palisades Fire Arsonist (Update: Apparently Not So Much)

The jury has reached a verdict ion the case of Jonathan Rinderknecht, the left wing arsonist who set the Lachman fire that became the Palisades Fire in California.

NBC News: Jury reaches a verdict in trial over deadly, destructive Palisades Fire

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, faced three federal charges of destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire for the January 2025 Palisades Fire. 

 The former Uber driver pleaded not guilty in October and faces up to 45 years in prison. Prosecutors argued that Rinderknecht intentionally and maliciously started a previous fire on a popular hiking trail known as Skull Rock on Jan. 1, called the Lachman Fire, that smoldered for days before metastasizing into the giant Palisades Fire six days later.

“On Jan. 1, 2025, Jonathan Rinderknecht started a fire on a hill in the Pacific Palisades,” prosecutor Danbee C. Kim said in closing statements. “He was angry all the time. He believed he was enslaved by the wealthy. He didn’t understand why the ‘rich losers’ and the ‘motherf----- at the top’ had it all.”

In short, he bought fully into the DSA and progressives propaganda, tropes, and bromides about the rich and apparently acted on it, as shown in his digital footprint showing his researching about setting fires at being at the ignition point of the fire right before it was reported.

As of now, they still haven't released the verdict.

Well, update a few hours later. 

 The Narrator: They do not, in fact have verdict. 

Instead, they have a deadlocked and potentially hung jury.

The same link above now goes to this page: NBC News:       Jury deadlocked in trial over deadly, destructive Palisades Fire 

Guess they called that one a tad early.  We will see if they are hung tomorrow or can get to a verdict.  

Further Update:  It ended in a hung jury and a mistrial.   New trial is set for October.

About Those Wildfires In Alberta And The Rest Of Canada

As usual, the left, is blaming it on climate change.

It's more likely however that the scale of this fire is based on both poorly-thought our leftist (greenie) environmentalist forestry management polices and budget cuts to wildlife fire-fighting capabilities by the socialist NDP party while they were in charger of Alberta.

Under the NDP in 2016, they cut the firefighting budget by $15, most of it to the air tanker program. They sure could have used those funds for this set of wildfires couldn't they?

A further problem is Alberta's and Canada's lack of appropriate forest management and thinning of brush and other combustibles in forests.

It's a little trite and too easy to blame the wildfires on climate change.  Instead, their extent is more due to a deliberate policy to not properly manage the forests to reduce the chances of a massive wildfires, combined with deliberate budget cuts to spending for firefighters to contain the wildfire.