August 28, 2024
Cody Chiverton has spent the past decade lighting fires. As a former firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service, he participated in dozens of prescribed burns across the American West, in which fire-prevention teams would carry drip torches to ignite dry …
May 30, 2023
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. government can keep using chemical retardant dropped from aircraft to fight wildfires, despite finding that the practice pollutes streams in western states in violation of federal law, a judge ruled Friday. Halting the use …
October 25, 2022
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Manuel and Marcy Silva combed through the charred rubble that used to be their home, searching for any salvageable bits in the wake of the largest wildfire in New Mexico history. Manuel found two of his …
August 8, 2022
RENO, Nev. (AP) — People who lost their homes and property in last summer’s Tamarack Fire in northern Nevada and California have filed a claim against the U.S. Forest Service seeking more than $85 million. The filing by attorney William …
August 4, 2021
SALEM, Ore. (AP) _ Lightning bolts struck the parched forests of southern Oregon hundreds of times in 24 hours, igniting some 50 new wildfires even as the nation’s largest wildfire continued to burn less than 100 miles (161 kilometers) away, …
October 14, 2020
SAN FRANCISCO — Investigators are looking into the possibility that tree branches hitting Southern California Edison electrical equipment may have sparked a fire in the mountains near Los Angeles that destroyed nearly 90 homes, the utility said Monday. A 23-foot-long …
September 21, 2020
JUNIPER HILLS, Calif. — Strong winds stoked a wildfire burning for nearly two weeks in mountains northeast of Los Angeles, prompting authorities to issue new evacuation orders for desert communities that lost some homes a day earlier. Meanwhile, officials were …
September 17, 2020
Justin Silvera came off the fire lines in Northern California after a grueling 36 straight days battling wildfires and evacuating residents ahead of the flames. Before that, he and his crew had worked for 20 days, followed by a three-day …
August 4, 2020
BANNING, Calif. — Evacuation orders remained in place early Monday for thousands of people after a wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles exploded in size and forced crews to battle flames in triple-digit heat. The Apple Fire in Riverside …
April 28, 2020
A crisis California didn’t foresee — the Covid-19 pandemic — is complicating preparations for one that arrives with a vengeance every year. With wildfire season on the horizon, state officials have ordered prevention efforts to proceed after rains have tapered …