Police accused a man convicted of manslaughter of intentionally starting a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/major-pacific-northwest-city-devastated-by-massive-wildfires">devastating wildfire</a> in Spokane, Washington. 
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that it charged 37-year-old Aaron F. Farinacci with first-degree arson over the Old Trails Fire that has burned some 3,600 acres. Farinacci was previously convicted of manslaughter in Arizona after first being charged with premeditated murder, authorities said. 
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels credited some “very aware and alert citizens” with aiding in the arrest of Farinacci. 
“The witness, a citizen, very good citizen, noticed a male standing on the side of the road looking into the trees as he was going to pick somebody up,” Nowels said at a press conference. “About 10 minutes later, he was coming back through the area. He noticed the male was bending down near some grass.”
That citizen later called police and Nowels said police spoke to Farinacci shortly after the blaze started. He was not arrested at the time, but investigators later used footage from that encounter to identify him after arson was determined to be behind the blaze. 
Nowels said that police determined “that the origin of the fire was indeed exactly where the witnesses had seen Mr. Farinacci kneeling in the grass earlier that day.”
Farinacci was detained by police and was in possession of a butane lighter and waterproof matches. Nowels said law enforcement is looking into whether he committed any other crimes. 
<div id="attachment_1150139" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1150139" class="size-full wp-image-1150139" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2026-07-47-AM-7126.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2026-07-47-AM-7126.jpg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2026-07-47-AM-7126-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2026-07-47-AM-7126-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2026-07-47-AM-7126-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2026-07-47-AM-7126-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-04-Aug-2026-07-47-AM-7126-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Spokane Sheriff&#8217;s Department.</div>
“This was fantastic and very quick work by everybody involved,” he said. “As it happens in so many critical cases, it was citizens who were paying attention to their surroundings, being aware, and willing to step up and say something that led to the relatively quick apprehension of Mr. Farinacci.”
Farinacci is being held on a $1 million bond in Spokane County Jail and is set to appear in court on Tuesday. 
More than 60,000 people have been forced to evacuate as many homes were destroyed after three major blazes broke out over the weekend in the Spokane area. No known fatalities have yet been reported, but authorities are still working to locate 14 people. 
“It’s just ash,” Angela Deatherage <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-spokane-washington-evacuate-8e42b37783bda01e7d004d71e546458e?taid=6a716be0423cf600011ce836&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter">told</a> the Associated Press about the destruction of her home. “It’s like our house sunk down in the basement. &#8230; There’s just so much loss for so many people.”
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown described the fires as “the worst natural disaster our region has faced.”

US-ENVIRONMENT-WILDFIRE

Convicted Felon Accused Of Lighting Devastating Washington Wildfire

Arson

Crime

Police

Washington

Wildfires

More than 1,000 firefighters are scrambling to contain the massive wildfires that have burned hundreds of structures in Spokane County, Washington, and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes over the weekend.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said that the still-raging fires would go down in history as &#8220;the worst natural disaster our region has faced,&#8221; as more than 5,300 acres burned before Sunday afternoon — and at that time, the fires were reportedly 0% contained despite firefighters&#8217; best efforts.
Roughly 67,000 residents were under <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-spokane-washington-evacuate-8e42b37783bda01e7d004d71e546458e">evacuation orders</a> and about 700 structures had been destroyed.
Weather conditions improved slightly overnight on Sunday, but because stronger winds are expected to return by Wednesday, firefighters have a limited window to get things under control.
Images and video from the disaster zone show the incredible devastation that the fires have already left in their wake.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Explosive wildfires in Spokane, Washington, have destroyed more than 600 structures, many of them within the city limits. The fast-moving flames led to mass evacuations and chaos, as families fled their homes. <a href="https://t.co/38jeUeXcgo">pic.twitter.com/38jeUeXcgo</a>
— CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil (@CBSEveningNews) <a href="https://x.com/CBSEveningNews/status/2084086083948593401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The damage just keeps going. Nothing but leveled homes as far as the eye can see right now in the Indian Trail neighborhood.
It’s hard to put into words the amount of destruction that we’re seeing right now.
This is on N Westgate &amp; Tiffany. <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/SpokaneComplexFire?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SpokaneComplexFire</a> <a href="https://x.com/kxly4news?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kxly4news</a> <a href="https://t.co/dxQ5PaD6sf">pic.twitter.com/dxQ5PaD6sf</a>
— Natalie Grant | KXLY (@naniigrant) <a href="https://x.com/naniigrant/status/2083951639489392950?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Aerial footage of the impacted area shows entire neighborhoods razed to the ground, with the fires leaving nothing behind but ashes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WATCH: Drone footage shows entire neighborhoods reduced to ashes after the massive Spokane County wildfire. Around 65,000 people have been evacuated. <a href="https://t.co/0hj5woghHG">pic.twitter.com/0hj5woghHG</a>
— Scope Report (@ScopeReport_) <a href="https://x.com/ScopeReport_/status/2084260786776498208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We just arrived at the command post where hundreds of fire personnel are being briefed ahead of day 3 on the Spokane Area Fires.
Takeaways:
&#8211; The Autumn Lane Fire is expected to get worse. It grew 20 acres yesterday and is now at 3,351 acres. 
&#8211; Old Trails Fire is now at 3,619… <a href="https://t.co/SS5GsHTUL9">pic.twitter.com/SS5GsHTUL9</a>
— Alexandra Coenjaerts KXLY (@alex_coenjaerts) <a href="https://x.com/alex_coenjaerts/status/2084286343451136309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
DAMAGE CONTROL 🔥: Watch the moment firefighters came face-to-face with a home that went ablaze as wildfires spread in Spokane, Washington. Spokane County Fire District 8 said they&#8217;ve been working day and night to save as many structures as possible. <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/Spokane?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Spokane</a> <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/Washington?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Washington</a>… <a href="https://t.co/SrMeljuxnu">pic.twitter.com/SrMeljuxnu</a>
— FOX Weather (@foxweather) <a href="https://x.com/foxweather/status/2084247924322811933?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Governor Bob Ferguson (D-WA) toured parts of the impacted area on Sunday and said he has spoken to both President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about &#8220;how dire the situation is in Spokane and across our state.&#8221; Ferguson declared a state of emergency for Washington on Sunday.
&#8220;We will be working together on additional requests for federal assistance. I deeply appreciate the President taking time to have this conversation, and I am optimistic we will receive a quick approval for our request for a federal emergency declaration,&#8221; Ferguson said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Just a few minutes ago, I spoke with President Trump and Secretary Mullin. I detailed how dire and devastating the situation is in Spokane and across our state.
The President is aware of the situation, and expressed his concern for the people of Washington during this difficult…
— Governor Bob Ferguson (@GovBobFerguson) <a href="https://x.com/GovBobFerguson/status/2084018639334764975?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) also spoke to constituents, saying that he believed federal help would be expedited in order to manage the situation: &#8220;This is an unprecedented catastrophe for the Spokane area, but I think we&#8217;re going to see unprecedented collaboration in responding to this fire. This is not Republicans and Democrats you&#8217;re seeing before you. This is concerned elected officials. They&#8217;re going to do what&#8217;s right for this community.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Rep Michael Baumgartner: &#8220;This is an unprecedented catastrophe for the Spokane area, but I think we&#8217;re going to see unprecedented collaboration in responding to this fire.&#8221;
&#8220;This is not Republicans and Democrats you&#8217;re seeing before you. This is concerned elected officials.… <a href="https://t.co/mSuB0dZmO4">pic.twitter.com/mSuB0dZmO4</a>
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) <a href="https://x.com/thehoffather/status/2084133945877332194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Benjamin Cossel, the spokesman for the <a class="css-bhdv0x-linkClass" title="" href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Hti73evL4/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">California Interagency Incident Management Team 7</a>, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/us/spokane-wildfires.html">The New York Times</a> that the Spokane fires&#8217; proximity to residential areas made it a top priority, and that two of the fires jumping the Spokane River and spreading toward a nearby canyon only made the situation more dangerous.
&#8220;The possibility for things to go sideways if it gets established in that canyon is pretty high,” he explained, saying that at that point, “there is nothing really there to stop it.&#8221;

