wildfires

Firefighters were beginning to make progress against the 15,000-acre Apple Fire today, achieving 12% containment in Cherry Valley, where the blaze charred at least one home and was threatening dozens more.

U.S. Forest Service fire management officials are seeking 30 candidates for the fourth annual Women-in-Wildfire Basic Training Camp based at Little Tujunga Hotshot headquarters in Sylmar, it was announced Tuesday. The six-day camp, which begins on Nov. 16, is designed to introduce and prepare women for entry-level wildland firefighter jobs throughout California and surrounding states. “Led by female firefighters who…

More than 900 firefighters aided by helicopters and air tankers are battling a wildfire in a rural area of Central California

Pacific Gas & Electric has emerged from a contentious bankruptcy saga that began after its long-neglected electrical grid ignited wildfires in California that killed more than 100 people.

Record high temperatures in some locations are fueling the start to this year’s fire season. More warm temperatures are expected this week, and late rains prompted additional fuel growth – primarily “light grassy fuels” which move very quickly. There are several big concerns this year:  Large scale base camp locations for firefighters. This is a concern when we will...

Ukraine’s state emergencies service continued to fight a wildfire burning in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

A herd of firefighting goats, who normally eat brush that could fuel wildfires, have been left without work due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Their owners are asking for help.

PG&E announced in San Francisco Monday that it has given up a controversial plan to pay a $4 million criminal fine to Butte County out of a proposed $13.5 billion trust to compensate wildfire victims.

Pacific Gas & Electric will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for a swath of death and destruction left behind after its fraying electrical grid ignited a 2018 wildfire that decimated three Northern California towns and drove the nation’s largest utility into bankruptcy.

A 175-acre fire was burning in the Norco area Tuesday, fueled by brush and light winds. The so-called Mann Fire began burning around 10 a.m. at California Avenue and Grulla Court in Norco. A large plume of smoke could be seen for miles in the area. Evacuations were order north of North Drive from Crest View to California Avenue. By…

The U.S. Forest Service has been working with states and other partners to treat more acres every year in hopes of reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfire, but Forest Chief Vicki Christiansen acknowledged that a budget proposal for the next fiscal year could mean no funding for some programs.

Pacific Gas & Electric has fired a contractor hired to haul debris from the site of a deadly 2018 Northern California wildfire, saying the company was over-billing the utility and paying “large sums of money and gifts” to two utility supervisors.

A federal judge sharply criticized PG&E at a hearing in San Francisco on Wednesday, saying that the utility had fallen “far behind” in complying with its wildfire mitigation plan. U.S. District Judge William Alsup spoke during a hearing on whether he should order PG&E to hire and train its own crew of tree trimmers in addition to using contractors...

The Bureau of Land Management has announced plans to fund 11,000 miles (17,703 kilometers) of strategic fuel breaks in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah in an effort to help control wildfires. The fuel breaks are intended to prop up fire mitigation efforts and help protect firefighters, communities and natural resources, The Oregonian reported Saturday. According to the BLM, wildfires...

A former deputy commissioner of New South Wales fire and rescue services sounded the alarm long before wildfires killed 34 Australians, decimated the country’s unique wildlife and created a smoke cloud so vast it was visible from space, NBC News reports.

The three American firefighters who were killed when the aerial water tanker they were in crashed while battling wildfires in Australia have been identified by their employer

Dust storms, hail and flash floods have battered beleaguered Australian cities in recent days, extreme weather that has diminished the threat from scores of wildfires that continue to blaze across the country’s southeast.

Australia’s unprecedented wildfires season has so far charred 40,000 square miles (104,000 square kilometers) of brushland, rainforests, and national parks — killing by one estimate more than a billion wild animals. Scientists fear some of the island continent’s unique and colorful species may not recover. For others, they are trying to throw lifelines....

Where flames have subsided, biologists are starting to...