California News

California Wildfires: Utility Lacked Basic Training Before Blackouts

SAN FRANCISCO — When Pacific Gas & Electric cut power to large swaths of wildfire-prone Northern California last fall, few of the emergency personnel managing the blackouts for the nation’s largest utility had learned the fundamentals of managing an emergency …

The One-Stop Rebuilding Shop for Wildfire Victims

California is on fire. Already this year, thousands of people have lost their homes, and communities are struggling to figure out how to rebuild. Nikki Pechet wants to be the person they turn to. Pechet co-founded Homebound Inc. in 2018 …

California Wildfires Are Huge This Year, But Not Deadliest

SAN FRANCISCO — With months still to go in California’s fire season, the state has already shattered records for the amount of land scorched in a single year — more than 4 million acres to date, with one blaze alone …

California’s Grim Fire Mark: Burn Exceeds Last 3 Years Combined

Wildfires in California have burned a record 4 million acres since the start of 2020, charring more land in the past nine months than during the previous three years combined. The results are devastating. The more than 8,200 blazes since …

California Wildfire Evacuees Return Home to Find Devastation

SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Nikki and Kevin Conant returned to their home in Northern California wine country Wednesday to find only the charred remains of their home and burned pieces of the wine barrels they used to repurpose into custom-made …

California’s Wine Country Residents Facing Fire Fatigue

NAPA, Calif. — Will Abrams and his family packed their pickup truck with laptops, clothes, sleeping bags and a tent and quickly left their rental home in California’s wine country after seeing flames on a hill about a quarter-mile away …

Dying Winds Give Crews Hope in Northern California Fires

SAN FRANCISCO — Easing winds gave California firefighters a break Tuesday as they battled a destructive wildfire that was driven by strong winds through wine country north of San Francisco and another rural blaze that killed three people. Breezes replaced …

Fire in California Wine Country Expands as Thousands Flee

A wildfire ripping through Northern California’s wine country has more than tripled in size, forcing thousands of evacuations and endangering properties in a region devastated by blazes just three years ago. The Glass Fire north of San Francisco reached more …

California Wine Country Wildfire Forces Evacuation of Hospital, Hundreds of Homes

ST. HELENA, Calif. — A wind-driven wildfire erupted on Sunday in the heart of northern California’s Napa Valley wine country to spread across nearly 2,000 acres (809 hectares), forcing the evacuation of a hospital and hundreds of homes, authorities said. …

California Braces for Power Shutoffs and Warm, Windy Weekend

SAN FRANCISCO — Firefighters and officials at California’s largest utility company braced for hot, dry and windy weather in northern and central areas of the state this weekend that may fan the flames of several major wildfires or ignite new …