TOPSHOT-US-ENVIRONMENT-WILDFIRE

Major Pacific Northwest City Devastated By Massive Wildfires

Fire

Pacific Northwest

Americans often picture Canada as a vast northern forest — an endless expanse of pristine wilderness. But the truth is far more complex and increasingly relevant to U.S.–Canada policy debates. Eighty‑nine percent of Canada is Crown land, owned by federal or provincial governments. Yet only about 10–12% of that land receives detailed ecological monitoring.
This matters because U.S. trade policy, Canadian conservation policy, and federal herbicide permitting are now combining to reshape North America’s forests in ways few Americans recognize.
Over the past 20 years, Canada’s sawmill and pulp‑and‑paper sectors have entered a steep decline. Statistics Canada and industry reports show that mill closures have accelerated, especially in western Canada, where over 30% of softwood lumber capacity has disappeared. Employment has dropped sharply. Entire forestry towns have hollowed out.
And while multiple factors contribute — mountain pine beetle damage, wildfire losses, transportation bottlenecks — the most overlooked driver is the federal government’s long‑standing approval of spraying Roundup (glyphosate) herbicide across millions of hectares of Crown forests. For decades, glyphosate has been used to kill broadleaf species — birch, aspen, poplar — so that commercially valuable conifers can dominate.
But this practice has consequences. Roundup creates monoculture conifer stands, which are more resin‑rich and significantly more flammable than mixed‑species forests. Instead of diverse, moisture‑retaining ecosystems, Canada is producing vast tracts of single‑age, single‑species pine and spruce — exactly the kind of forests that burn explosively under extreme fire weather.
The result is a continental paradox: Policies meant to “manage” forests have instead created more combustible landscapes, contributing to the anomalous rise in total annual area burned.
The deterioration of Canada’s forests is also being accelerated by domestic policy. Rising carbon taxes on diesel and gasoline — critical fuels for logging, hauling, and mill operations — have increased costs across the supply chain. New layers of regulation slow approvals and reduce harvest flexibility. And when pulp mills close, sawmills lose buyers for residual chips and sawdust, further undermining their economics.
But the most consequential impact of this industrial contraction is ecological. Canada’s parklands — where monitoring exists — show a clear trend of rapidly aging boreal forests, with large stands now reaching 70 to 120 years old.
In Alberta’s eastern foothills, provincial parks contain dense, overmature, fuel‑loaded forests primed for high‑intensity wildfire. Decades of fire suppression, beetle kill, drought, and heavy recreational pressure have created extreme fire risk. As Parks Canada itself warns, “the reduction or exclusion of fire as a natural process … leads to increased risk of wildfires.”
The consequences are here. Alberta’s Jasper National Park recently nearly burned to the ground when extreme fire weather collided with decades of fuel accumulation, beetle‑killed forests, a highly vulnerable townsite, and infrastructure failures.
Nonetheless, long‑term fire data tell a more nuanced story.
According to Canada’s National Burned Area Composite and Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre wildfire statistics, forest‑fire frequency has declined since the 1980s. Canada is experiencing fewer fires overall.
What has changed is the total area burned, which had remained relatively moderate for decades but then spiked dramatically in 2023 and again in 2025, producing two of the worst years for fires in modern Canadian history.
These spikes reflect the dangerous combination of aging forests, heavy fuel loads, glyphosate‑driven monoculture, and extreme fire weather — not an increase in ignition frequency.
Meanwhile, federal biodiversity reports show that parks are not experiencing net improvement. Most ecosystems are stable, but among those changing, declines outnumber gains. And crucially, non‑park Crown lands are not monitored at all, meaning there is no empirical basis to claim that conservation designations improve biodiversity.
Yet Ottawa is moving ahead with its flagship 30&#215;30 agenda — a plan to place 30% of Canada’s land and water under conservation status by 2030.
In practice, this means restricting forestry across vast areas as forests age, become fuel‑loaded, and become increasingly prone to extreme fire behavior. By limiting private‑sector utilization, 30&#215;30 will increase fuel loading, exacerbate forest aging, and reduce thinning and harvesting activities that mitigate catastrophic wildfire risk.
For Americans concerned about lumber prices or wildfire smoke drifting south, the lesson is simple. Canada’s forests are increasingly unmanaged, aging, and burning, not because Canadians don’t care, but because the economic and policy frameworks governing those forests are pushing the country toward less active management.
North America needs forestry — not just parks — to remain resilient.
***
Joseph Fournier, Ph.D., has worked in the energy industry and environmental sciences and is a member of the <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___http:/co2coalition.org/___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NDViOWU2YTJiM2QyMGE4ZmU0OWYwMjA3NTc3NTY1MWQ6Nzo1ZWY5OjM4YWIxNTk1N2I0MmJhMzFkYTJiNjEzZjcxNzAwNTJhNzEwOTczNTdjOGYwNmEwZWNlZWRhYTVlYjg5OTcwZGI6cDpUOkY">CO2 Coalition</a>, Fairfax, Virginia. He writes from his family’s ranch east of Calgary.

