There is no Consolation for Devastation Wildfires Produce

"[The Los Angeles area] had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak, and even more Angelenos evacuated due to the northeast expansion of the Palisades Fire."

County supervisor, Lindsey Horvath

"We're not out of the woods yet. We have some very significant fire weather ahead of us." 

"We've prepositioned additional engines, fire crews, helicopters, bulldozers, water tenders across all of Southern California ... all poised to assist and support the additional fire threat."

Nancy Ward, director of the California Office of Emergency Services

 

"There's likely to be a lot more [fatalities in the wildfires devastating the Los Angeles area]."

"We always have to be careful on the death toll." 

"I've got search and rescue teams, we've got cadaver dogs out, and there's likely to be a lot more."

California Governor Gavin Newsom

 

"To all residents, please be assured that we will continue to be here for you until the last fire is completely extinguished."

"We stand alongside all of you as we begin to plan for the repopulation of evacuated areas, establishment of disaster recovery centers, and the rebuilding of your homes, your communities, and your lives."

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone  

"[Curfews remain in place for the Pacific Palisades and Brentwood neighborhoods, which is a] measure that is necessary to ensure public safety, as high winds are expected to pick up again."

"[The Palisades Fire] remains active, and as others have said, this situation is far from over."

"Pacific Palisades still faces dangerous conditions, including downed power lines, broken gas and water pipes and now slide conditions because of water activity."

Los Angeles City Council member Traci Park

Firefighters watch as water is dropped on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, in Los Angeles, on January 11.  Jae C. Hong/AP

Spreading wildfires saw firefighters racing to cut them off before the return of howling winds that could shove the flames closer to the J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California Los Angeles. More home-owners were left on edge by new evacuation warnings, as a fierce battle was underway in Mandeville Canyon against the flames. Swooping helicopters were seen near the Pacific coast, dumping water on the downhill charging blaze. On the ground, firefighters were using hoses in an effort to beat back flames leaping everywhere, as thick smoke blanketed the hillsides.

CalFire operations chief Christian Litz explained their major focus on the Palisades Fire in the canyon area, not far from the UCLA campus. "We need to be aggressive out there", he said. The National Weather Service warned strong Santa Ana winds could soon return to replace the light breezes that were fanning the flames on Saturday. Santa Ana winds have been credited for the infernos that the wildfires were transformed into, levelling entire neighbourhoods which have seen no rainfall of any significant for the past eight months.

Megan Mantia, left, and her boyfriend Thomas, return to Mantia's fire-damaged home after the Eaton Fire swept through in Altadena, California, on January 8.   Ethan Swope/AP

There were fears that the fire threatened to leap over Interstate 405, into the Hollywood Hills and San
Fernando Valley, both highly populated. Teams conducted systematic grid searches on Saturday in the grim work sifting through the devastation with cadaver dogs. A family assistance centre was set  up in Pasadena as Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna urged residents to abide by curfews. "We have people driving up and around trying to get in just to look. Stay away."

The death count now stands at 26. Over 12,000 structures have been burnt to a cinder. Some 145 square miles have been consumed by the fires. Tens of thousands remain under evacuation orders while new evacuations were ordered Friday evening, following a flare-up on the Palisades Fire eastern side.Since the start of the fires on Tuesday north of downtown Los Angeles, structures including homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles have been burned.

No cause  has yet been attributed to the largest fires that have caused the nation's costliest wildfires event in its recorded history. Donation centres on Saturday were overwhelmed by volunteers to the point that many were turned away, although donations of necessities were accepted. Some residents have been returning in hopes of salvaging keepsakes, sifting through what was left of their homes in the rubble.

People were urged by officials to stay away. The ash, they warned, can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other dangerous materials. "If  you're kicking that stuff up, you're breathing it in", advised a spokesman for the  unified command at the Palisades Fire. "All of that stuff is toxic."

The Living Hell of Urban Wildfires

"We're looking for a little respite on Friday and Saturday from the Santa Ana winds but then they're going to pick up again Sunday through most of next week."

Meteorologist Rich Thompson

"[Right now, it's impossible to quantify the extent of the destruction other than] total devastation and loss."

"There are areas where everything is gone, there isn't even a stick of wood left, it's just dirt."

Barbara Bruderlin, head, Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce

"I've lived out here since the mid-80s and I don't think I've experienced anything as strong and forceful as these winds. I'm looking at a number of houses that have been destroyed of people I know."

"Not everybody who lives in California is a multimillionaire. There are a lot of [regular] folks here. If you're a person who doesn't have good finances, this is going to be devastating."

