Protecting California from devastating wildfires was the Legislature’s biggest focus in this year’s session. Recognizing the urgency, lawmakers formed a special wildfire committee, heard from numerous experts, and, after several emotional debates, passed a $1 billion new law they said would “prevent catastrophic wildfires and protect Californians.” Less than two...
Guard Troops Search for More Dead in Aftermath of Wildfire
PARADISE — With scores of people still missing, National Guard troops searched Wednesday through charred debris for more victims of California's deadliest wildfire as top federal and state officials toured the ruins of a community completely destroyed by the flames. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke joined Gov. Jerry Brown on a...
Did PG&E Problem Spark Deadly Paradise Blaze?
A utility is facing increasing criticism following a deadly blaze that leveled a Northern California town and killed at least 42 people. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. told state regulators last week it detected a problem on an electrical transmission line near the town of Paradise minutes before the Camp...
Grim Search for More Fire Victims, 31 Dead Across California
PARADISE — As wildfires raged at both ends of the state, officials released another grim statistic: six more bodies discovered in the burned-over town of Paradise and outlying areas, bringing the death toll there to 29 and matching the record for the deadliest single blaze in California history. Statewide the...
Death Toll in Northern California Wildfire Rises to 23
PARADISE, Calif. — The air thick with smoke from a ferocious wildfire that was still burning homes Saturday, residents who stayed behind to try to save their property or who managed to get back to their neighborhoods in this Northern California town found cars incinerated and homes reduced to rubble....
5 Found Dead in Cars as Fire Incinerates N. California Town
PARADISE, Calif. — Five people were found dead in their burned-out vehicles after a Northern California wildfire incinerated most of a town of about 30,000 people with flames that moved so fast there was nothing firefighters could do, authorities said Friday. Only a day after it began, the blaze near...
Northern California Wildfire Nearly Quadruples in Size
PARADISE — A wildfire that moved so fast that firefighters couldn't hope to stop it quadrupled in size Friday after destroying several thousand buildings and leveling much of a Northern California town of nearly 30,000 people, authorities said. Only a day after it began, the fire near the town of...