Wildfire Smoke From Canada Arrives in New York City

Blame Canada’s Terrible Regulations For Wildfires Ruining America’s Summer

Canada

Crown land

DW Opinion

Forest Managment

National Burned Area Composite

Roundup (glyphosate)

President Donald Trump on Friday blamed Canada for sending wildfire smoke into the United States and said the costs associated with the pollution &#8220;must of necessity be added&#8221; to tariffs on Canadian imports.
In a Truth Social post, Trump accused Canada of &#8220;willful negligence,&#8221; saying America is &#8220;being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air.&#8221; The president said he planned to call Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney later Friday to figure out a solution.
&#8220;Canada has refused to engage in basic Forest Management and Debris Removal, knowing that such refusal will lead to exactly this result,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116936952365066409">wrote</a>. &#8220;This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s post comes as hundreds of Canadian wildfires sent smoke south, leading to air quality advisories for more than 100 million Americans in 18 states and Washington, D.C. Images of hazy, gray skies across much of the Midwest and Northeast flooded social media, blurring skylines, reducing visibility, and triggering some outdoor cancellations.
Nearly <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/canada-wildfire-smoke-response-d0d3613a">900 wildfires</a> are burning across Canada, forcing evacuations and threatening remote communities after a major wave of blazes erupted over the past two weeks.
The hardest-hit U.S. cities have been in the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest, including Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Cleveland, where Major League Baseball <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-pirates-guardians-0a1b831efa3f58d79e560a4e867d83dd?utm_source=copy&amp;utm_medium=share">postponed</a> Friday night&#8217;s Guardians-Pittsburgh Pirates game after the air quality reached the &#8220;very unhealthy&#8221; category. The smoke has also raised questions about Sunday&#8217;s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
&#8220;We want to be safe for our players,&#8221; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. &#8220;We want to make sure that it&#8217;s not too smoky and obviously for the fans as well. It&#8217;s just not safe to be out in that environment if it&#8217;s not playable.&#8221;
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Where did Lake Erie go? <a href="https://t.co/C1y4rFLYVg">pic.twitter.com/C1y4rFLYVg</a>
— News 5 Cleveland (@WEWS) <a href="https://x.com/WEWS/status/2078096444032987502?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
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As of Friday evening, Prime Minister Carney had not publicly responded to Trump&#8217;s comments or tariff threat. Canada is already subject to multiple rounds of tariffs from the Trump administration. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has pushed back against Trump&#8217;s trade agenda, fired back.
&#8220;If there&#8217;s some politicians out there chirping away, well maybe what you should do rather than complain, is send support, send help, because we have done the exact same thing for our American friends,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/us-complaints-trump-widlfire-smoke-9.7274466">said</a>.