"I think this is a game changer for Los Angeles. People are going to have to re-evaluate where they live and I'll be surprised if they're going to rebuild in the areas quickly."

Hollywood Actor John Kapelos 

A still from a video that Kapelos took from his condo's rooftop on Tuesday near La Brea and Franklin Avenues, looking west from Hollywood toward the Pacific Ocean. (Submitted by John Kapelos)

"It's been scary. Looking around, you can see the smoke in the air and you're smelling it. Obviously the air quality is terrible right now."

"All these areas that are on fire, the majority of them are in the hills, so those are really narrow and winding roads, and a lot of people park on those streets and are trying to get out, so getting a firetruck up there would be an absolute nightmare. That really slows things down."

"I've had a few people I know who've lost their homes. Right now, they're just in shock because there's places they've been in for decades and all of a sudden everything is gone. Basically they just have what they could fit in their cars and nobody knows the next steps."

David Cooke, realtor, Toluca Lake neighbourhood

A man walks in front of the burning Altadena Community Church on Wednesday in in Pasadena, Calif., as wildfires continued to create devastation in the L.A. area. (Chris Pizzello/The Associated Press)

 To the present, 16 people have died in the blazes in the Los Angeles area. Entire neighbourhoods have been obliterated in America's second-largest city. Firefighters had  hoped for a break frmo fierce winds that fuelled the area's massive blazes. Over 10,000 homes have been burned, along with other structures since Tuesday. Fires first began appearing around the 40-kilometre expanse north of downtown Los Angeles, a densely populated area. 

 

Firefighters monitor the advance of the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon on January 11.

Eric Thayer/AP

 

California is accustomed to massive wildfires. Even so the shock at the fierceness and swift spread of these fires are like none before them, with dozens of blocks of Pacific Palisades flattened, and smouldering -- rubble only remains. The 13 million inhabitants of Metropolitan Los Angeles awoke Friday to another day of high winds stoking the fires with the threat of new flare-ups. Earlier in the week hurricane-force winds ignited the nearby hillsides with embers.

The forecast by meteorologist Rich Thompson was for Santa Ana winds to pick up once more on Sunday and throughout the following week. Thursday afternoon, the San Fernando Valley Kenneth Fire saw new blazes where evacuees from another fire were taking shelter in a school. An aggressive response by firefighters managed to quell the flames in neighbouring Ventura County. Calmer winds and out-of-state crews helped firefighters beat back two devastating wildfires. 

Over 5,000 structures were burned in the Altadena area by the Eaton Fire. Finally, firefighters have seen progress in containing the Eaton blaze. The fire in Pacific Palisades, the largest in the Los Angeles area, destroyed over 5,300 structures, with firefighters establishing the first containment on Thursday. Even so, that blaze is considered the be the most destructive in the history of blazes in Los Angeles.

With the assistance of aircraft water drops, crews were able to knock down a blaze in the Hollywood Hills. The famed Hollywood Bowl outdoor concert venue was close to immolation near the heart of the entertainment industry. No figures have  yet been released on the cost of the damage to date, but AccuWeather on Thursday increased its preliminary estimate of the damage and economic fallout to a range of $135 billion to $150 billion.

 

A fire fighting helicopter drops water on the Palisades fire on January 11.

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

 

The Community Scourge of Drug-Running

"Some of them [are] very menacing in the firepower they possess. And we know that in the drug trade violence is common. The propensity for violence [involving] profit-driven, illegal commodities we're seeing in the community on a regular basis."

"Of particular concern when we look at heroin, a very insidious drug causing great harm to our community, a number of kilograms are alleged to be seized from a Playland in Brampton [Ontario]."

"We can see not only the effects in the community but the real significant risk that it put to the children, some of the most vulnerable people in our community."

Inspector Ryan Hogan, York Regional Police Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau

 

"The success of this investigation is a testament to the effective cooperation among multiple agencies across jurisdictions as we pursue the shared objective of public safety."

"The RCMP's resources across Canada and overseas and our partnership with York Regional Police provide a multiplier effect to our collective efforts to dismantle such criminal networks."

Inspector Marwan Zogheib, Toronto West Detachment, RCMP

Police say they found drugs at an indoor playground in Brampton, Ont

 

Kilos of heroin were discovered hidden in a children's indoor playground located in Brampton, Ontario, when police moved in to shutter an international drug trafficking network. The network stands accused of smuggling cocaine, ketamine, heroin and opium into Canada. The drugs were looped through Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The drug running was described as a "robust network" importing drugs into the Toronto area from India and the United States, distributing them "through a sophisticated system", according to York Regional Police.

