By NOAH BERGER Associated Press YREKA, Calif. (AP) — Crews battling the largest wildfire so far this year in California braced for thunderstorms and hot, windy conditions that created the potential for additional fire growth Sunday as they sought to protect remote...
Chief: Bottle-Magnified Sunlight Ignited Possum Kingdom (TX) Fire
By TERRY WALLACE Associated Press Sunlight magnified by glass bottles in an open garbage can ignited paper trash, starting a 500-acre (200-hectare) North Texas wildfire that destroyed five homes, fire officials said Thursday. The July 18 fire on Possum Kingdom Lake's...
Wildfire Threat Becomes Tool to Fight Home Builders
Preston Brown knows the risk of wildfire that comes with living in the rural, chaparral-lined hills of San Diego County. He’s lived there for 21 years and evacuated twice. That’s why he fiercely opposed a plan to build more than 1,100 homes in a fire-prone area he...
Yosemite (CA) Fire Grows as Crews Protect Iconic Sequoias
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire threatening the largest grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park more than doubled in size in a day, and firefighters were working in difficult terrain Sunday to protect the iconic trees and a small mountain...
CA Wildfire Strands Fourth of July Revelers
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters in Northern California were battling a fresh wildfire that broke out Monday east of Sacramento at a recreation area packed with Fourth of July revelers and forced a number of evacuations. As the fire quickly spread, 85 to 100...
Northern CA Wildfire Threatens 500 Buildings
BRIDGEPORT, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire that erupted in Northern California forced evacuations as it threatened about 500 homes and other buildings Tuesday, authorities said. The Rices Fire erupted at around 2 p.m. near the Yuba River in Nevada County and had spread to...
Wildfire Threatens Unspoiled GA Island Rich in History
By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press ST. CATHERINES ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Wildfires sparked by lightning have scorched hundreds of acres on this unspoiled island off the Georgia coast, where crews are battling to protect plantation ruins, the remnants of a 16th century...
Biden Signs Off on Hefty Pay Raise for Federal Firefighters
By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has signed off on giving federal wildland firefighters a hefty raise for the next two fiscal years, a move that affects more than 16,000 firefighters and comes as much of the West braces for a...
Warm, Dry, Breezy Weather to Challenge Fire Crews in AZ
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Fire crews battling a pair of wildfires in northern Arizona were expecting some growth Thursday because of warm, dry and breezy conditions, officials said. Both blazes were moving through grass, brush and pine trees on the northern outskirts of...
Flagstaff (AZ) Wildfire Forces Evacuations, Steadily Grows to Over 4,500 Acres
By FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Evacuations are in effect in parts of northern Arizona as a wildfire about 6 miles (9 kilometers) north of Flagstaff steadily grew Sunday, authorities said. Coconino National Forest officials said the...
Government Plans to Fine ID Radio Operator Who Assisted Firefighters
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Federal Communications Commissions has proposed a $34,000 fine against an Idaho man that the agency says interfered with firefighters' radio communications during a wildfire last year when he alerted them to hazards in the region. The...
Helicopter Water Drop Hits Hotshot Crew at Hermit Peak (NM) Fire, Three Injured
https://youtu.be/uT8oEnBdSJ8 A helicopter hit firefighters with a water drop at the Hermit Peak fire Sunday, injuring three of them. The incident took place at 10:30 a.m. at the fire, which is been burning since early April in the Santa Fe National Forest. Two of the...