Photo of Doug Schutz, the Tomerong Rural Fire Service Captain

World’s Largest Volunteer Force Fights Australia’s Wildfires

TOMERONG, Australia — The wildfire was behaving erratically last week, and Doug Schutz and his team needed to make a quick decision. So they moved a bulldozer from another job and used it to widen a firebreak. That likely helped prevent hundreds of homes from ...
Photo of firefighter battling a wildfire in California

Technology to Keep Lights on Could Help Prevent Wildfires

LOS ANGELES — B. Don Russell wasn’t thinking about preventing a wildfire when he developed a tool to detect power line problems before blackouts and bigger disasters. “If we can find things when they start to fail, if we can find things that are in the proc...
Photo of a helicopter dropping water on the Cave Fire

Wildfire Burning in California Mountains Grows

GOLETA — A wildfire burning Tuesday on Southern California mountains north of Santa Barbara forced as many as 6,300 people from their homes, but an approaching storm offered hope that the flames would be doused...
Photo of community wiped out by Camp Fire.

Chico Didn’t Burn but Fire Brought New Way of Life

CHICO — Amber Blood got to Chico on Nov. 8, 2018, wearing pink slacks and her favorite white peacoat. It was all she had left. "You normally would have a decade to prepare for such growth. We had about 10 hours." — Chico Police Chief Michael O'Brien Bloo...

Wildfire Erupts Near Reagan Library in Southern California

SIMI VALLEY — A new wildfire erupted Wednesday in wind-whipped Southern California, forcing the evacuation of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and nearby homes, as both ends of the state struggled with blazes, dangerously gusty weather and deliberate bla...