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Thursday, June 20, 2002
SP0R1 NEWS
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Arizona wildfire forces evacuations
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ARIZONA (AP) — As many as 4,000 people
were ordered out of their homes Wednesday as a
wind-whipped wildfire exploded to nearly 19,000
acres as it leaped from treetop to treetop in the
mountains of eastern Arizona.
Authorities ordered the tiny towns of Linden,
Pinedale and Clay Springs evacuated, said
Kartha Icenhour of the Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest. The fire is about 1 10 miles
northeast of Phoenix.
The news came as a federal grand jury in
Colorado charged a U.S. Forest Service
employee with arson in the largest fire in the
state’s history.
The Arizona fire had been burning on 600 acres
early Wednesday before winds sent it racing
through thousands of acres of juniper and pine
trees. Officials feared it would soon bear down on
the three hamlets, and smoke could be seen in
Show Low, a community 20 miles away from the
flames.
“It’s smokier than you would ever believe out
side,” said Linda Parrish, owner of the Show Low
Flower Shoppe. “It’s a big, black thundercloud
with red tinges to it. It’s an awful, ugly looking
smoke cloud.”
Parrish said she and her husband had already
packed their most important possessions in case
they had to flee. Evacuation centers were being set
up at schools in the region.
Gov. Jane Hull declared a state of emergency
to free up state funds to fight the blaze, which
began Tuesday and was being investigated as
possible arson.
The fire was one of 16 major blazes burning
across the nation Wednesday, according to the
National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
Overall, wildfires have scorched 1.75 million
acres so far this year, more than double the 10-
year average on this date.
There were also evacuations in New Mexico,
where authorities went door-to-door in Pecos,
southeast of Santa Fe, to clear 20 families from
their homes in advance of a 2,200-acre wildfire.
In Colorado, veteran Forest Service worker
Terry Barton was charged with deliberately setting
the Hay man fire southwest of Denver, which has
grown to 135,000 acres, destroyed at least 25
houses and forced 7,500 people from their homes
since June 8.
The charges were filed after prosecutors
expressed doubt in her story that the fire got out of
hand as she burned a letter from her estranged
husband.
The stunning news came as Colorado crews
desperately looked for an edge against two huge
wildfires burning out of control, taking hope from
slightly lower temperatures and weaker winds. The
fires — the largest in state history — have gobbled
up thousands of new acres this week.
The Hayman fire ballooned by 22,000 acres on
Tuesday, and it sent a yellow haze over parts of the
metropolitan area again Wednesday.
“We’re hoping it doesn’t make the big gains
today it made yesterday,” fire information officer
Bobby Kitchens said.
Authorities warned that a 44,320-acre fire in
the state’s southwestern corner could grow to
more than 100,000 acres. Smoke and haze drifted
over the Durango area as the fire burned in forests
around two reservoirs. It has destroyed at least 10
homes and six buildings, and more than 2,400
people have been evacuated.
Crews were more focused on saving homes
than battling the fire itself because it was
spreading so quickly.
“We’re a long way from having a handle on
the fire,” information officer Mark Morrow said.
Forest fires running wild across the nation
Wildfire activity continues across the country with over 1.8 million acres burned already this year, more
than twice the 10-year average. The majority of acitve wildfires are in the Southwest, where persistant
drought continues to increase the danger of new fires.
Wildfire acreage*
A 5,000 or less
^ 5,001 to 50,000
Over 50,000
Areas of high forest fire danger**
■4
*
'Wildfires as of June 19.
Forest fire danger as of June 19
SOURCES: National Interagency Fire Center; National Forest Service
“We don’t want t£> lose homes that have already <
been saved once.
Another fire erupted Wednesday about 70 1
miles east of Durango, forcing 300 people to flee 1
their homes near the community of South Fork. 1
The situation in Colorado was so drastic that 1
President Bush declared the two large fires a 1
major disaster and ordered federal aid to help
state and local efforts in areas hit by wildfires
since April 23. Federal funding will include <
s AP
disaster housing, grants, and other programs.
