An Army veteran who served in Afghanistan managed to save his family’s home from thedevastating wildfires in Los Angelesby employing tricks he gathered while weathering previous blazes in the state.
American Legion Commander Jim Cragg took action to prevent the destruction of his home after a brush fire came too close for comfort a few years ago, he told NBC News. In an effort to prepare himself for any future blazes, he had stocked up on run-of-the-mill yard sprinklers and hoses.
The Palisades fire has destroyed thousands of homes since last Tuesday.AP
When the Palisades fire broke out and his area was ordered to evacuate, he dusted off the supplies he’d purchased. He set up the sprinklers in the yard and propped up the hoses on the roof, he said. After doing all he could, he and his family fled.
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“I got trapped by the flames going down Sunset [Boulevard]. It was difficult. It was like Afghanistan-type difficult,” he told NBC.
The Craggs’ home sits on the bottom ledge of a hill with neighbors both above and below it. When the veteran returned to his home after the fire subsided, he could tell that the flames had crawled down the hill towards his house, but the sprinklers miraculously held it at bay.
Cragg returned once the water had been shut off to take further precautionary measures not just for his still-standing house, but the remnants of his neighbors’. With the help of a Marine friend, they started to pull water from a pool to douse his roof and the sides of his house, along with any others nearby that needed it.
“I just had to do it. I just had to be up there,” he said.
Very few homes are still left standing in the wake of the Palisades wildfire.AP The Palisades fire has torn through upwards of 20,000 acres since last Tuesday, destroying thousands of homes and other buildings. The landscape is practically unrecognizable as the blaze continues to burn, with only 11% containedas strong winds start to returnto LA.
“[First responders] are doing everything that they can, but it’s a warzone,” Cragg said.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has asked the U.S. government to consider new rules restricting U.S. biotech companies from conducting clinical trials with entities linked to the Chinese military.
In a Jan. 9 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said the proposed restrictions will “help ensure U.S. biotechnology does not fall into the hands of the PRC,” referring to the acronym of communist China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
The letter, signed by Reps. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chair and ranking member of the committee, respectively, along with Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), said biotech competition between the United States and the PRC “will not only have implications for our national and economic security, but also for the future of healthcare and the security of American medical data.”
The letter cites Beijing’s 14th Five-Year Plan—which “identifies dominance in biotechnology as critical to ’strengthen the PRC’s science and technological power' and calls to deepen military-civil science and technology collaboration in the sector”—and a publication by a former president of the Chinese military’s National Defense University, which discussed the potential to create new synthetic pathogens that are “more toxic, more contagious, and more resistant.”
The lawmakers praised the proposals issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security in July 2024 to expand export controls to military and intelligence end users as “a welcome update.” They suggested the measures could be further strengthened by requiring a license to conduct clinical trials with medical institutions linked to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
“Specifically, we recommend updating the definition of ‘Military End User’ to state medical infrastructure owned or operated by the national armed services of the PRC and other countries as appropriate constitutes a military end-use if a U.S. person is seeking to engage with the institution to conduct a clinical trial,” they added.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Commerce Department for comment and did not receive a response by publication time.
The letter is a sign of growing concern over China’s role in the biotechnology industry.
In August 2024, the same committee wrote to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), asking the agency to ensure that U.S. clinical trials are not contributing to human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region or aiding the transfer of U.S. critical intellectual property to the PLA.
Citing official data, the letter said U.S. biopharmaceutical companies over the past decade had run hundreds of clinical trials that had at least one Chinese military entity among the research partners and conducted trials in hospitals in Xinjiang, “where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is engaged in genocide of the Uyghur population.”
In a response letter to the lawmakers dated Jan. 2, the FDA Acting Associate Commissioner for Legislative Affairs Laura Paulos said protections are in place for trial participants.
“Given concerns regarding the human rights abuses occurring in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, FDA has publicly reiterated that (legislation) requires clinical trials to obtain the legally effective, informed consent of human subjects,” she wrote.
In response to concerns about intellectual property theft and technology transfer, Paulos referred the lawmakers to “appropriate U.S. federal agency partners.”
In addition to clinical trials, the committee has asked the Department of Defense (DOD) to add several Chinese biotech companies to its list of companies allegedly linked to the Chinese military. Two of these companies, Origincell and MGI Group, were added to the updated list on Jan. 7, along with dozens of others in sectors such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, drones, and shipping.
The DOD also included BGI Group, the parent company of MGI and BGI Genomics, which was previously designated as a Chinese military company, and another BGI subsidiary, Forensic Genomics International.
Jason Ward, withValley Strong Relief—a non-profit organization focused on providing aid to thousands of residents displaced in Western North Carolina by Hurricane Helene—released aTikTok videodiscussing the horrors of thePalisades Fireraging in Los Angeles County. However, he asked one crucial question: "What about Appalachia?"
Ward cited President Joe Biden's recent X post: "The federal government will cover 100% of the cost of measures to protect lives and property in Southern California for six months." Referring to the X post, Ward said, "I hope that happens."
Ward then segues to the topic of forgotten and devastated Western North Carolina, asking, "What about Appalachia?"
"We are 105 days in since one of the most devastating storms known to mankind. We are still supplying our own campers, shelters, while paying mortgages on piles of rubble. We are still running our own supply hubs for many people that lost everything, including homes and jobs. We still have bridges out - only four percent of the debris has been picked up. Many businesses are bankrupt, with insurance denying their claim," he explained.
Ward continued, "We have a polar vortex slamming Western North Carolina, while people going through ten gallons of propane a night - wonder when they will be getting their next tank."
While the nation's eyes are on the Palisades Fire, thousands of families are homeless, either spending cold nights in makeshift shelters, campers, tents, or, if they're lucky, hotels and motels paid for by FEMA.
However, Fox News reported, "FEMA began notifying some families checked into hotel or motel rooms that they are no longer eligible for the program due to one of the following reasons: an inspection indicated their home is now habitable, they declined an inspection or FEMA has been unable to contact them to update their housing needs."
Local media outlet WLOS reported that more than 5,600 households were staying in hotel or motel rooms paid by FEMA (as of one week ago).
Appalachia deserves better than this.
"California is getting all the federal assistance it needs but meanwhile the people of North Carolina are waiting in long lines for propane just so they can have some warmth in the donated RV's they're currently living in . This isn't right!" one X user said.
Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (Ret.) provided more color on the private supply hubs, helping thousands of families across the storm-devastated region.
"Biden and Mayorkas bankrupted FEMA to pay for illegal immigrant housing, and now American citizens who lost their homes in Hurricane Helene are essentially being told to screw," Trump spokeswoman and incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
Leavitt added: "This is unfair and arguably criminal. The good news is: President Trump will be back very soon to put Americans first again."