Police in California along with those in three provinces executed over 50 search warrants, leading to the arrest of 33 people. Drugs valued at millions were seized, including ten kilos of cocaine, eight kilos of ketamine, three kilos of heroin and 2.5 kilos of opium. Of deep additional concern were the weapons seized, some 48 firearms along with $730,000 in cash and three high-end vehicles. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was involved in the investigationm along with York Police, Peel Regional Police and the RCMP.

One of the raids saw police having to smash through an iron gate, part of a high fence mounted with security cameras surrounding a mansion. Tactical officers heavily armed, and with the use of armoured vehicles breached the property and arrested one man whom they led away in handcuffs. The large property on which the mansion stood was littered with children's toys and bicycles. Anoher man arrested, of Caledon, Ontario is charged with trafficking ketamine, conspiracy to traffic ketamine and two counts of possession of property obained by crime.

 

Guns seized during the crackdown operation ‘Project Cheetah’ in Canada. (Supplied photo)

 

During a search of the Caledon property, 46 guns were found; shotguns and rifles, one with a tactical long-distance scope. The guns, though lawfully possessed, were seized "as a serious threat to public safety", under provisions of the Criminal Code, reflecting the nature of the criminal charges. Concerning was the discovery of heroin stored in a children's playground business. The Karebear Playland enterprise is contained in a large, three-storey children's play area with climbing structures, play area, slides and play structures. Three rooms are available for children's birthday parties.

The transnational investigation into a network receiving drug shipments smuggled from India and California led to Peel region where most accused in the enterprise and subsequent raids live. It is where Toronto Pearson International Airport is located, as well as a large base of trucking companies; either or both of which may be involved in transiting the drugs. It is assumed that five of those arrested were taken in California, while others were arrested in Ontario.

An image released by York Regional Police of an arrest made in Project Cheetah. YRP

“The debate is over around climate change, just come to the state of California, observe it with your own eyes. It’s not an intellectual debate. It’s not even debatable any longer." 

"We’re experiencing what so many people predicted decades ago."

California Governor Gavin Newsom 

"It was like an unexpected solar eclipse. I certainly looked at the forecast the day before [and] they didn’t say: ‘Oh, and there’s a high likelihood that it will look like Mordor tomorrow'."

Alex Trope, resident psychiatrist, University of California in San Francisco

 

"We have never seen this amount of uncontained fire across the state." 

"We are feeling the acute impacts of climate change."

Oregon Governor Kate Brown

Satellite imagery of smoke from wildfires in Northern California, Sept. 4-10, 2020. Source: NASA Worldview

Spencer Kimball | CNBC

Fierce, wind-driven wildfires are erupting in all American West Coast states, destroying thousands of homes, causing the deaths of an estimated fifteen people so far, according to state and local authorities. Three people died as a result of lightning-sparked fire in Northern California, another three reported killed in Oregon, while a one-year-old child died while his family frantically attempted to escape a blaze in Washington State.

It is the State of Oregon that has borne the brunt of close to a hundred major wildfires that have been ripping across western states. Three thousand firefighters are desperately attacking the two dozen wildfires in the state and coming up short on manpower as fires continue to erupt and spread, demonstrating just how impossible it is to cope with trying to restrain forces of nature run amok. Extremely dry conditions, heat, wind and lightning all conspire to wreak monumental havoc.

Five towns up and down the Cascade mountain range in Oregon have been destroyed. Areas of once-dependable cool, wet temperate forests which under normal conditions would be resistant to fire have suffered dehydration in the event of recent heatwaves and have as a result succumbed to the ravenous wildfires.

 

Oregon residents evacuate north along highway Highway 213 on September 9, 2020 near Oregon City, Oregon.

Nathan Howard | Getty Images

 

Search and rescue teams began east of Salem, Oregon to enter destroyed communities like Detroit to lead residents of the fire-ravaged area on mountain escapes when military helicopters dispatched to evacuate the town were unable to land. A burned-out car was discovered to be holding a dead 12-year-old boy and his dog, with his grandmother nowhere in sight, believed killed when flames engulfed their area west of Detroit, 80 kilometres south of Portland.

 

Hundreds of homes have been engulfed by flames fed by winds of up to 80 km/h, leading firefighters to focus their attention on evacuating residents as a first order of business, controlling the flames a secondary concern under the circumstances. The state, according to Oregon Governor Kate Brown, was facing a greater loss of lives from wildfires than ever before. The communities of Blue River and Vida in Lane County, and Phoenix and Talent in southern Oregon have been pretty well destroyed.