Chicago, July 17, 2026

Trump Says America Is Being ‘Unnecessarily Invaded’ By Canadian Wildfire Smoke

Donald Trump

Environment

Executive

Mark Carney

Tariffs

When President Donald Trump floated the idea of Canada becoming our 51st state, the Left lost its collective mind on both sides of the border.
A group of Democratic House members <a href="https://democrats-foreignaffairs.house.gov/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=C44F2297-5A45-49AB-806B-D587082D0739&amp;utm_source=chatgpt.com">warned</a> that the president’s rhetoric threatens to leave us alone to face other challenges we cannot overcome on our own. U.S. Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA) <a href="https://lindasanchez.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/sanchez-delivers-remarks-house-floor-canada-tariffs-vote">denounced</a> the “childish threats” as “certainly not strategic.&#8221; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/world/canada/carney-trump-canada-speech.html">declared,</a> “Canada thrives because we are Canadian.”
Fast forward to the present day, and hazardous smoke from over 800 Canadian wildfires is billowing across American skies. As of Friday, air quality alerts were in effect <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/article/at-least-17-states-under-air-quality-alerts-as-canadian-wildfire-smoke-spreads-in-the-midwest-and-northeast-raising-questions-about-the-world-cup-final-184707666.html">across at least 17 states,</a> imperiling the health of more than 125 million Americans. On a scale of 0 to 500, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/weather/what-to-know-canada-wildfires-smoke.html">the air quality rating eclipsed 800</a> in Toledo, Ohio, on Thursday night.
Funny, the chorus of warnings from the Left about reckless behavior has gone quiet. So much for “challenges we cannot overcome on our own.”
These fires are not new, and neither are the consequences. In 2023, Canadian wildfires <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c703nzl25ypo">emitted more carbon</a> (647 million metric tons) than the annual output of all but three countries worldwide.
How does this keep happening, and who is to blame?
The Left, as they are wont to do for almost anything, points the finger at climate change. In 2023, Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer <a href="https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1666534710720315392">declared</a>, “These Canadian wildfires are truly unprecedented, and climate change continues to make these disasters worse. We passed the Inflation Reduction Act to fight climate change, and we must do more to speed our transition to cleaner energy and reduce carbon in the atmosphere.”
In early 2025, while fires in California <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Los-Angeles-wildfires-of-2025">were claiming 30 lives</a>, forcing more than 180,000 people to flee their homes and costing an estimated $100 billion in damage, California Governor Gavin Newsom <a href="https://x.com/CAgovernor/status/1882904964403511556">told</a> his constituents that “climate change is here and it is real.”
Schumer and Newsom are right. Climate change is the cause of these fires. Only not in the way they are suggesting.
Just as the threat of “carbon emissions” has been used to justify sweeping changes to the American way of life (Barack Obama’s attempt to ban coal, Newsom’s efforts to eliminate gas-powered vehicles, Biden’s IRA boondoggle), the Canadians have used it to mismanage their forests. <a href="https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/forestry">Roughly 38%</a> of Canada’s land consists of forest, significantly more than the U.S, and <a href="https://natural-resources.canada.ca/forests-forestry/sustainable-forest-management/forest-land-ownership">94%</a> of those forests are publicly owned.
On its <a href="https://natural-resources.canada.ca/forests-forestry/sustainable-forest-management/canada-s-forest-laws?utm_source=chatgpt.com">government website</a>, Canada proudly declares its “forest laws are among the strictest in the world,” adding, “by law, forest management plans must be approved before harvesting starts.”
For the last decade-plus, Canada’s government has been run by leftists, first Justin Trudeau, who was succeeded by Carney in 2025. During his tenure, Trudeau repeatedly downplayed forest management, denouncing an “attack on experts, and on science” in favor of his preferred villain of the climate polluters.
In one 2024 House of Commons debate over <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/House/441/Debates/347/HAN347-E.PDF?utm_source=chatgpt.com">forest management</a>, Trudeau intoned that, “if we do not act in fighting against climate change with everything we have, then there will be no economy of the future.”
Forget about the economy of the future. These fires threaten Canada’s very existence today.
When the government fails to manage the forests, the consequences are steep. When forests are unmanaged and unattended, they burn.
Long after these fires are extinguished and the air returns to normal, the dangerous mentality of the climate cult will persist on both sides of the border.
Even after all his state has been through, Newsom, one of the Democratic Party’s wannabe standard-bearers, <a href="https://usclimatealliance.org/press-releases/alliance-statement-on-epa-endangerment-finding-repeal-feb-2026/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">is still claiming</a>, “greenhouse gases cause climate change and endanger our communities and our health.”
Never mind the children, pregnant women, and those with respiratory conditions in our country today, who are worried about the air they are breathing.
Climate change is the linchpin excuse for failed government. Remember that the next time Gavin Newsom comes after your gas car. Or New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urges you to set your air conditioning at 78 degrees during a heatwave. Or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says that <a href="https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/media/press-releases/ocasio-cortez-presses-epa-assistant-administrator-kramer-jeopardizing-clean">data centers are dirty</a>.
The real threat is the failure of leadership. That failure can be deadly, and the symptoms manifest themselves in different ways, but the cause is rooted in climate politics. Given their current plight, perhaps it’s a blessing that Canada did not become our 51st state after all.
***
Daniel Turner is the founder and executive director of Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. He also runs a sheep and cattle farm in rural Virginia.  Contact him at daniel@powerthefuture.com and follow him on Twitter @DanielTurnerPTF