In California, cooler weather favored fire
fighters battling a half-dozen major blazes.
Winds had also died down near Yosemite
National Park, where nearly 15,000 acres have
burned and three firefighters were killed in an air
tanker crash Monday.
Federal investigators were at the scene
Wednesday hoping to determine why the wings
of the C-130A snapped off before the crash.
City of College Station offers
online access to capital projects
By Ruth Ihde
THE BATTALION
The City of College Station is now offering
access to Capital Projects online. By access
ing www.ci.college-station.tx.us, citizens of
College Station can now find out about all of
the city's, projects with a click of the mouse.
Mark Smith, director of public works for
the City of College Station held a presenta
tion Wednesday at The Utilities Department
to explain the website to the media. The idea
for the website was developed about a year
ago at a City Council strategy retreat and was
released to the public about a month ago.
“This system has always been used inter
nally, but it is now offered to the public,”
Smith said.
It was developed to make it easier for the
citizens to access information about the
city’s ongoing projects in the area, and
keeps track of the improvements being made
around the city, he said.
Kelly Cole, public communications and
marketing director for the City of College
Station, said it is one way to contact the city.
People will be able to access the infor
mation from the City of College Station
website by clicking on the Capital
Improvement Projects hyperlink. From
there, information about every city project
is organized by their subject, and can be
viewed by clicking on the project wanting to
be seen. Very detailed information is given
about every project. The description of each
project is stated at the top of the page as well
as the budget, status of the project and the
managing director of the project.
Residents will be able to email the man
aging director instantly from the link. From
the project detail screen, there are buttons
that will bring up information on funding
sources, milestones, change orders, and a
time table which gives details about when
each step of the project is to be completed.
Also included is a mapping system link
which enables visitors to the site to view the
area being worked on.
The city looked for outside companies to
build the website, but found it was more cost
efficient to hire from within College Station.
The developer of the software design for
the website, Ryan Pream, systems analyst
for College Station, developed the project
from scratch and acquired the services of the
Environmental Systems Research Institute
to help with the mapping system.
“I was looking for a way to make the infor
mation presentable and easy to use,” he said.
Smith said that each project is updated
often, and the information should never be
over one month old.
There is a date at the top of each project
page which shows when the infonnation
was last revised. Some project managers
update the pages themselves, and other
times the information is given to someone
else to update.
After each project is complete, the
information will remain on the website for
up to three months for residents who want
to view it.
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Saturday, June 22 nd
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JUNE 3 ” JUNE 24^ 2002
MOORES SCHOOL
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“American Masterpieces
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Monday, June 24, 7:30pm
Chamber Concert
Bush Conference Center
American Masterpieces is devoted to America's
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Man arrested for making
biological weapons
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A man was arrested Wednesday
for allegedly building a homemade biological weapon with a
lethal toxin from the castor plant, the FBI said.
FBI agent Norm Brown said there was no known connection
between the man, Kenneth Olsen, and terrorists.
“In our opinion, the public has nothing to fear from this
incident,” Brown said.
Olsen, 47, was allegedly making ricin, a deadly extract of
castor beans. Traces of ricin have been found by U.S. troops
in Afghanistan at suspected al-Qaida biological weapons sites.
Brown said.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office began investigating
Olsen last August and the FBI later became involved. Brown
said. There was no sign of a bomb in the man’s house and the
FBI did not comment on any alleged motive.
Brown would not say if any ricin was found in Olsen’s home
or why agents believed he would be making the chemical.
Ricin is twice as deadly as cobra venom. In very small
doses, it causes the human digestive tract to convulse —
hence the laxative effect of castor oil. But in larger doses,
ricin causes diarrhea so severe that victims can die of shock
from massive fluid and electrolyte loss.
Castor beans are grown all over the world and the toxin is
relatively easy to produce. During the 1990s, U.N. weapons
inspectors found ricin in Iraq, where it was being developed as
part of Saddam Hussein’s arsenal of weapons.
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