In this aerial view from a drone, homes destroyed by fire are shown on September 10, 2020 in Phoenix, Oregon. Hundreds of homes in the town have been lost due to wildfire.   David Ryder | Getty Images

Mass evacuations are the order of the day. Most of the city of Medford in southern Oregon's Marion county was ordered to evacuate or prepare to evacuate -- 82,000 residents -- as fires burned around the city itself. Small communities south of Phoenix were reduced to ashes, reported a Reuters photographer as he drove south on Interstate 5 toward Ashland.

On Wednesday, 64,000 people were under evacuation orders while fire crews battled 28 major fires in California. Roughly a third of the evacuees had been displaced north of Sacramento in Butte Country alone. And according to Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea, the remains of three victims were discovered in two separate locations of the fire zone.

"It was terrifying. It was a beast. The thing is a beast."

"They're pretty devastated. She [80-year-old evacuee Hamilton is housing along with several evacuated families] just lost everything."

"I was able to take photos for her so at least she knows that it was gone. A lot of people don't know their houses are gone and they're wondering."

Nancy Hamilton, filmmaker, resident Berry Creek, California

A Coulson 737 firefighting tanker jet drops fire retardant to slow Bobcat Fire at the top of a major run up a mountainside in the Angeles National Forest on September 10, 2020 north of Monrovia, California.

David McNew | Getty Images

 

 

Deadly California Wildfires

"It's the reality of the conditions we are facing that we absolutely can't underestimate the potential of how quickly these fires can get into communities."
"Everybody wants to take these conditions very seriously."
"Once a fire hits a community, it's too late."
Ken Pimlott, firefighter Cal Fire

"I think people are listening more."
"In the past there'd be evacuation orders and people would blow them off. After last year, they aren't doing that."
"With the winds blowing, it moved fast. In the middle of the night, if you're told to go, you go."
Mary Lindsey, 64, Charles Lindsey, 68, Santa Clarita

A firefighter sprays water as embers threaten a residence as the Hillside fire burns through San Bernardino, Calif., on Oct. 31, 2019. The blaze, which ignited during red flag fire danger warnings, destroyed multiple residences.Noah Berger / AP

The past two years has seen California struggling with behemoth, unstoppable wildfires -- where over 1,300 wildfires have ignited these past several weeks alone. In Northern California last year the Paradise Fire was responsible for over 80 deaths. Another, the Woolsey Fire, burned through Malibu and surroundings. These catastrophic fires that engulfed communities before sleeping people were even aware they were in immediate danger, has sobered wildfire-vulnerable communities to their new reality of anytime-anywhere preparedness.

Last year's dreadful tragedies has resulted in power companies, fire and law enforcement agencies and above all, residents of vulnerable areas, becoming ultra cautious to be able to respond when such instant, destructive fires arise. Fires in Santa Clarita north of Los Angeles stretched across 1,870 hectares to destroy 20 homes at the end of October. Firefighters are battling the Kincade blaze in Northern California where more than 31,000 hectares has burned as of 30 October, and still persisting as residents urgently prepared for a widespread blackout, high winds threatening, the utility deciding to shut down proactively.

Flames enter a vineyard during the Kincade fire October 24, 2019.

Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

Residents now have little option but to have resigned themselves to their new reality. A constant state of preparedness to react when the next disaster hits. The stress and continual tension certainly detracts enormously from their quality of life. Constant vigilance is a strain, wearying and a mental distress which will inevitably have its consequential reaction on their state of comfort with where they live having become a factor in diminishing confidence. Where people maintain vehicles with full gas tanks and constantly sniff the air for tell-tale smoke.

The Santa Clarita fire ignited in a canyon on October 24, then exploded within hours to encompass thousands of hectares of land. By October 25, no fires were actively burning in the Santa Clarita Hills, so evacuation orders were lifted but only some of the tens of thousands who had returned to their homes were warned to be vigilant for hazards such as ash and damaged utilities. Reflecting concerns that the fires could be rekindled as strong winds moved back through the area

Fierce fires have burned thousands of acres of California  AFP

The Camp Fire last year swept through the town of Paradise in the morning hours, leading to a situation where people were unable to leave their homes and burned to death, and this is the new reality, where fires move faster than they have in the past, and people are left with no time to react. And then there is the rumour yet to be proven that the Kincade Fire might have begun when electrical equipment operated by Pacific Gas & Electric was not shut down when the company turned power off to 200,000 customers, failing to cut power to a transmission line that malfunctioned moments before the fire began.

