California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection News

Californians Endure Intense Weekend of Wildfire Fears

GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) — After four years of homelessness, Kesia Studebaker thought she finally landed on her feet when she found a job cooking in a diner and moved into a house in the small community of Greenville. She had …

California Utility Says its Equipment May Be Linked to Fire

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric equipment may have been involved in the start of the big Dixie Fire burning in the Sierra Nevada, the nation’s largest utility reported to California regulators. PG&E said in a report Sunday …

Fierce California Winds Fan Fires, Topple Trees and Trucks

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — Months-old embers from a deadly California fire were blown back to life Tuesday by powerful winds that raked the state and prompted safety blackouts to tens of thousands of people. Firefighters chased wind-driven blazes up …

California Heat Wave Prompts Power Shutdowns, Fire Danger

SAN FRANCISCO — More than 50,000 California utility customers were without power and others around the state were urged to conserve electricity Thursday amid a fall heat wave that brought another round of extreme wildfire danger. The National Weather Service …

Team Investigating Deadly Calif. Fire Seizes PG&E Equipment

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Fire investigators looking into what caused a wildfire that killed four people in far Northern California have taken possession of equipment belonging to Pacific Gas and Electric, the utility has reported. PG&E said in a filing …

California Avoids Major Power Outages as Wildfires Rage

SHAVER LAKE, Calif. — Rescuers in military helicopters airlifted 207 people to safety over the weekend after an explosive wildfire trapped them in a popular camping area in California’s Sierra National Forest, one of dozens of fires burning amid record-breaking …

Thousands Remain Evacuated From Southern California Wildfire

BANNING, Calif. — Evacuation orders remained in place early Monday for thousands of people after a wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles exploded in size and forced crews to battle flames in triple-digit heat. The Apple Fire in Riverside …

Weather Unfavorable on Northern California Fire Lines

SUSANVILLE, Calif. — Firefighters and aircraft worked Tuesday to halt the spread of two forest fires in rural northeastern California as unstable weather brought the risk of gusty winds, thunderstorms and lightning strikes that could start new blazes. The Gold …

Firefighters Battle Wildfires in Northeastern California, Dairy in Wisconsin

SUSANVILLE, Calif. — Firefighters and aircraft worked Tuesday to halt the spread of two forest fires in rural northeastern California. The Gold Fire in northern Lassen County nearly doubled in size to 7 square miles (18.2 square kilometers) south of …

PG&E’s Power Lines Caused Biggest California Fire of 2019

Less than a month after emerging from bankruptcy triggered by a string of devastating wildfires in 2017 and 2018, PG&E Corp. has now been found responsible for California’s biggest blaze of 2019. The California energy giant’s power lines sparked the …