SAN FRANCISCO — Shasta County's sheriff says three people have died in a fast-moving wildfire west of Redding. Sheriff Eric Magrini announced the deaths during a Monday afternoon update on the Zogg Fire. He did not give any details about the people who died, but said more than 1,200 people...
Did You Lose a Bag of Precious Family Photos Fleeing Creek Fire? Robby Found Them
Someone apparently fleeing the Creek Fire in Madera County put precious family photographs into a plastic shopping bag, along with other things near and dear to them, before heading out the door. But the black-and-white and color photos, including a framed photo of a grandmotherly woman and baby pictures, were...
Valley Embraces Creek Fire Evacuees, Including A Goat Named Maggie
Residents, churches, businesses, and nonprofits across the Valley are opening their hearts — and their homes, pastures, parking lots, kitchens, and computers — to help the nearly 12,000 people who have had to flee their Sierra homes because of the Creek Fire. Churches, in particular, are stepping forward to provide...
Rebirth, Angst and the 'New Normal' of California Wildfires
SANTA ROSA — Tina Chandler walks outside her home and sniffs the air. "Do you smell smoke?" she asks. Even when the scent is no longer there, it haunts her. So does the fear of the monstrous winds of autumn, the kind that stoked the wildfires that destroyed her northern...
More California Fires Erupt, Burning Homes, Sending Residents Fleeing
SIMI VALLEY — Strong winds fanned new Southern California wildfires on Thursday, burning homes and forcing residents to flee their homes in a repeat of the frightening scenario already faced by tens of thousands across the state. The latest blazes erupted in the heavily populated inland region east of Los...
Crews Battles California Blazes Before Windstorms Return
LOS ANGELES — Crews fought Tuesday to drown, slash and smother wildfires that have incinerated dozens of homes in Northern and Southern California before returning windstorms can blow them back into furious life. In California wine country, firefighters worked to reinforce fire lines in western Sonoma County while rushing to...
Anger Rises as PG&E Imposes More Blackouts
SANTA ROSA — Frustration and anger mounted across Northern California as Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. began another round of fire-prevention blackouts Tuesday that could leave millions of people without electricity, some for five days or longer. The shut-offs, aimed at keeping windblown electrical equipment from sparking wildfires, came as...
Residents of California Town Leveled by Fire Can Go Home
PARADISE — Some residents of a Northern California town devastated by a deadly wildfire will be allowed to return home Wednesday, nearly a month after the blaze swept through the parched Sierra Nevada foothills, authorities said. Evacuation orders were being lifted for all neighborhoods in the eastern side of the...
State Says Seniors Abandoned in California Wildfire
SACRAMENTO — Staff at two senior care centers abandoned residents during an evacuation as wildfires swept through Northern California last October, state officials said Thursday as they moved to revoke licenses from the Santa Rosa facilities and their top administrators. Nobody in either facility died. A Department of Social Services...
Northern California Cyclone of Flames Hit 143 MPH
Experts say a deadly Northern California wildfire burned so hot at its peak that it created a cyclone of flames that reached 143 mph, ripping through the region with the force of a destructive Midwest tornado. National Weather Service meteorologist Duane Dykema said Friday that the blaze still burning near...