Operation Vigilant Guard: Connect the Dots in Georgia

a reply to: FissionSurplus

Just when I thought I was going to take a break from ATS another great piece of a Jigsaw puzzle rears its head.

More than 8,000 personnel from Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina will take part in the exercise from March 27 through April 2 in various locations around Georgia

Great work ...thanks
S & F

another group (we can not name on this group!)!
had a lot of news film.
you could see Non of the fire fighters
using fire hoses ON the fire?
the wire had a flash point of 450'c
only sins 911 has rebar concrete
been destroyer by low temp fire.

youtube video
1 min in look at the flames? that is not a cable fire.
only after it falls down. do the put the fire out.

WHY is this the only video on the post?

a reply to: FissionSurplus


There's something you left out of your post. It wasn't just a garbage fire. There have been construction materials stored underneath the bridge for years. Much of the material consisted of huge spools of thick cables, and a whole lot of something else behind it. I believe the vinyl or PVC sheath of the wiring is what caused so much black smoke.

The hit to the Atlanta economy is overblown. It may cause a ripple, but it's not going to create a long-term issue. Reason being, downtown isn't cut off by any stretch of the imagination. The original Hwy 85 (now referred to as the Buford-Spring Connector) is still in place and was opened to traffic over the weekend. It will indeed take more time to drive to downtown from those arriving from the North. But it's still easy to get in and out of Atlanta using the subway (Marta), arriving from the east or west via Hwy 20, or from the south via the combined 75/85.

Ridership for Marta increased by 50 to 73 percent for this morning's commute, which goes to show a lot of people are using mass transit to make it into town. Even when 85 was open, taking Marta was a faster way to get in or out of the city during rush hour.

With that being said, I agree that the red mercury story is bizarre, from the perspective of it not getting any more coverage. It sounded like something even the national media would be covering--not just a local TV station. I don't see a reason to believe the two events are related, though.

not sure if anyone has mentioned it but i personally believe the red mercury was probly referring to cinnabar. its what u get mercury from and is red.
Cinnabar

originally posted by: buddha
another group (we can not name on this group!)!
had a lot of news film.
you could see Non of the fire fighters
using fire hoses ON the fire?
the wire had a flash point of 450'c
only sins 911 has rebar concrete
been destroyer by low temp fire.

youtube video
1 min in look at the flames? that is not a cable fire.
only after it falls down. do the put the fire out.

WHY is this the only video on the post?

Truthfully, there was the same video over and over embedded in the news links, but you do have a point. By now youtube should be swimming in them. My bad, I will start examining other videos....but so far, I was aware of only about two from the air, and some cell phone videos from people not that close to it.

a reply to: buddha

This video, right in the beginning, is just like the others.....you hear the helicopter, you see the smoke, there's a 'blip' of silence and then it picks up again, after the bridge is down. I find this odd, to say the least.

originally posted by: FissionSurplus
a reply to: buddha

This video, right in the beginning, is just like the others.....you hear the helicopter, you see the smoke, there's a 'blip' of silence and then it picks up again, after the bridge is down. I find this odd, to say the least.

if u watch to the end there is a continuous shot of it collapsing.

a reply to: TheScale

There is no question of it collapsing. Maybe I didn't make my point correctly. Everybody knows it collapsed. Why the edit and the silence. The SOUND is the issue, not the actual fact of the collapse.

This video is a home video where a local is filming and he says he keeps hearing 'booms'. None was picked up on his microphone but he clearly says it, and then is warned the bridge is collapsing. I cannot speak to what booms are in this scenario but I am more concerned about the sound of it than anything else.

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: icanteven

Okay, you say it's 'overblown'. You say that

The original Hwy 85 (now referred to as the Buford-Spring Connector) is still in place and was opened to traffic over the weekend.

Here what the news says today. Keep in mind this is for the next, oh, half a year to a year:

Over the weekend the State reconfigured I-85 northbound near Peachtree, allowing two lanes of traffic to use the Buford Spring Connector. By 7 a.m. Monday, that road was gridlocked. Officials reminded drivers they should only use the Buford Spring Connector for local traffic.

www.fox5atlanta.com...

Please re-read my OP. MARTA can get you all around Atlanta, but that wasn't my point. My point was, in cases of emergency when people need to get out of Atlanta all together, they are basically trapped in a traffic nightmare and are stuck in that city. You can ride MARTA around all day, it's not going to take you north or northeast out of the city and away from the danger.

For example, a dirty bomb is set off in downtown. A state of emergency is called and people are told to immediately evacuate. A whole area of egress (exit) is now cut off for them. This was my concern. The daily commute in Atlanta sucked before, it's nightmarish now. That's a given. The ability to leave an area such as Atlanta is now bottle-necked and darn near impossible to escape from in case of a major emergency.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: CreationBro

The materials had been under the bridge for years. They were stored there along with other construction materials. He didn't "light a giant fire", he lit a fire and it spread and ignited the construction materials.

I guess all those truck fires in recent years are suspicious too, because most of those collapsed nicely too.

Well, I'm suspicious, for sure, because right now, Georgia isn't saying WHAT materials were on fire under that bridge or exactly where the fire started. That's suspicious.

Then, there's this "Special Report" from Fox5 Atlanta, in which at around the 30 second mark of this video, the reporter states that "fiber optic cable" was stored under that bridge and that's what caught on fire.
www.fox5atlanta.com...