Allocating Blame as California Burns

"With climate change, some scientists are saying California is literally burning up."
"[The immense blazes represent] the new normal [California has been introduced to] the new reality."
California Governor Jerry Brown

"[Usually, winds in the area] flow from the west, carrying cool, humid air from the [Pacific Ocean] onshore."
"[But the hot, dry Diablos [winds] reversed course. It now blows from the northeast toward the ocean at 65 km/hr, with gusts up to 120 km/hr, giving massive impetus to the fires]."
"These hot, dry winds develop from an unusual pattern of high and low pressure cells, and are most prominent in autumn. They follow the normal summer and fall drought that occurs in this Mediterranean-type climate, leading to severe fire weather conditions."
"The speed of these fires is a major factor leading to the loss of human lives."
"Nearly all fires in Sonoma County are caused directly or indirectly by people, such as intentional ignitions or power lines igniting fires. Population growth raises the probability of fire igniting under severe weather conditions."
Jon Keeley, research geologist, U.S. Geological Survey

Officials are currently unsure what sparked the wildfires in Southern California.  (The Associated Press)

And so, California, which every year without fail, suffers catastrophic wildfires difficult to control much less extinguish, exacting a great cost in human lives, firefighting, and destroyed property, is now facing the seeming potential of much exacerbated conditions leading to ever greater such natural phenomena. Raging infernos have struck around Los Angeles, convincing people living there that what they are witnessing and have ample cause to fear, are events much worse than those experienced in the past.

Over forty people were left dead from the Sonoma County fires north of San Francisco where the Thomas Fire has succeeded in destroying 800 structures, damaging or threatening over 18,00 more in the Santa Barbara area. Another unprecedented phenomena emerged when California underwent a five-year drought, concluding only last year. There's a misguided belief that even in ordinary circumstances California never receives rain, but that is a misconception that reality proves otherwise.

A fire truck drives up Romero Canyon to a house surrounded by smoke from the Thomas Fire in Montecito as California battles against a devastating blaze

In the winter months it rains in the southern portion of the state. In the northern and central mountains there is ample snow, and come spring snow melts, irrigating the valleys below. Where foliage blooms everywhere thanks to that moisture all over the state. Famously, California artists paint entrancing landscapes of California in seasonal bloom, vast seas of colour. But when summer arrives, the hot sun bakes the atmosphere and the landscape becomes dry when moisture is scarce.

"Plants are happy and growing well in the winter time, and when summer proceeds to the fall they get drier and drier."
"The amount of water in the plants get lower and lower and lower; it means that they are very dry. When it gets to critical threshold level and a fire comes through, they're very flammable. It happens every year."
"The intensity of the Santa Ana winds is about as extreme as they get [driving the Thomas Fire into legend]."
Marti Witter, fire ecologist, National Park Service, Santa Monica National Recreation Area

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve / Rennett Stowe,

And then there is the simple, obvious, and quite discomfiting fact that county planners and housing developers are directly responsible for much of the destruction that takes place when multitudes of buildings are consumed in these implacable fire situations. Right contiguous with wildlands in the West, two million homes went up in both Washington and California, according to Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit independent group studying wildfire prevention.

These scenic areas are in high demand. When houses are built where they are vulnerable to such natural outcomes as seasonal fires reacting from weather and climate conditions, peoples' homes are heartbreakingly destroyed, and the residents themselves are placed in mortal danger. Residents treasure their access to the natural beauty in such remote locations, despite the moderate to high risk of experiencing wildfires and the fire-torching of their homes. An estimated $500-billion-worth of property destruction results, figures from CoreLogic, a company specializing in real estate economics.

"It's a witch's brew. The risk keeps increasing. I'm putting firefighters in harm's way", says Tom Harbour, former national fire and aviation director for the Forest Service.

The Thomas Fire is southern California spread 50,000 acres in just one day making it the fifth largest wildfire in modern California history.  Fox News

Fundamentalist Islam -- At Home and Abroad

"They just say that she is very knowledgeable and she is actually teaching the pure Islam. What they understand as the pure Islam is something very, very conservative and fundamentalist."
"When you have that kind of Islam, it's a package deal. It's not just the wearing of the burka and the stoning to death for adultery ... it's also jihad."
Farzana Hassan, co-director, Muslim Canadian Congress

"We cannot be held responsible for personal acts of any of our students. The organization stands to promote the peaceful message of Islam and denounce extremism, violence and acts of terrorism."
"I have talked to her [Tashfeen Malik] teachers, her classmates and everybody says she was a hard-working, friendly, helpful and obedient student. No one ever noticed any signs of radicalization."
Farrukh Chaudhry, spokeswoman, Al Huda International Welfare Foundation, Multan, Pakistan

