Latest news with #GastonFire
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Sailboat in Hagg Lake capsizes; people, dog rescued
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two people and a dog were rescued from the middle of Hagg Lake Saturday night, then helped the rescuers figure out how to right the 25-foot sailboat that had capsized. The rescue began around 7 p.m., the Gaston Rural Fire District Crews from both Gaston Fire and the Washington County Sheriff's Office rushed to the lake and spotted the boat about halfway between the Eagle Point boat ramp and the dam. New express routes will take Portland-area residents on day trips to the coast The sailboat was overturned in the lake, but the people and their dog were sitting on the hull, officials said. When the sheriff's boat arrived, they brought the people and dog back to the boat ramp. Then the rescue teams had to try and right the boat — but officials said none of them had ever done that. '(T)he owner walked us through the process and then we applied a lot of ropes and energy,' the fire district said, noting they were able to save the sailboat and its 25-foot mast 'with very little damage during the accident or retrieval.' Officials said neither the people nor the dog were hurt, but they were cold and wet when they got to the boat ramp. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Has South Carolina seen a worse fire than Table Rock Complex? Here's a look back
The Table Rock Complex Fire continues to rage on in South Carolina with thousands of acres of land burned and just 9% containment as of Sunday afternoon. Yes, the Table Rock Complex Fire was declared the largest mountain wildfire in South Carolina's history, surpassing the 2016 Pinnacle Mountain Fire, which was 10,623 acres. Table Rock has grown to more than 12,000 acres by Saturday. As of Sunday afternoon, an 2,078-acre fire in Greenville County was 24% contained. The fire on 240 Persimmon Ridge road in Greenville County was also 24% contained. Below are some of the other major fires in South Carolina's history: A series of wildfires swept through South Carolina February 16-17, according to South Carolina Fire Commission. Unconfirmed reports indicate 14 people died, many homes burned, and up to 3 million acres of forest land were scorched from South Carolina's Aiken County to North Carolina's Chatham County, and east to South Carolina's Marlboro County. This nine-day fire was likely started from a cigarette. It happened during an extremely hot, dry period with the temperature reaching 107 degrees on June 27 and remaining in triple digits for several days. By the time it was controlled 9 days later, 10,162 acres had burned. The fire broke out near Gaston and another near Edmund. It burned a total of 7,400 acres including 21 Boy Scouts cabins. It took 25 Forestry Commission firefighters, 225 volunteers, and an eventual shower of rain to control the Gaston Fire after a day and a half. Before Table Rock, Clear Pond was the largest forest fire ever recorded in South Carolina. It burned 30,000 acres in Horry County. The fire spanned 14 miles long. An unattended campfire started the burn on April 10. The Highway 31 fires was the state's worst wildland urban interface fires, according to the fire commission. More than 700 individuals from more than 20 different agencies responded. Over 19,000 acres were burned with 76 houses destroyed and another 97 damaged. There were no injuries or fatalities, but it caused $50 million in damages. Pinnacle was the longest and costliest wild fire at the time starting on Nov. 9, 2016. With an average of 200 personnel on scene each day, personnel from all over South Carolina and surrounding states and as far west as Oregon, California and Washington traveled to Pickens to fight the fire. While no lives or property was lost, by the time the fire was controlled on Dec. 16, 2016, the blaze had lit 10,623 acres. Miguel Legoas is a Deep South Connect Team Reporter for Gannett/USA Today. Find him on X and Instagram @miguelegoas and email at mlegoas@ Kate Kealey is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at kkealey@ or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17. This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Table Rock Complex: How it compares to South Carolina's major wildfires
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill Nye becomes target of MAGA after making claims about Elon Musk on CNN
Bill Nye the "Science Guy" — formerly the host of a popular educational show for children — caught the ire of MAGA loyalists when he suggested that Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, was planning to replace weather satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with satellites operated by his Starlink service. Musk's government gutting, backed by the Trump administration, has resulted in the termination of hundreds of workers at NOAA and the National Weather Service. The cuts resulted in protests outside NOAA's headquarters on Monday. Nye explained why he thought Musk's cuts were a problem during an interview with CNN on Monday. 'Elon Musk and his guys were revving up — and you know, I'm an engineer, we love engineering,' Nye, a former mechanical engineer, said. 