What's with the fires? (authority, bars, pollution)

[Annie of Oldsmar]

I have seen the news on the Fires , and not much is said about what /who caused this to happen.
Is this some kind of terrorism?

[Sandhillian]

They are investigating the cause but were having to wait for the fire to be put out. They are also looking into some graffiti that was found that said "Boom, fire, RIP, Gulf".

[WIHS2006]

Also, several of the water mains were "damaged" to the extent that firefighters could not use them to pump water from the bay to put out the fire.

My personal theory is that it's eco-terrorism due to the location and the timing of the blast (done to minimize the risk of casaulties - a hallmark of eco-terrorist groups). However, an accident is just as likely. My feeling is that even if it was terrorism the government will never admit it as then it would prove that all their half assed "homeland security" measures are a waste and it would cause the public to panic.

[InNeedOfAnswers]

Originally Posted by WIHS2006

... (done to minimize the risk of casaulties - a hallmark of eco-terrorist groups) ...

I hope that they would be smarter than this. The pollution that this fire has caused is much greater than if the same fuel had been used by cars.

[STT Resident]

As always, sheer speculation and rumors of terrorism and all else will be running amok until the intel agencies have a chance to sift through everything and determine the exact cause of the fire ... and that takes time.

[Annie of Oldsmar]

Sandhillan- that graffitti does sound like it was something planned.
WIH- why some eco groups would cause so much pollution is beyond me, they do much more harm to the eco system with this!
With those acts of terror, there goes the little tourism that is out there now. Of course , the ppl who do those things don't give a hoot about tourism, or the islands image...

[Migue]

there's been quite a few things going down,riots,striking all over and so on...my brother and friends tell me is all related with how this latest governor is trying to run things and all the corruption that's been going on along with police abusing their authority and such. They told me not too long ago,since they're trying to reinforce the drinking laws at the local bars and such ( they don't want people drinking outside,wich doesn't make too much sense because the small local bars are..well SMALL so everybody would be extremely cramped up and uncomfortable) the riot police showed up out of nowhere and started throwing tear gas and arresting-beating people up just because of that. This is the first time i've heard of something like this act with the fires and since PR is small then yeah those are HUGE news and will cause a LOT of talk and concern. I've never heard of any eco groups doing stuff like this,it doesn't make any sense like someone said already.

[InNeedOfAnswers]

supposedly this happened because they overfilled the tank, which caused the fire. at least that is the initial verdict of the investigation.