"We don't have a very strong formal link with Al Huda Pakistan. We are a religious operation within Canada and we are very much a part of that fabric and we feel like that, except that when you see stuff like this, in light of recent events, we start to get a little worried [about anti-Muslim backlash]."
"These are teachings [by the school's founder, Farhat Hashmi] that are very relevant to Muslims all around the world. I think it's up to every individual and their level of faith to kind of evaluate what she teaches and where on the spectrum it lies, but whether it's conservcative or not, it definitely doesn't condone or promote the kinds of things we're seeing around the world."
"Extremism is something completely separate and there is absolutely no strain of that here."
Imran Haq, operations manager, Al Huda Institute Canada, Mississauga, Ontario

The Canadian Press - A woman leaves the Al-Huda madrassa, or Islamic religious school, in Mississauga, Ont., on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015

Founded in 2005 as a women-only academy of higher learning by Farhat Hashmi who lived in Canada for several years before returning to Pakistan, the Institute now has branches across Pakistan, the United States and the United Kingdom, teaching the Islamic ideology and principles that its founder promotes dating to her own instruction at the University of Glasgow in Scotland where she earned a doctorate in Islamic studies. She described her academy as "a kind of women's empowerment program."

Farzana Hassan, a liberal Muslim living in Toronto attended one of Ms. Hasmi's lectures and there, she said, she was exposed to a "very fundamentalist brand of Islam", one which condones polygamy, the segregation of women, and other social and cultural practices at odds with a democratic society. Hardly an atmosphere which empowers women, but rather one that cleaves to orthodox Islamic Sharia law, which dominates and oppresses women.

And it was in that atmosphere that the wife of Syed Farook of San Bernardino, Tashfeen Malik, received her immersion in conservative-style Islam, while obtaining her degree in pharmacology at Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. The region of Multan in Pakistan where the school is situated is only one among thousands of extremist seminaries, hundreds of which have links to al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. No known links have been identified with the school and Islamist extremists, however; they simply share some values.

While authorities at the Multan Institute claim never to have detected any traces of radicalization in Malik as a student, her close relatives with whom she lived while attending school in the city have stated that they were concerned with the young woman's growing conservatism, seeing in it a clear signal of radicalization, and puzzled by the contacts they witnessed her making through the Internet, communicating in Arabic, a language unknown to them.

All that represents an attempt to come to terms with the fact that a seemingly ordinary young woman aspiring to educate herself, marrying a young man with a similar cultural background somehow found Islamist jihad with its hateful emphasis on violent clashes with Islam's 'enemies' so alluring that she and he devoted themselves to acquiring an arsenal of deadly weapons, practising their accuracy in their use, and plotting to disguise themselves to mount a lethal attack on his co-workers.

'When', 'how' and 'why' tantalize U.S. investigators who prefer to linger on answers to those timeless questions, while bypassing the question as to why their intelligence which had flagged the interests and contacts of Syed Farook, failed to follow up on his consuming fascination with Islamist terrorism, before he was able to demonstrate just how ably he had taken to the ideology promoting Islamic world conquest, one atrocity at a time.

As for the Al-Huda madrassa in Mississauga, it appears that some of its alumni have been known to support Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, since four young women who had attended the academy left to travel to Syria in their support. Three other young woman who had attended the school were stopped by Turkish authorities and returned to Canada.

The school, however, has denied any knowledge of the four women, though admitted that the RCMP had made enquiries about two others who had 'briefly' attended the school, and who joined ISIL. Perhaps, then, this is the kind of empowerment that the school guarantees for its female students?

"The allegations that anyone associated with Al Huda may later have gone on to support violent extremism are deeply concerning."

"We will do everything we can to work with authorities to get to the bottom of these allegations. This is the first that we are learning of such allegations and are as deeply disturbed as anyone," said Imran Haq, operations manager for the Mississauga madrassa.

Follow The Contacts

"Based on what is known now about the case, it certainly is unusual and does not fit neatly into any of the traditional models of violence that we’re familiar with."
Mark Pitcavage, director, Center on Extremism, Anti-Defamation League

"The unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."
FBI terrorism definition

"The investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers, and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations."
"So far we have no indication that these killers are part of an organized larger group, or form part of a cell. There’s no indication that they are part of a network."
F.B.I. director, James Comey 

San Bernardino -- First Responders tending to the wounded

It was a combination working lunch conference and holiday party for state employees of the department which Syed Farook worked for as an environmental health specialist in San Bernardino, California. All those who were familiar with the man appeared to like him and thought him congenial enough. With the possible exception of one man, a workplace counterpart who was just as religiously inclined as was Mr. Farook, only as an Israel-supporting Jew, whereas Mr. Farook had previous disagreements with the man, insisting Israel had no business being in the Middle East.

