SAN FRANCISCO — Tens of thousands of people lost power after a powerful winter storm swept through Northern California, while another storm system in the southern part of the state unleashed mudslides in wildfire burn areas and trapped motorists on a major highway. The deluge loosened hillsides where a major...
Amid 2018’s Tragedies Were Moments of Compassion and Duty
Deadliest shooting at an American high school: Parkland, Florida. Deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century: Paradise, California. Deadliest attack on Jews in American history: Pittsburgh. The cities of Parkland, Paradise and Pittsburgh became synonymous with tragedy in 2018, a year when the nation seemed to careen from one deadly horror...
Report Rips Expensive Decisions in California Wildfire Fight
LOS ANGELES — When a wildfire burned across Big Sur two years ago and threatened hundreds of homes scattered on the scenic hills, thousands of firefighters responded with overwhelming force, attacking flames from the air and ground. In the first week, the blaze destroyed 57 homes and killed a bulldozer...
California Inferno Gives Rise to Family-Reuniting ‘Angels’
SAN FRANCISCO — They have become known as the Angels of Paradise. But there is nothing ethereal about them. They are online sleuths who know how to find people, and they have been putting their skills to use in the aftermath of California's catastrophic wildfire. In the dark days that...
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...
Rain Could Hamper Search for Victims of California Wildfire
CHICO — It's been 12 days since Christina Taft started the frantic search for her mother Victoria, who refused to evacuate their Paradise home as flames neared, and six days since she gave authorities a cheek swab to identify remains that are likely her mother's. She still hasn't received confirmation...
Fire Death Toll Hits 63. Sheriff Says Hundreds Still Missing.
CHICO — At least 63 people are now dead from a Northern California wildfire, and officials say they have a missing persons list with 631 names on it in an ever-evolving accounting of the victims of the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century. The high number of missing people probably...
Experts: California Wildfire is Deadliest in Last 100 Years
Wildfire experts say the Northern California wildfire that has killed at least 56 is the deadliest in a century. California officials say the fire burning in a rural area far north of San Francisco killed more people than any blaze in the state's recorded history. But the U.S. government doesn't...
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...
NorCal Wildfires Death Toll at 48. Many People Still Missing.
CHICO — A message board at a shelter for the many people who fled California's deadliest wildfire is filled with photos of the missing, as well as pleas for any information about relatives and friends. "I hope you are okay," reads one hand written note on the board filled with...