“Extreme” Santa Ana Winds Spark New Wildfires In Southern California

Blame Canada For Their Dumb Hot Wildfires

Climate Change

Justin Trudeau

Heavy smoke from Canadian wildfires is predicted to spread across the United States from Wednesday to Friday, causing potential air pollution that could impact 100 million people. 
The hazy smoke from wildfires — still blazing in western Ontario and northern Minnesota on Tuesday — is forecast to drift toward the Midwest, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/07/15/wildfire-smoke-canada-will-soon-spread-across-midwest-northeast/">according</a> to The Washington Post. The conditions are set to decline through the end of this week as smoke mixed with little wind and high heat in the East creates a heat dome.
The air quality conditions in eastern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and most of Michigan are expected to worsen on Wednesday, according to The Post.
“It is recommended that, when possible, you avoid strenuous outdoor activities, especially those with heart disease and respiratory conditions like asthma,” said an air quality alert from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. “Keep windows closed overnight to prevent smoke from getting indoors and, if possible, run central air conditioning with MERV-13 or higher rated filters.”
On Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration smoke modeling showed deterioration in air quality conditions in several cities:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Buffalo, Binghamton, Poughkeepsie, and New York City, New York</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Hartford, Danbury, and New Haven, Connecticut</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Providence, Rhode Island</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Scranton, Pennsylvania</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Newark, New Jersey</li>
</ul>
By Wednesday night, the smoke is predicted to travel south and east towards Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. — and then to Boston by Thursday morning. Wind currents are set to blow the smoke, in fluctuating intensities, around the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through Friday. On Saturday, a shift in winds may potentially blow the smoke away, reported The Post.
As of now, eastern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and western New York are closer to the fires and are most at risk for high smoke concentrations and air quality alerts, according to The Post.
The smoke is mainly from a dozen large wildfires raging across western Ontario. Late on Tuesday, the biggest fire located in Wabakimi Provincial Park expanded to over 130,000 acres, stretching to the north coast of Lake Superior about 135 miles, The Post reported. 
Multiple Minnesota wildfires, which were discovered on July 7 after a major lightning storm, are also contributing to the hazy skies. The two largest fires were named the Thumb Fire and the Bear Trap Fire, which are blazing across 14,500 and 13,500 acres of land, and have spurred evacuations and wilderness closures. 
Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) <a href="https://mn.gov/governor/newsroom/press-releases/#/detail/appId/1/id/759754">released</a> a statement on July 12, declaring a peacetime emergency and mobilizing the National Guard to aid with the wildfire response, which is “putting local communities at risk.”
“This emergency declaration allows for the mobilization of additional resources necessary to protect lives, prevent damage, and help the Minnesota [Department of Natural Resources] and our local communities respond,” Walz said.
On Wednesday and Thursday, dry weather is anticipated in scorched areas, but weather predictions for Friday show a possibility of scattered rain and thunderstorms. 
These conditions are being compared to those during Quebec’s wildfires in June of 2023, when smoke settled along the east coast and New York’s sky took on an orange tint. Their air quality peaked at a value of 465, which is the most hazardous level on record, reported The Post.
“At this time, current forecasts do not indicate a repeat of 2023 conditions,” the New York City Emergency Management wrote in a <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/site/em/about/press-releases/20260715_pr-NYCEM-Smoke-From-Canadian-Wildfires-May-Affect-NYC-Air-Quality.page">statement</a> on Tuesday. The NYCEM added that the smoke and high heat on Wednesday would produce “environmental health challenges.” 
“To protect the health of New Yorkers, especially those at greatest risk, free KN95 masks are available at public library branches across the five boroughs,” said the statement.

100 Million Americans Could Soon Face Smoky Skies Thanks To Canada

Tim Walz

Public safety agencies across the United States will deploy drones to spot illegal fireworks during Fourth of July celebrations, thanks to new federal rules that accelerated drone-based enforcement.
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) loosened regulations, allowing cities and counties to launch Drone as First Responder (DFR) initiatives more quickly by cutting bureaucratic red tape. That change led to an increase in the number of policing organizations implementing DFR programs, jumping from 50 to an estimated 1,500 nationwide. The rapid expansion reflects how drone-based enforcement has become a national trend, not only for monitoring illegal fireworks but also for emergency response, crowd management, and search-and-rescue operations.
While some cities have used drones to monitor fireworks for years, this is the first July 4th holiday where aerial enforcement is widespread.
California has been one of the most aggressive adopters, largely because of the extreme risk of wildfires and the prevalence of illegal pyrotechnics. Several cities, including San Jose, Sacramento, and Riverside, are deploying aerial enforcement units specifically to monitor fireworks this holiday weekend. Other western states with similar wildfire risks, including Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, have also adopted unmanned aircraft operations teams. First responders say drones help them detect and respond to fires quickly, especially in wooded areas and during the dry summer months.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department in Colorado has relied on drones to monitor illegal fireworks since 2024, and the Riverside Police Department began using them last year. The drones can capture footage to be used for citations and prosecutions, according to a spokesman.
“This has been a spectacular tool for us to identify those who obviously make the decision to not follow the rules and be unsafe,” Det. Steven Espinosa, public information officer for the Riverside PD, told the Los Angeles Times.
The growing use of DFR programs has raised some privacy concerns, but law enforcement says the technology is deployed only in response to specific calls, not for general surveillance. With thousands of law enforcement agencies now equipped with drones, this year’s Fourth of July could mark a turning point in how cities enforce fireworks laws and how Americans celebrate the holiday.

GettyImages-1241718780

This Fourth of July, The Sky May Be Watching Back

4th of July

Drones

Fourth of July

U.S.

<div>
A <a href="https://apnews.com/article/palisades-fire-trial-los-angeles-california-rinderknecht-arson-62699af71cf549d569709353c5c5b464">dramatic mistrial</a> rocked a Los Angeles federal courtroom Friday when jurors threw up their hands in the scorching arson case against the man accused of igniting the deadliest wildfire in California history — and prosecutors are already promising round two.
</div>
<div>
U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang pulled the plug on the trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, a former Uber driver charged with torching what became the catastrophic January 2025 Palisades Fire, after jurors spent 13 agonizing hours over two days going nowhere fast. The panel fractured 10-2 in favor of walking the guy — leaving prosecutors fuming and victims of the <a href="https://www.redfin.com/news/los-angeles-wildfires/">$51.7 billion disaster</a> stunned.
</div>
<div>
&#8220;We have people on both sides that are dead set,&#8221; the deadlocked jurors wrote, telling the judge that no amount of extra time or re-read testimony would budge anyone. Hwang agreed, ruling that forcing further deliberations would amount to coercing the two holdout jurors pushing for conviction.
</div>
<div>
Defense attorney Steve Haney called the lopsided tally a &#8220;pretty resounding indication&#8221; his client is innocent. But First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wasn&#8217;t buying a word of it, vowing to drag Rinderknecht back into court before a fresh jury and secure guilty verdicts on all three felony counts — arson, malicious destruction by fire, and timber set afire.
</div>
<div>
The prosecution had painted a vivid portrait of a rage-fueled young man seething over wealth inequality who allegedly sparked a brush fire on New Year&#8217;s Day 2025 in the ritzy Pacific Palisades hills. Their theory: the blaze smoldered underground for a full week before explosive Santa Ana winds — gusting up to 90 mph — transformed those buried embers into an unstoppable inferno on January 7. The resulting catastrophe <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/a-year-after-the-la-wildfire-disaster-key-numbers-show-how-it-unfolded-and-the-toll-left-behind#:~:text=31%20lives,12%20in%20the%20Palisades%20Fire.">killed</a> 12 people, incinerated more than 6,800 structures from the Palisades to Malibu, and burned for over a month before firefighters finally got it under control.
</div>
<div>
Prosecutors leaned hard on Rinderknecht&#8217;s digital footprint — ChatGPT diary entries dripping with class resentment, Reddit searches for &#8220;lets kill all the billionaires,&#8221; and even a look-up of a tech CEO&#8217;s home address. An ATF agent testified that Rinderknecht&#8217;s own account of his movements that night contradicted his phone&#8217;s location data.
</div>
<div>
The defense countered that not a shred of physical evidence put a lighter in their client&#8217;s hand. They argued fireworks — not Rinderknecht — ignited the initial blaze, with witnesses recalling teenagers sprinting down a nearby trail that night. And they hammered home a simple point: their client called 911 more than a dozen times and stuck around to watch firefighters work.
</div>
<div>
&#8220;No arsonist sets a fire and then calls 911 to put it out,&#8221; Haney told jurors.
</div>
<div>
Apparently, 10 of them agreed. The fight, however, is far from over.
</div>

