November 11, 2019
Civil Protection Reveals the Total Damage Caused by the Fires
More than 21,000 acres were burned by the wildfires in different places around the Ensenada and Playas de Rosarito municipalities. Affecting mostly bushland and scrubland zones.
According to the civil protection office, the southern part of Rosarito was the most affected, mainly Santa Anita, Alisitos, El Morro, Villas San Pedro and La Mision, which left one dead person, as well as the loss of several livestock animals due to the strong Santa Ana winds.
Other affected areas in Rosarito were Morelos neighborhood, Lomas Altas I and II, El Aguajito, Huahuatay, and Constitución. The fires left a total of 41 burned houses in southern Rosarito and another 15 in the city. Meanwhile in Ensenada, a total of 53 houses were consumed by fire and unfortunately, two people died.
City official Julio Obregón Angulo, also reported that 76 persons were left homeless, so they are living temporally with their friends or family. He also commented that both civil protection and the firefighters remain alert under the possibility of more fires. In the meantime, they are asking the community for their support in being careful not to throw cigarettes butts, make bonfires or throw garbage outside of trash cans, they are also asking everyone to call 911 in case they watch any wildfires as soon as possible to stop them from spreading.
SOURCES: El Vigia, Ecos de Rosarito
Photo by: Alejandro Zepeda
Rewritten in English for the Gringo Gazette North by Alondra Arce
Foreigners in Baja California react to the LeBaron family attack
Many American citizens reacted to the LeBarón family massacre, which happened last Monday. Some of them talked with Telemundo 20 about the violence in Mexico and if this makes them want to return to their country.
The three women and six children killed by armed men who were allegedly members of a drug cartel belonged to a Mormon, remote agricultural community where most of the inhabitants have US and Mexican citizenship.
“It’s heartbreaking to see how people can hurt a 5-year-old boy,” said Ramón Salcedo of Indiana and who has lived in Tijuana for 3 three years.
Others said, “This level of violence is something that anyone can experience regardless of their nationality; Mexicans, Americans, Hondurans, Haitians. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a safe environment. ”
Salcedo also said he’d rather not visit downtown Tijuana at night.
However, despite the video where a car can be seen on fire, the interviewed say they do not want to return to North America. They recognize that violence is part of the sacrifice of living in Tijuana or the rest of Mexico.
Citizens living in Baja California said the event is disturbing since they are aware of the risks regardless of whether they are in Mexico or in the States, where they have seen in the news the different attacks on shopping centers and cinemas.
SOURCE: Telemundo20.com
By: Marinee Zavala y Fabiola Berriozábal
Rewritten in English by: Alondra Arce
Governor Bonilla states that San Quintin could be an independent municipality in two months
Baja California’s State Governor, Jaime Bonilla, asserted that as soon as January, San Quintin could become independent from Ensenada. Bonilla said that this process was already advanced and that previous work regarding this subject is just being resumed by his administration. Furthermore, he emphasized the full support from the state congress, and that Rep. Miriam Cano Núñez is working on the commissions’ attaining to this matter and that soon San Quintin will be determining his own destiny.
Also, during his visit to the southern area of Ensenada for the presentation of the concert “Baja California, tierra que sueña”, where the song of the same name was performed, composed by Enrique González Medina and created especially for the occasion, the governor mentioned that the construction of the desalination plant that has been stopped for some time, now will be reviewed and continued in San Quintin. He said that water is not only important for agricultural productivity, but also for urban social development.
With information from Gerardo Sanchez / EL VIGIA
Rewritten in English by Alondra Arce
October 28, 2019 Edition
Baja Burns!
Wildfires have been a common sight in Baja for years, but we had never seen something as extreme as what has been going on for the last couple days.
Severe heat and dry Santa Ana winds have caused dry vegetation to burn.
4 people have been reported dead, 2 in Tecate, 1 in Tijuana, and another one in Rosarito. Almost 100 houses have been lost to the fires, most of them yesterday, which was the day that had the worst Santa Ana winds condition.
About 50 families were evacuated from Real Del Mar, which was impressively affected by the fire.
Incredible enough, two persons were detained for causing fires that, in one case, resulted in one death. One was detained in Rosarito and another one in Tijuana.
For a couple of hours on Friday, both the toll road and the free road were closed because of the fires that were making driving there dangerous.
Authorities are recommending drinking lots of water to and of course avoid being near fires, sometimes it doesn’t look as bad until its too late.
October 14, 2019 Edition
September 30, 2019 Edition
Gordon Ramsey, Gino D’Acampo and Tom Holland Spotted In Baja
It looks like it has been a busy week for celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey and Gino D’Acampo, who were spotted by shoppers at Mercado Hidalgo in Tijuana.
Mercado Hidalgo is one of the few typical 100% Mexican “Mercados” in Baja, they offer a wide selection of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, spices and almost everything you need to make a proper meal. The “Mercado” concept, which is very popular in mainland Mexico, offers products from several small businesses that most of the times are specialized in certain items. They are located in open spaces which make the consumer feel as if they were going to only one store instead of a couple dozen.
Chef Ramsey was seen getting stuff from the local shops and was later tagged by Tom Holland, who was fishing in Ensenada, in a picture of some pretty good looking lamb shanks plate.
