The So Cal Holy Fire is burning out of control in Orange County. 10,000+ acres have burned, and it's only 5% contained. The sheriff has arrested Forrest Clark, 51, on suspicion of arson. He threatened to burn everything down in a message to the sheriff a week earlier. pic.twitter.com/dWP4k1cIhe
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) August 10, 2018
Based on his social media pages, Clark is a sovereign citizen who believes in just about every kooky conspiracy out there, including QAnon, Pizzagate, Jade Helm 15, flat earth theories, NESARA, Jesuit conservancies, shape-shifting lizard overlords. You name it, he believes it.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) August 10, 2018
I haven’t wanted to post about the California wildfires because, from this distance, it feels like indulging in disaster porn. “We” have seriously fvcked up another gorgeous chunk of the only planet currently available, and the locals are paying for that in some of the most dramatic footage possible, thoughts & prayers.
But there’s no “natural” tragedy that can’t be made worse… Per the Washington Post:
… The arrest was made as more than 18 fires across the state continue to endanger the lives of thousands, including hundreds of firefighters and first responders working around the clock. One, the Mendocino Complex Fire in Northern California, is the largest wildfire in California history. Yosemite National Park has been closed “indefinitely” because of smoke from another fire…
The Holy Fire, which started in the Holy Jim Canyon area, has been burning in Southern California since Monday, with more than 600 firefighters assigned to fight it. Two firefighters have been treated for heat-related injuries. The fire remains only 5 percent contained.
Mike Milligan, 71, who calls himself a volunteer fire firefighter and chief, said in an interview with The Washington Post that he has been flagging problems with suspect Forrest Gordon Clark for more than three years. He said he alerted the U.S. Forest Service that “you have to do something or he’s going to kill someone or burn this place down.”
Milligan said he received several texts from Clark last week threatening to start a fire.
“In a text, he said this place ‘is going to burn just like we planned,’ ” Milligan said, adding that he reported it to the sheriff’s office and again to the U.S. Forest Service. “Why the hell didn’t they respond? I reported this over and over again.”
Stoking the Conspiracy Fantasists: Like A Spark to TinderPost + Comments (133)