Firefighters continue battling Palisades fire in Los Angeles as flames rage out of control

Burned By The Jury: $51B Palisades Fire Trial Goes Up In Smoke

California

mistrial

Palisades Fire

The political climate in California is changing. The Golden State is seemingly on the cusp of a red wave in the Los Angeles mayoral and statewide gubernatorial races. Californians’ deep <a href="https://www.ppic.org/blog/wildfires-are-a-top-concern-for-californians/">concern about the prevalence</a> of high-intensity wildfires plaguing their state is a major reason why.
I previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/america-is-next-for-newsoms-failing-policy-experiments">argued</a> that Governor Gavin Newsom treated California as a policy laboratory for all kinds of radical regulatory experimentation and that the results were overwhelmingly negative. Now there are signs of a state-wide reckoning.
Polling indicates that California residents could put an end to the toxic mix of harmful policies crafted or enforced by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Newsom.
The L.A. mayoral race has put this dynamic on full display. Former reality TV star and political outsider Spencer Pratt has made the Palisades Fire, which occurred under Bass’s watch, a central issue in the race. That fire, started by a deranged arsonist, caused damages <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/01/22/3013659/0/en/Verisk-Estimates-Industry-Insured-Losses-for-the-Palisades-and-Eaton-Fires-Will-Fall-Between-USD-28-Billion-and-USD-35-Billion.html">estimated</a> at over $28 billion and killed dozens of people. Bass’s team oversaw a response that policy experts have <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/could-palisades-fire-have-been-prevented-perhaps-cost-nearly-zero">criticized</a> as inadequate. At the time, the Washington Post editorial board argued that Bass’s city government “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/06/los-angeles-fires-karen-bass-lafd/">badly mishandled</a>” the response, and, perhaps worse, that Bass tried to sweep evidence of her bungled response under the rug.
Though it happened over a year ago, Spencer Pratt is not letting Bass off the hook for her role in the fire, which affected him personally. “If they didn’t burn my house down, I wouldn’t be running for mayor,” Pratt has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=3doY2QVesH0YvxAa&amp;v=6DUhu_naEFY&amp;feature=youtu.be">said</a>. That strategy is working for Pratt. While still slightly trailing Bass in recent <a href="https://emersoncollegepolling.com/california-2026-poll-becerra-continues-to-surge-steyer-and-hilton-compete-for-second-spot/">polls</a>, Pratt is slated to face Bass in a runoff election in November.
Bass blamed climate change for the fires, which is no excuse for negligence. In fact, if Bass believes climate change is exacerbating wildfire risk, that arguably casts her in a worse light. If she believed that fires are now more likely to occur, due to climate change or any other reason, her decision to <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/01/08/us-news/la-mayor-karen-bass-cut-fire-department-funding-by-17-6m/">drastically reduce</a> the L.A. Fire Department budget by $17 million before the fire was especially inexcusable.
Bass not only refused to accept accountability but also attempted a cover-up. Bass reportedly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/06/los-angeles-fires-karen-bass-lafd/">altered</a> an after-action report to downplay the role of poor political decisions in the fire’s impact. The original report, much of which Bass reportedly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/06/los-angeles-fires-karen-bass-lafd/">quashed</a>, may have discussed the reservoir <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-10/as-flames-raged-in-palisades-a-key-reservoir-nearby-was-offline">drained ahead of the fire</a> that could have supplied 117 million gallons of water, and the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-02-21/lafds-failure-to-pre-deploy-before-palisades-fire-a-times-investigation?utm_source=chatgpt.com">insufficient availability</a> of firefighters.
Solely focusing on Bass, though, misses the larger point: In California, ideologically driven leftist policies have prioritized environmental regulations over brush-clearing measures. Faster vegetation growth translates to higher fire risk.
Californians know this, but they have long faced an uphill battle in clearing brush from public land. As a general rule, California <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/climate-environment/how-l-a-bureaucracy-made-it-harder-to-clear-flammable-brush-683f953e?mod=djem10point&amp;ref=pitchstonewaters.com">doesn’t clear brush</a> from public lands for environmental reasons, and residents must apply for a permit to do so — a lengthy and cumbersome process.
This is what happened in the Palisades Fire. Having not been cleared from public lands abutting residential areas, brush plants, which are evolutionarily engineered to burn, <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/how-policy-decisions-exacerbated-the-devastating-los-angeles-wildfires/">contributed</a> to the fire’s rapid spread.
Californians know that politicians are at least partly to blame for mismanagement and poor policymaking that <a href="https://calmatters.org/environment/wildfires/2025/01/la-county-fires-wildland-urban-interface/#:~:text=The%20fire%20damaged%20or%20destroyed,a%20wildfire%20engulfs%20the%20neighborhood.">cost</a> over 20,000 of them their homes in the most recent major bout of wildfires in early 2025.
That is why Democrats are at risk of losing their grip on power in California at the gubernatorial level, too. Republican candidate Steve Hilton is surging in polls among Californians and could be the first Republican elected governor of California in two decades.
Hilton is not tiptoeing around challenging fire prevention issues. To the contrary, he is leaning in with ambitious <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/26/us-news/steve-hiltons-plan-for-first-100-days-if-elected-california-governor-is-wild/">proposals</a> to use remote sensing technology and drones to detect and stop fires before they spread out of control.
At the same time, Hilton has condemned California officials for putting ideology before people. Hilton has <a href="https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/117864/witnesses/HHRG-119-JU05-Wstate-HiltonS-20250206.pdf">noted</a>, “the California Coastal Commission also blocked fire prevention and mitigation measures in the exact hills that just burned, in order to protect a few thousand specimens of the Braunton’s milkvetch shrub.” He also got Californians’ attention, with his <a href="https://www.congress.gov/event/119th-congress/house-event/LC74115/text">claim</a> that the L.A. wildfires were “not a natural disaster” but rather “a man-made disaster.” Thanks to common sense axioms like these, he is currently the <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/mar/30/republicans-get-surprise-opening-california-governors-race/">frontrunner</a> in the race, much to the chagrin and surprise of California’s Democratic establishment.
California is a solid blue state and has been for many years. A red wave there would mean a red wave could be possible anywhere. And apocalyptic scenes of wildfires, the most salient and striking example of policy failure in that state, are getting voters’ attention like never before.
***
Sydney Rodman is a visiting fellow with the Independent Women’s Center for Energy and Conservation.