'I used to work on failure effects and modes analysis for airplanes. So these guys found what they thought was the vulnerable part of the U.S. government, which is this digital services office.' He said that Musk's team "got in there and changed all the passwords and messed everything up as fast as they could." "And then along that line, people — the system was not set up for it. But understand what's going on, by firing people at NOAA," Nye said. 'By dismantling this public service, you're not serving the public. This is in nobody's best interest.' He then shared his suspicions about Musk's plans for Starlink satellites. 'NOAA has a lot of satellites, and that's how these weather predictions are made,' he said. 'Well, Mr. Musk has this company, Starlink, and he's proposing that NOAA be supplanted by a private company.' Nye chalked up Musk's cuts to NOAA as "fundamental corruption" and accused him of trying to "monopolize a government service." 'So, he found this weak part, this weakness in the U.S. government, exploited it as fast as he could, and now, it's one thing leading to another and he's trying to undo a public service and supplant it with one of his. And this is just good old corruption," he said. "So, sooner or later, I believe the court system will catch up with these guys. And, so, it's just going to be, it's just — talk about efficiency. Destroying a system that was working and then trying to replace it later is inefficient." Musk supporters jumped on the opportunity to defend the world's richest man from Nye's allegations. 'Incoherent and creepy Bill Nye on CNN spins a wild conspiracy theory that Elon Musk is planning on personally taking over NOAA with his guys at Starlink,' one X user wrote. Others took issue with the fact that he said wildfires in the Carolinas were being driven by climate change and were not an issue prior to the climate crisis. 'Someone should inform Nye about the Clear Pond Fire in mid-April 1976 that seared 30,000 acres in Horry County, or the Gaston Fire in April 1966 that burned nearly 8,000, both of which were larger than the ongoing blaze. Bill Nye is the perfect example of where ignorance collides with arrogance,' another user wrote. Approximately 600 workers from NOAA and the National Weather Service have been fired by the Trump administration.
The Independent
04-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Bill Nye becomes target of MAGA after making claims about Elon Musk on CNN
Bill Nye the "Science Guy" — formerly the host of a popular educational show for children — caught the ire of MAGA loyalists when he suggested that Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, was planning to replace weather satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with satellites operated by his Starlink service. Musk's government gutting, backed by the Trump administration, has resulted in the termination of hundreds of workers at NOAA and the National Weather Service. The cuts resulted in protests outside NOAA's headquarters on Monday. Nye explained why he thought Musk's cuts were a problem during an interview with CNN on Monday. 'Elon Musk and his guys were revving up — and you know, I'm an engineer, we love engineering,' Nye, a former mechanical engineer, said. 'I used to work on failure effects and modes analysis for airplanes. So these guys found what they thought was the vulnerable part of the U.S. government, which is this digital services office.' He said that Musk's team "got in there and changed all the passwords and messed everything up as fast as they could." "And then along that line, people — the system was not set up for it. But understand what's going on, by firing people at NOAA," Nye said. 'By dismantling this public service, you're not serving the public. This is in nobody's best interest.' He then shared his suspicions about Musk's plans for Starlink satellites. 'NOAA has a lot of satellites, and that's how these weather predictions are made,' he said. 'Well, Mr. Musk has this company, Starlink, and he's proposing that NOAA be supplanted by a private company.' Nye chalked up Musk's cuts to NOAA as "fundamental corruption" and accused him of trying to "monopolize a government service." 'So, he found this weak part, this weakness in the U.S. government, exploited it as fast as he could, and now, it's one thing leading to another and he's trying to undo a public service and supplant it with one of his. And this is just good old corruption," he said. "So, sooner or later, I believe the court system will catch up with these guys. And, so, it's just going to be, it's just — talk about efficiency. Destroying a system that was working and then trying to replace it later is inefficient." Musk supporters jumped on the opportunity to defend the world's richest man from Nye's allegations. 'Incoherent and creepy Bill Nye on CNN spins a wild conspiracy theory that Elon Musk is planning on personally taking over NOAA with his guys at Starlink,' one X user wrote. Others took issue with the fact that he said wildfires in the Carolinas were being driven by climate change and were not an issue prior to the climate crisis. 'Someone should inform Nye about the Clear Pond Fire in mid-April 1976 that seared 30,000 acres in Horry County, or the Gaston Fire in April 1966 that burned nearly 8,000, both of which were larger than the ongoing blaze. Bill Nye is the perfect example of where ignorance collides with arrogance,' another user wrote. Approximately 600 workers from NOAA and the National Weather Service have been fired by the Trump administration.
