WASHINGTON — As wildfires choke California and other Western states, the Trump administration pledged Thursday to work more closely with state and local officials, including to those in California, to prevent wildfires from starting. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the Forest Service and other agencies will step up efforts to...
14,000 Fight California Fires, Some From Prisons or Overseas
UKIAH — Firefighters said for the first time Wednesday that they have made good progress battling the state's largest-ever wildfire but didn't expect to have it fully under control until September. The blaze north of San Francisco has grown to the size of Los Angeles since it started two weeks...
Battling 18 Blazes, California May Face Worst Fire Season
The largest wildfire ever recorded in California needed just 11 days to blacken an area nearly the size of Los Angeles — and it's only one of many enormous blazes that could make this the worst fire season in state history. Some 14,000 firefighters from as far away as Florida...
Still Raging: Largest Wildfire in California History Grows
LAKEPORT — Wildfires tearing through trees and brush, rampaging up hillsides and incinerating neighborhoods: The places and names change, but the devastation is showing signs of becoming the new normal in California. Twin fires in Northern California being treated as one are the largest wildfire in state history and by...
Trump's Claims on California Wildfires Inaccurate: AP Fact Check
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is claiming that California's water policy is shortchanging firefighters of water to battle the state's raging wildfires. That's not so, according to wildfire and water experts. TRUMP: "California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren't allowing...
Wildfires Scorching Homes, Land and California's Budget
Just a month into the budget year, California has already spent more than one-quarter of its annual fire budget, at least $125 million, state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Mike Mohler said Wednesday. Following years of drought and a summer of record-breaking heat, immense tracts of forests, chaparral...
Crews Report Progress in Fight Against Twin California Fires
LAKEPORT — Firefighters reported progress Tuesday in their battle against the wildfires that have ravaged some of Northern California's most scenic areas, including twin blazes that were tearing through vineyards and brush-covered hills and threatening some 10,000 homes. The two fires straddling Mendocino and Lake counties had burned 10 homes...
Arson Wildfire Forces Entire California Town to Evacuate
IDYLLWILD — A fast-moving wildfire — believed to have been sparked by arson — tore through trees, burned five homes and forced evacuation orders for an entire mountain town as California sweltered under a heat wave and battled ferocious fires at both ends of the state. Winds were calm early...
Trump Plans California Border Visit. Berg Drops Fresno Unified Trustee Bid.
Donald Trump will be making his first trip to California as president, but is not scheduled to visit the Valley. According to a Los Angeles Times/Washington Post report, Trump will visit the California-Mexico border to inspect prototypes for the proposed border wall. He is also scheduled to appear at a...