Palisades fire

Don’t Overlook The Heat Source Behind California’s Red Wave

California Elections

Gavin Newsom

Karen Bass

Spencer Pratt

Clinton Adams, a prominent social media influencer and hip-hop artist known to his hundreds of thousands of followers as “Clintnlord,” has been <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/04/17/us-news/sick-influencer-learns-fate-after-raping-women-in-fire-damaged-palisades-mansion-he-pretended-to-own/">sentenced</a> to eight years in state prison. The sentencing follows a harrowing series of events in which Adams lured women to a smoke-damaged, evacuated mansion in Pacific Palisades and sexually assaulted them.
Adams, 32, pleaded no contest to the charges after a legal saga that began with his arrest in late 2025. The Northridge resident, who boasted over 400,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, leveraged his digital persona and a $5.3 million Mediterranean-style villa to deceive his victims. While Adams claimed to own the luxury four-bedroom residence, the ocean-view property had actually been abandoned by its rightful owners due to smoke damage from the devastating January 2025 wildfires.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Sick influencer learns fate after raping women in fire-damaged Palisades mansion he pretended to own <a href="https://t.co/Hv9fLCoO4W">https://t.co/Hv9fLCoO4W</a> <a href="https://t.co/K9HyvhP10e">pic.twitter.com/K9HyvhP10e</a>
&mdash; New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/2045123186996453589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
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After Adams&#8217; arrest, District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman <a href="https://lacounty.gov/2025/12/09/influencer-facing-felony-rape-charges-in-sexual-assault-of-two-women-additional-victims-sought/#:~:text=His%20preliminary%20hearing%20setting%20is,to%20life%20in%20state%20prison.">stated</a>, “These allegations describe predatory attacks carried out in an area still affected by the aftermath of the January wildfires. Taking advantage of a historic disaster and causing severe harm to two women is despicable.&#8221;
Court records and graphic testimony paint a predatory picture of Adams’ actions during the summer of 2025. In one instance occurring in June, a victim testified that after a night of partying, Adams pinned her down in a room at the mansion. Despite her repeated pleas for him to stop, Adams allegedly placed a hand on her neck to prevent her from screaming before raping her. The victim eventually escaped the home barefoot and sought treatment at UCLA Medical Center.
A second assault allegedly took place in August 2025. A woman testified that Adams approached her on a Santa Monica street, claiming to be in the fashion industry. He invited her to the Palisades property under the guise of watching movies, only to violently assault her in a bedroom.
Adams was originally charged with three felony counts of forcible rape and one count of assault with intent to commit rape. Although he initially pleaded not guilty and faced a potential sentence of 90 years to life, the no-contest plea resulted in the eight-year term.

Wildfires tear through Los Angeles

Hip-Hop Influencer Who Committed Heinous Crimes In Abandoned Palisades Mansion Learns Fate