What really seemed to set them at odds, although there was an informal policy in the branch they worked in, that politics and religion not be discussed, was Mr. Farook's insistence that Islam was a religion of peace. The health department's employee roll almost resembled and was identified as a "Little United Nations", with people employed there originally from Eritrea, Colombia, India, Mexico, Central America -- and of Pakistani heritage.

In the large room that the group had rented for the occasion, 75 people were present. They were first to be exposed to the working part of the morning's conference, and after an hour, leaving his papers and jacket behind, Mr. Farook rose and left. The college graduate who had five years of experience in environmental health, who helped train co-workers on a new computer program, winning acknowledgement for good performance had gone back home.

He did return, however, at about 11:00 a.m., during a brief break in the proceedings when people were invited to help themselves to the generous buffet laid out for their leisure selection. Mr. Farook came back accompanied by his wife, though none of those present would recognize him, and they had never before seen her. Both were wearing black masks and conflict-tactical gear. A talk on statistics had just concluded.

As the husband and wife approached the patio where unlocked doors led directly through to the conference room, one man sitting outside, relaxing during the break was shot dead before the deadly duo entered the conference room. In the space of a minute the stunned gathering heard 65 to 75 rounds, fired from a Smith & Wesson and two AR-15s. Gunfire pockmarked the walls, a sprinkler system was hit. In that brief time between life and death dozens were shot, some up to five times.

And then the gunfire ended. Leaving fourteen people dead, and 21 injured. A massacre. A measurable success for those whose furious rage against the world outside Islam must be appeased. This was an exercise in hatred brought alive by two people schooled in jihad. Who had made careful preparation to mount a notably savage attack by procuring weaponry that would make a distinctive mark in the annals of American atrocities. Oddly, one co-worker at least recognized Mr. Farook.

Tashfeen Malik -- Islamist malevolence personified

From the time the shooting started four minutes of pure hell passed. And then police in tactical gear rushed into the room, guns drawn, moving through the conference room. "Don't take anything! Police! Everyone get your hands up", they shouted, hurrying survivors out of the building. Where first-responders checked for injuries in a triage tent, and they waited to be interviewed by investigators, and were united with family and friends who had rushed to the scene.

They would discover later that a news agency operated by Islamic State supporters released a statement claiming that "supporters of the Islamic State" had carried out the killings, according to a translation provided by the SITE Intelligence Group. And then intelligence began gathering other vital data after the fact, that Ms. Malik had graduated from a Pakistani university with a pharmacy degree. That her family, originally from a town in Punjab Province had a reputation for turning out extremist jihadis.

Her husband is now known to have had frequent contact with extremist Islamists both in the United States and abroad, although no investigation was ever carried forward looking into his activities. The two were obviously of like minds and found one another through the Internet where they may have exchanged their Islamist views. It appears from evidence that is now being revealed that they were indeed kindred spirits, so it was natural that they would become kin-by-marriage.

Aside from Ms. Malik's background of Islamist radicalism, she is said to have pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a Facebook posting the very day of the attack, taking the precaution of using an account under a different name than her own. It seems they hadn't planned to become martyrs, but to carry on with life. Their sacrifice for Islam was not to be their own lives embellished by the deaths of others, but only the deaths of others.

"We’ve especially focused on the portfolio of people we’re investigating for the potential of being homegrown violent extremists. That is, people consuming the propaganda. So those investigations are designed to figure out where are they on the spectrum from consuming to acting."

"Within that group we’re trying to focus on those we think might be at the highest risk of being a copycat [of the Paris bombings]. 
"And so we are pressing additional resources, additional focus against those. That’s the dozens."

F.B.I. director, James Comey

That, from a public statement made last month in the wake of the Paris atrocities. The Bureau has evidence that Mr. Farook engaged with five individuals on whom the F.B.I. had previously opened investigations for possible terrorist activities. according to law enforcement officials. All of those five inquiries were closed. This is not of recent vintage. One of the individuals was with Somalian al-Shabab, another with the al-Qaeda-associated Nusra Front in Syria.

Where there is smoke, look out for fire.