I notice it went from 'fiber optic cable' to 'pvc piping' to now something very flammable, HDCP. WHICH IS IT?

Again, between the Fire Safety office shutting their traps and not saying a word on this, and the constant confusion over what was on fire down there, I have to say, this is odd all the way around. There should be no confusion as to what was there, where it was located regarding under the fallen span, and how a homeless guy playing with fire in a shopping cart could bring a whole span of a bridge down. Too many unanswered questions and too many different stories.

Hey guys, first post here.

I found the coordinates of the collapse on wikipedia (33.8136°N 84.3663°W), then looked it up on google maps/street view.

The cables were under the bridge since july/2012.
2012photo


I don't know what type of cable that is. Can anyone identify?

a reply to: FissionSurplus

Good work and good points.

Particularly since the tubing was supposedly non-flammable? Am I remembering that right?

And if you're from the area ... the support structures were heavy concrete and heavy steel.

Not a lot about it made sense. Or perhaps "sense."

a reply to: Peserc

Awesome work with that photo, Peserc! All kinds of cables. Considering all the open space in Atlanta that they could have stored that at, and how long that stuff just sat there, this actually raises more questions than it answers.

a reply to: Gryphon66

I looked up fiber optic cable, it is made to be somewhat self-extinguishing by nature. However, there is, according to the pic from Peserc, different types of cable / plastic stuff, just sitting there. I'm surprised because if it's been sitting for at least 5 years, then with our crazy weather (heat, freezing cold, humidity, dry air at times), wouldn't there be some degradation of this stuff? Doesn't plastic degrade? This isn't made to sit out in the weather, it's typically buried. No wonder the Fire Safety spokesperson isn't talking!

originally posted by: FissionSurplus
I cannot speak to what booms are in this scenario but I am more concerned about the sound of it than anything else.

Um, you don't think failing bridge structures make noise?

a reply to: Bedlam

*Sigh*. Of course it makes noise. But what kind of noise? I'm just curious as to why the sound was blocked out on so many videos. Does it make a cracking noise? Booms? What? Why edit the sound? Not everybody has knowledge as to what a large concrete structure makes as it separates from rebar and drops.

It is the issue of the editing, rather than the noise itself.

a reply to: FissionSurplus

Down that path, how would you know "they" didn't just dub something else in? Or that the video isn't some sort of advanced CGI?

"They" must be getting pretty desperate to expend so much effort on such a pointless target.

So a few things. I'm a firefighter/ haz mat tech in central Florida


I've never heard of red mercury. I've been to los alamos quite a few times for training and never heard of it there. Of all places. It would be there to learn about it.

I've been on multiple interstate fires. A few considerations with some fires. The run off of water and potentially polluting a near by water source

I've seen a tanker explode, 8000 gallons of fuel. We couldn't put water on it. Due to the fact the run off would go in to the inter costal. After most of the fire was burned off. We applied a mixture of foam and water and put the remaining fire out. When concrete is heated and water is applied to it. It creates a thing called spalling. The concrete breaks apart because of the moisture inside Of it expands and breaks apart. Now, there is steel in side and steal elongates at temperatures starting at 900 degrees. 4-6 inches. Things can get hot quick. (A small room and contents fire could flash over in a matter of minutes.) the part that collapsed looks like a double T. The call I was on had a double T east and west bound. Both were so badly damaged. They had to rebuild.

For the person that said the fire department is two minutes away and looked like they were in no rush. That might be true about being two minutes away. But you need to add in the minutes it takes the caller to reach 911, determine what is going on, the location , what stations will be sent, is the first due station even available for a call? Or are they on another call? If there on another call. The second due station will come, add on more time then. Then tone out the crew, they get in their gear, and head to the scene. While driving they make complete stops at red lights to make sure no one is coming. Don't let Hollywood fool you on how it all works.

For looking like their in no rush, you're just not educated in fire department polices to understand what they are doing. Applying water to a magnisim fire is not a good idea. Who knows what's burning? Maybe they already know what's stored under there due to their pre plan of their first due. Maybe run off would be a bad thing and best thing to do is keep it in check and finish burning off.

Now training, for everyone that believes a false flag every time something happens while a training event is going on around that date. You would think there would be more false flags around country. We train a lot and so do other departments. For instances, We have a certain drill every year in case something happens at a very important place. These drills are there to protect and save as many lives as possible.

a reply to: Bedlam

Sarcasm received and acknowledged.

I invited people to connect the dots, and I shared my own observations. What path one chooses to go down is their own choice. My observation is editing out the sound, and the question is why. Dubbing? CGI? "They"?

This is why so many people are afraid to post on ATS. They cannot handle the snarkiness of some members who enjoy destroying a thread just for the heck of it. At this point you're just heckling me, but it's not funny. It makes you look small.

a reply to: Irishtruckie83

I appreciate you adding your expertise to this post, sir. Obviously I am not 'educated' in fire fighting policies because I am not a fire fighter, but I do know that water is not always the best option regarding certain fires when the materials burning are an unknown.

So you see no dots to connect. Fair enough. I welcome all expertise and opinions, although I am running into a lot of people who are breezing through the OP and cannot wait to state their level of knowledge and how, if others see something fishy, are so very wrong.