influencer

Rape

Reality star Spencer Pratt announced that he will be running for mayor of Los Angeles on the one-year anniversary of the Palisades Fire.
The Republican and former star of “The Hills” has been critical of local Democrats for their actions before and after the fires. Pratt and his wife, Heidi Montag, and his parents all lost their homes.
The TV personality made the announcement while speaking at the “They Let Us Burn” rally, which was organized by residents who lost property. “All of this was preventable,” he said. “We are standing here amongst the ashes of our once beautiful town because the state and local leaders let us burn.”
Pratt blamed California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom for allowing brush to grow wild without management or controlled burns. He also called out the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power CEO Janisse Quiñones and the Los Angeles Fire Department for their poor responses, saying the LAFD’s failure could “be due to lack of budget, lack of knowledge, or simply DEI.” 
Pratt said the fires changed the way he viewed the world and motivated him to strive for change. “This isn’t just a political failure, it’s a moral one.” 
“The system in Los Angeles isn’t struggling; it’s fundamentally broken. It is a machine designed to protect the people at the top and the friends they exchange favors with while the rest of us drown in toxic smoke and ash,” Pratt continued.
“Business as usual is a death sentence for Los Angeles and I&#8217;m done waiting for someone to take real action. That&#8217;s why I am running for mayor.” 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It’s official. I’m running for Mayor of LA. I’ve waited a whole year for someone to step up and challenge Karen Bass, but I saw no fighters. Guess I’m gonna have to do this myself.
Let’s make LA camera ready again! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MayorPratt?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MayorPratt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PrattForMayor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PrattForMayor</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpencerPrattForMayor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SpencerPrattForMayor</a> <a href="https://t.co/akXG8Jd7H3">pic.twitter.com/akXG8Jd7H3</a>
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) <a href="https://twitter.com/spencerpratt/status/2009143254684717067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Let me be clear, this just isn&#8217;t a campaign. This is a mission, and we are going to expose the system. We are going into every dark corner of LA politics and disinfecting the city with our light. And when we are done, LA is going to be camera-ready again,” Pratt concluded.
Pratt is a first-time candidate facing more than a dozen other contenders for the nonpartisan mayoral primary in June, including current Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, who is seeking re-election. Pratt’s campaign website describes him as “Karen Bass’ worst nightmare.” 
Pratt <a href="https://x.com/RichardGrenell/status/2009005532888355283">received an endorsement</a> from Richard Grenell, the interim head of the Kennedy Center, who also runs the group Fix California.
“Transparency is what we need. Spencer has the passion and the drive to make positive change for Los Angeles,” Grenell posted on X.

Reality Star Spencer Pratt Is Running For Mayor Of Los Angeles

Reality Star Spencer Pratt Announces He's Running For Mayor Of Los Angeles

Celebrities

Entertainment

Los Angeles

Mayor

In an attempt to showcase just how dangerous he believes President Donald Trump to be, Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) made the mistake of comparing the United States under Trump to a &#8220;five-alarm fire&#8221; — an analogy that quickly blew up in his face.
Newsom was explaining his position to ABC News anchor Jonathan Karl, and he claimed — among other things — that Trump was likely to do away with elections and the democratic process in their entirety if he was left to himself.
WATCH:
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Gavin Newsom: “I really am scared to death about what’s going on in this country. I really believe it is Code Red. It’s five-alarm fire. It’s breaking every hour of every day. We won’t have a country. We won’t have an election that’s fair and free if we don’t stand up” <a href="https://t.co/Zprb4IomBD">pic.twitter.com/Zprb4IomBD</a>
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarcoFoster_/status/1983904722580025440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I just hope we have more fighters,&#8221; Newsom said, adding, &#8220;I say this seriously — I have no problem being, you know, out there with arrows in my back as long as it gives some space for people to run over me and move forward. I&#8217;m serious about that.&#8221;
&#8220;I really am scared to death about what’s going on in this country,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I really believe it is Code Red. It’s five-alarm fire. It’s breaking every hour of every day. We won’t have a country. We won’t have an election that’s fair and free if we don’t stand up.&#8221;
But with the memory of the Palisades fire only just in the rear view mirror — and the state&#8217;s abject failure to cut away the layers of red tape preventing those who want to from rebuilding — a number of critics found Newsom&#8217;s &#8220;five-alarm fire&#8221; analogy to be a little too on the nose.
&#8220;Here’s a tip, Slick. You of all people would be wise not to use fire metaphors in your bulls*** rambling,&#8221; actor James Woods observed. &#8220;The last &#8216;five alarm fire&#8217; in California destroyed 16,000 homes and killed 29 people. Thanks solely to you, the commie mayor you support, and your idiot policies. Pipe down.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Here’s a tip, Slick. You of all people would be wise not to use fire metaphors in your bullshit rambling. The last “five alarm fire” in California destroyed 16,000 homes and killed 29 people. Thanks solely to you, the commie mayor you support, and your idiot policies.
Pipe down. <a href="https://t.co/EuNhDro5rJ">https://t.co/EuNhDro5rJ</a>
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1984159003036021147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton added, &#8220;You are trying to disenfranchise millions of Californians and rig our elections to entrench your authoritarian one party rule. We are not interested in your laughable lectures on threats to democracy. Look in the mirror.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
You are trying to disenfranchise millions of Californians and rig our elections to entrench your authoritarian one party rule.
We are not interested in your laughable lectures on threats to democracy. Look in the mirror. <a href="https://t.co/lZRRducB2D">https://t.co/lZRRducB2D</a>
— steve hilton (@SteveHiltonx) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveHiltonx/status/1984263279880065065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The Code Red is what happened in the Palisades. Who ordered it?? We can handle the truth!&#8221; RedState&#8217;s Jennifer Van Laar said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Code Red is what happened in the Palisades. Who ordered it??
We can handle the truth! <a href="https://t.co/R9wKldMUhP">https://t.co/R9wKldMUhP</a>
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) <a href="https://twitter.com/jenvanlaar/status/1984274803378012244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Does Gavin Newsom know Gavin Newsom&#8217;s record in putting out five alarm fires?&#8221; Margot Cleveland wondered.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Does Gavin Newsom know Gavin Newsom&#8217;s record in putting out five alarm fires? <a href="https://t.co/8BQoBtdXe5">https://t.co/8BQoBtdXe5</a> <a href="https://t.co/R4WAgzVqbD">https://t.co/R4WAgzVqbD</a>
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) <a href="https://twitter.com/ProfMJCleveland/status/1984097235873956241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;After what happened in California imagine having so little shame and self-awareness to say Trump&#8217;s causing a &#8216;five-alarm fire,'&#8221; Doug Powers said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
After what happened in California imagine having so little shame and self-awareness to say Trump&#8217;s causing a &#8220;five-alarm fire.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/eFkIUUw7pN">https://t.co/eFkIUUw7pN</a>
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThePowersThatBe/status/1984242101832515648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Vogue World: Hollywood Press Announcement

BACKDRAFT: Gavin Newsom Uses Fire Analogy To Attack Trump, But It Blows Up In His Face

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