Deadly, But Islamist Terrorism? Perish the Thought

Rescue crews tend to the injured in the intersection outside the Inland Regional Centre in San Bernardino  Photo: Reuters

"There was obviously a mission here. We don’t know why."
"We do not yet know the motive; we cannot rule anything out at this point. We don’t know if this was the intended target or there was something that triggered him to do this immediately."
FBI Assistant Director David Bowdich, head, bureau’s Los Angeles office

"There appears to be a degree of planning that goes into this."
"Clearly they were equipped and they could have done another attack. We intercepted them before that happened, obviously."
"The suspects are believed to have fired 76 rifle rounds at the officers. Law enforcement fired approximately 380 rounds at the suspects."
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan 

"It is possible this was terrorist-related, but we don’t know."
"[However], it is also possible this terrible event was workplace related."
U.S. President Barack Obama

Needless to say, if it was indeed terrorist-related, it had nothing whatsoever to do with Islam. No such thing as Islamism, Islamists, jihadis, Islamic terrorists. If terror-related, these would be unfortunate people whom stress had driven to act out irresponsibly, and their actions do not, ever, represent anything relating to Islam. Any who claim otherwise are Islamophobic. And, typical of such events, where Islam is involved when Islamist fanatics ply their deadly trade of conquest, the sentinels of Islam portray Muslims as victims.

Who can blame them? Though those officials in various Islamic groups may quietly express solidarity with terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the like, they hide their links with the Muslim Brotherhood, even though the Brotherhood is in very good odour with the White House, and promote the fiction that Muslims are to be protected from the backlash of angry non-Muslims who take umbrage at their country being turned into a reflection of the charnel house that the Middle East has become.

"There absolutely is a fear that there could be a backlash and that's the reality we live in."
"We need to stay cautious given the atmosphere and what happened in Paris a few weeks ago and the fallout from that."
Abed Ayoub, legal and policy director, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

Fallout? What fallout 'from that'? The search for additional suspects? The arrest of a number of Islamist Belgians thought to have been involved? Did fallout express itself in San Bernardino, California? Mr. Ayoub's organization, it seems, is preparing to meet with authorities from Homeland Security to assess safety measures in the wake of the atrocity that killed 14 and wounded 21 people, one a Jewish colleague who worked closely with the man identified as Syed Rizwan Farook.

The city of San Bernardino has now been inducted into the Islamist Hall of Infamy, a city with a large Arab and Muslim population, a city where Syed Rizwan Farook lived with his wife, Tashfeen Malik. Both of whom possessed an enormous arsenal of weapons and knew how to use them. Both of whom carefully garbed themselves on Wednesday in clothing and gear appropriate to their mission. A mission which remains a puzzle to investigative authorities who cannot understand how a well-integrated Muslim-American could become such a deadly berserker.

Armed with two .223-caliber assault rifles and two 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistols, they slaughtered fourteen innocent people, co-workers of Mr. Farook, leaving behind at the service center an undetonated explosive comprised of three pipe bombs. Using a rented Ford Expedition with Utah plates, the couple was found to have had 1,400 rounds for the rifles and 200 for the handguns with them at the time of the shootout.

Wait; that's not all: at the home where they lived in the nearby city of Redlands, more than 2,500 rounds for the assault rifles, over 2,000 for the pistols, along with several hundred rounds for a .22-caliber rifle, and 12 pipe bombs were discovered. And then, there were also supplies to produce an infinite number of additional pipe bombs. But these were not Islamist terrorists; heaven forfend.

Because, you know, Islam is a religion of peace, and the Koran makes no mention of slaughtering co-workers, necessarily.
San Bernardino shooting suspect Syed Rizwan Farook.  Photo: DMV

Other hints? Their extensive arsenal, their recent travels to the Middle East, along with evidence that one of them at least had been in touch with people with Islamist extremist views, both in the United States and abroad, appear, confoundingly, to suggest that the initial investigation be reconsidered to include at least, the possibility of terrorism related to Islamist jihad. In due time, perhaps, but not quite yet, evidently. 

Did anyone hear them shout "Allahu Akbar!" That might clinch it. And perhaps not.

According to law enforcement officials, the F.B.I. had revealed evidence that Mr. Farook had been in contact over several years with extremists domestically and abroad, including at least one person in the United States who had been investigated for suspected terrorism by federal authorities in recent years, but had not been charged. Yet there was no suspicion-by-association, it seems, and why not? 

Well, there are so many leads and so many potentials and so many individuals to track that the system loses itself in a confusion of just who is responsible, it seems.

"You don’t take your wife to a workplace shooting, and especially not as prepared as they were", offered one senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. "He could have been radicalized, ready to go with some type of attack, and then had a dispute at work and decided to do something." Oh, think so? 

They were wearing masks when they charged into the Inland Regional Center at 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, armed with four guns. Initial reports held they were wearing body armour.
Not so, said Chief Burguan, the 'suspects' had been wearing "tactical vests" complete with ample pockets, to store spare magazines and other handy items, useful for exterminating kuffars.
 
    TV pics show: San Bernadino shooting, Californina  Photo: Pixel8000