SACRAMENTO — A decade after prison crowding forced California to realign its criminal justice system, the population in what once was the nation's largest state correctional system has shrunk to the point where officials announced Tuesday they will close one of two inmate firefighter training centers. The California Correctional Center...
California Inmate Fought Wildfires, Now Faces Deportation
SACRAMENTO — Among the thousands of firefighters who battled record-setting wildfires in California this year was Bounchan Keola, a 39-year-old immigrant from Laos serving a 28-year prison sentence for a gang-related shooting when he was 16. One of roughly 1,800 inmates fighting fires, Keola said he struggled to see through...
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 the powerful gusts that sent the Glass Fire raging through...
New California Fire Scorches Wine Country Near San Francisco
ST. HELENA — California firefighters battled destructive new wildfires in wine country north of San Francisco Monday as strong winds fanned flames in the already badly scorched state. The new fires erupted Sunday in the famed Napa-Sonoma wine region and in far Northern California’s Shasta County, forcing hasty evacuations of...
Firefighter Who Died in Blaze Was on Elite Hotshot Crew
A California firefighter killed while battling a blaze in the mountains east of Los Angeles was identified Tuesday as a member of an elite Hotshot crew dedicated to fighting wildfires. Charles Morton, 39, a San Diego native, was a 14-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service and a squad boss...
Firefighter Dies Battling Wildfire Sparked by Gender Reveal
SAN BERNARDINO — A firefighter died battling a wildfire in California that officials said was sparked by a device used to reveal a baby's gender. The death happened Thursday in the San Bernardino National Forest as crews battled the El Dorado Fire, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement....
‘Nothing Left in the Bucket’: Wildfire Resources Run Thin
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 break. Silvera, a 43-year-old battalion chief with Cal Fire, California’s...
New California Law Helps Former Inmate Firefighters Get Jobs
SACRAMENTO — California's inmate firefighters will have a shot at becoming professional firefighters once they complete their sentences, under a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Friday. The new law will allow state and county inmates who train as firefighters to seek to erase the criminal records that...
NorCal Fire That Killed 3 Threatens Thousands of Homes
OROVILLE — A Northern California wildfire threatened thousands of homes Thursday after winds whipped it into a monster that incinerated houses in a small mountain community and killed at least three people. Several other people have been critically burned and hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and other buildings are...
Weather, Reinforcements Helping in California Wildfire Fight
VACAVILLE — Firefighters hard-pressed by some of the largest wildfires in California history scrambled Wednesday to take advantage of cooler weather and an influx of aid as they carved and burned containment lines around the flames to prevent more land from burning. “Every percent of containment is hours and hours...