“The two men appeared to be in their 40s, spoke broken English, and were possibly of Middle Eastern descent… The captain got the license plate, but the car turned out to be rented.”–Dennis Townsend, chief of fire prevention and law enforcement for two Cal Fire stations in the Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit.
26 October 2007: Within the last 90 days, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued warnings to fire stations across California about incidents of “covert photography and surveillance of fire response stations” observed at various stations in rural areas of the state. Several incidents were reportedly being conducted by men who appeared to be Middle Eastern in appearance, taking photographs of fire stations located primarily north of the greater Los Angeles area.
According to fire officials and information contained in the DHS/FBI bulletins, the actions of those taking the photographs were suspicious and did not appear to have any legitimate purpose. The Northeast Intelligence Network has provided numerous cases of such surveillance across the U.S. With the onset of the current California wildfires, however, at least two of which were intentionally set “by individuals who knew exactly what they were doing.” Such surveillance presents itself as more ominous and sinister in the context of the events, from the acts of attempted covert surveillance to the fires themselves. Although at least two suspects of two of the several fires have been identified and in at least one case, shot and killed by authorities while in the act of arson, others have yet to be identified.
Surveillance of fire stations, response locations
In addition to the information provided to the Northeast Intelligence Network, an article of specific relevance appeared in the Union Democrat on September 28, 2007. In that edition, “Homeland Security issued a bulletin to fire personnel a few months ago, warning fire stations to be aware of such incidents, said Dennis Townsend, chief of fire prevention and law enforcement for the unit.â€
The article continued: “[…] Monday, a firefighter at the Green Springs station looked out the window and saw two men taking photos of the station.
When the station captain confronted them, they said they were students from Flagstaff, Ariz., on their way to Yosemite. The subjects left in a white sedan.
The two men appeared to be in their 40s, spoke broken English, and were possibly of Middle Eastern descent, Townsend said. The captain got the license plate, but the car turned out to be rented.â€
The author goes on to detail the unconfirmed reports that at least on “device” was found by investigators which is of a similar design circulated widely through out Arabic language forums.
The Union Democrat piece mentioned above is from September, scant weeks before the hellish inferno was unleashed on California:
Fire officials at two Cal Fire stations in the Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit reported suspicious men taking photos of their stations earlier this week.
This follows four similar incidents elsewhere in Northern California over the past few months.
Homeland Security issued a bulletin to fire personnel a few months ago, warning fire stations to be aware of such incidents, said Dennis Townsend, chief of fire prevention and law enforcement for the unit.
At the time, Townsend and others from the unit weren’t too concerned due to the rural nature of the Mother Lode.
“We didn’t think anyone would come up and engage in that type of activity in our county,” he said.
But Monday, a firefighter at the Green Springs station looked out the window and saw two men taking photos of the station.
When the station captain confronted them, they said they were students from Flagstaff, Ariz., on their way to Yosemite. The subjects left in a white sedan.
The two men appeared to be in their 40s, spoke broken English, and were possibly of Middle Eastern descent, Townsend said. The captain got the license plate, but the car turned out to be rented.
Later, firefighters at the unit’s West Point station spotted subjects photographing an open engine bay.
When the captain walked outside, the subjects fled in a white SUV. They too appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, Townsend said.
“I don’t want it to sound like it reflects on any nationality,” he said. “What we deal with is the nature of the incident.”
Stations reported similar incidents in Campbell, Yuba City, Fresno and Sacramento between late July and early September.
It’s not unusual to have people photographing stations, but they usually request permission to do so, Townsend said. That the men in question did so covertly caused department officials some concern.
“Having two incidents in one day, it causes me to think that there’s a potential for our security in our department and our stations to be compromised,” he said.
Townsend passed on the information to Cal Fire law enforcement officials in Sacramento.
The department has also alerted unit stations to be on the lookout for suspicious activity, and to attempt to get license plates and vehicle descriptions should they see anyone taking photos.
But so far, there isn’t any reason for fear or alarm, he said.
Hindsight is 20/20 but it is clear that political correctness and the “it won’t happen here” mentality of many Americans seriously compromised security and may have aided the commission of a crime that cost citizens billions of dollars and more importantly the lives of their fellow Americans.
On Oct 30th a device similar to what is rumored to be found in California was found off I-80 in Pennsylvania.
A suspected truck bomb full of flammables was recently intercepted in Ohio:
Rossford police are continuing this morning to investigate a suspicious vehicle found yesterday containing several containers of flammable liquid and other dangerous devices, authorities said.
Police responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of the Meijer store on U.S. 20 about 4:40 p.m. and found at least five containers of flammable liquid, unknown materials in plastic containers, and several incendiary devices, authorities said.
And there was an arson related fire in Tuscon Arizona targeting the Union Pacific railroad.
All these fires are having serious detrimental impacts on our national economy not to mention the lives that are lost in them. In that respect this sort of attack, seemingly random and unpredictable, becomes the perfect terror weapon for Al-Qaeda and their Islamist and leftist sympathizers to chip away at America month by month, year after year until we bleed ourselves dry putting out these fires.
We can no longer afford to be inoffensive when spotting suspicious activities. If you see something, report it immediately to the proper authorities.