Over the mountain from where I live, and it's something I've long wondered about. Oddly (to me) I had to learn about this today from someone on the east coast.
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The temperature in Aspen, Colorado, will fall to 2 degrees Tuesday night.

The FBI has joined a criminal investigation of what police said appears to be an "intentional attack" on gas service lines in Aspen, Colorado, that left thousands of residents and businesses without heat as temperatures in the skiing mecca plunged to near zero degrees.

Work crews are scrambling to restore gas service, and local authorities handed out electric space heaters to residents still without heat Tuesday, as a storm is forecast to bring up to 8 inches of snow in the Rocky Mountains region this week. Temperatures are forecast to fall to 2 degrees in Aspen on Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Aspen police said the apparently coordinated acts of vandalism occurred Saturday night at three separate Black Hills Energy gas line sites, one in Aspen and two elsewhere in Pitkin County.

At one of the targeted sites, police said they found the words "Earth first" scrawled, and investigators were looking into whether the self-described "radical environmental group" Earth First! was involved.

Emails from ABC News to the group's website seeking comment were not returned.

Aspen Assistant Police Chief Bill Linn told reporters that the saboteurs appeared to "have some familiarity" with the natural gas system.

“They tampered with flow lines. They turned off gas lines," Linn said.

Linn said physical evidence recovered at the scenes of the vandalism included footprints left in the snow. He said there were no security cameras at the three locations that were hit.

The FBI, which has a critical infrastructure protection unit, is helping in the investigation, Linn said.

Black Hills Energy officials said about 3,500 customers were affected by the gas outage, and crews had to go to each natural gas meter to manually turn them off and relight the pilot lights. Officials said the work was continuing Tuesday, but it was unclear how long it would take before gas service is restored to everyone.

Linn said the police department was handing out about 6,000 portable space heaters to residents.

He added that numerous businesses, including restaurants and hotels, had to shut down due to the loss of gas.

"It’s almost, to me, an act of terrorism," Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Clapper, who lost heat in her home due to the vandalism, told The Aspen Times newspaper. "It’s trying to destroy a mountain community at the height of the holiday season. This wasn’t a national gas glitch. This was a purposeful act. Someone is looking to make a statement of some kind."

LINK

quote:

"It’s almost, to me, an act of terrorism," Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Clapper

No Shit.

Aspen is a Leftist enclave, attacked by Leftists.

Poetic.



.

Throwing a rock through a window, defacing a building with some spray paint, drawing a Hitler moustache on the real estate agent's bus stop bench picture, that's all vandalism, to me.

Turning off people's heat in the mountains of Colorado during winter seems a bit more than "vandalism" to me.

^^^ Agreed. A sure possibility of people dying from this.

It'll be interesting to see who did this, if that someone is ever caught.

OTOH, now I'm curious as to why Sigfreund wound up having to hear about it via the East Coast.

It obviously made national news, but not the one source I follow (Wall Street Journal), and I didn’t pick it up locally despite its not being very far away. I would have thought its following so closely behind the Nashville bombing that there might have been a little more interest.

Just think of all the wood that's going to get burned in all of those chalet fireplaces and all the kids that are going to be conceived by the sex that's going to happen in front of those fireplaces as all those frozen lefties do what's needed to stay warm.

Earth First! just scored a spectacular own goal.

quote:

Originally posted by TigerDore:
Aspen is a Leftist enclave, attacked by Leftists.

Poetic.



.

Not left enough.

quote:

there were no security cameras at the three locations that were hit.

You've got to be kidding. Cameras are so cheap and ubiquitous it's absurd to not monitor critical infrastructure.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:

quote:

there were no security cameras at the three locations that were hit.

You've got to be kidding. Cameras are so cheap and ubiquitous it's absurd to not monitor critical infrastructure.

It's not that simple. Hackers have exploited the vulnerabilities of local o&g site gear (e.g. cheap cameras) to gain access into the master control system for the grid/corporation. Everything has to be tested which means cheap is out the window. Also, who monitors the cameras because it's not the operators at the remote control centers (their plate is full)?

quote:

Linn said the police department was handing out about 6,000 portable space heaters to residents.

Where and how did they get 6,000 units on such short notice? And where were they stored? That's a lot of units!
.

quote:

^^^ Agreed. A sure possibility of people dying from this.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Perhaps. Last time I checked Aspen demographics the majority of these folks have the capability and funds to leave the area. If this happened in Chicago or New York it would be a different story.

There is zero doubt to me the this is a terroristic act.

How much has been spent thinking about Terrorists "Hacking" the power grid etc? Turns out they can just walk in and do worse?

Cameras aren't monitored in real time- They're reviewed after an incident so the perpetrators can be identified.

$1,635,500 Is the Median Home price. Exclusive except for the worker bees who have to try and make a living in the hotels and restaurants.

Don't people light their own damn pilot lights anymore? I was always able to do my furnace, water heater, dryer and range. Seems odd a tech would have to do it.

I guess my first thought was they had no natural gas, so they pass out electric heaters. What if there were no electricity? What is Plan C??

Well, those ultra-leftist elites are going to get a nice feel for life without oil and gas.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
Don't people light their own damn pilot lights anymore? I was always able to do my furnace, water heater, dryer and range. Seems odd a tech would have to do it.

They probably can't wipe their own ass. The best part is they'll get cold when they sit on the toilet. We can enjoy their suffering.