During a 2024 wildfire season described as unprecedented, the tiny central Idaho town of Stanley and nearby Redfish Lake Lodge narrowly missed incineration by two fires: the Bench Lake and then the Wapiti blazes. It took heroic firefighting efforts and favorable turns in weather conditions for the town a mountain mecca for tourists from around the world to survive without the loss of a single life or home.
In howling winds and choking smoke during the January fires that devastated Altadena and Pacific Palisades, more than 1,100 incarcerated firefighters cleared brush and dug fire lines, some for wages of less than $30 per day. Those firefighters could soon see a major raise. On Thursday, California lawmakers unanimously approved a plan to pay incarcerated firefighters the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour while assigned to an active fire, a raise of more than 700%.
Coastlines around the world are threatened by flooding, erosion, and saltwater incursions into wells and community water supplies. In the United States, the Southeast and Northeast are most susceptible to hurricane and storm surge flooding, as well as losing freshwater supplies due to saltwater incursion as the sea rises. In the West, coastal erosion, including the loss of homes on bluffs above Pacific beaches, and water supply issues are the primary concerns facing homeowners who live near the ocean.
So far, Strenfel said, addressing a virtual audience during a PG&E broadcast Wednesday, the company has installed more than 1,600 weather stations that help meteorologists like him track wind, temperatures and humidity across its service area in California, which he said is 70,000 square miles, mostly in Northern California, but also parts of Southern California. So many of these stations are needed, Strenfel said, because a lot of weather can happen in those square miles, because of the state's varied topography,
Lessons learned from catastrophic and deadly wildfires that ravaged California in recent years could help residents and communities in and near forested areas limit damage from future fires, a first-of-its-kind study suggests. And experts say the researchers' conclusion that clearing flammable materials for five feet around houses - the area targeted as Zone 0 under a looming and controversial state-wide regulation - should also help residents in fire-risk zones understand the need for such measures.
Layne Smith, left, clears vegetation to prevent flames from spreading to his home as a fire burns through the Chinese Camp community of Tuolumne County. Multiple structures have burned in the historic Gold Rush town after thousands of lightning strikes ignited a spate of fast-moving fires in the dry rural foothills of the eastern Sierra. Chinese Camp, named for the Chinese miners who settled there, is a registered California landmark filled with historic structures and home to roughly 60 residents. Photograph: Noah Berger/AP
Shortly after lightning sparked dozens of wildfires in California's Sierra Nevada foothills this week, author Stephen Provost received news that devastated him. Fire was sweeping through Chinese Camp, a Gold Rush-era town that a group of Chinese miners founded in the 19th century after they were driven out of a nearby settlement. The town's almost 100 residents were forced to evacuate and news reports showed flames consuming historic buildings.
The 6-5 Fire swept into the Gold Rush-era town of Chinese Camp, with a population of 90 people, destroying multiple structures and mobile homes. According to the Associated Press, at least five homes were on fire there Tuesday night, but photos from the town show widespread destruction of structures. According to Cal Fire, "The fire has exhibited active runs in critically dry tall grass, brush, and timber fuels. The terrain is challenging to access, requiring fire crews to hike in by foot to many remote locations."
By 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, the weather service had recorded about 4,800 lightning strikes from Sacramento to San Luis Obispo, including 1,300 that touched the ground. The weather service said an unknown amount of fires started overnight in southeast Monterey County and in southwestern Fresno County early Tuesday. It was not known immediately how big any of those fires were, but Cal Fire had not reported any new ones on its list of California's major ones.
The California State Automobile Association, an insurance group affiliated with AAA, has officially filed for a homeowners' insurance rate increase. "It's pretty insane to me that, you know, when it comes to their turn to pay out, they're not doing it as they should be," CSAA Insurance customer Jesse Kramasz said. Kramasz has had an open claim with CSAA since 2020. MORE: State Farm requests another rate hike, 1 week after CA approved the last one "The day after Christmas, actually," she said. "So, we noticed a leak under our sink, which turned into this big old thing, and we just had problem after problem and delays from the insurance company and just haven't been able to get our claim settled."
It's packed, but what I can tell you is that it's typically not like you see on other warm-weather holiday weekends like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, AAA spokesperson Doug Johnson said. The three-day weekend typically turns into a four-day break for many. Changes to school calendars in recent years may have a lot to do with it.
In Yosemite National Park, hikers were surprisingly soaked this weekend as summer storms blew through the area. Meanwhile, thunderstorms across California's mountains launched rapid-fire lightning strikes that sparked several forest fires. And as Burning Man kicked off in Nevada's desert northwest, a major dust storm forced traffic to a halt as attendees tried to avoid the desert's wrath. The impetus for this widespread wild weather was a late-arriving monsoonal pattern, fueled by the region's lingering heat that pulled atmospheric moisture north - and, with it,
Wildfires have so far ravaged more than one million hectares of land in European Union countries this year, a record since recording began in 2006, according to AFP analysis of official data. Surpassing the annual record of 988,524 hectares burnt in 2017, the figure reached 1,015,731 hectares on Thursday, an area larger than Cyprus. This calculation is based on a total compiled by AFP from estimates by country from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), at a time when Spain and Portugal are still battling wildfires.
In the early days of December 2024, Michelle Pierce, the owner of the recently opened indie bookstore Malibu Village Books, was finally starting to feel like her little shop was finding its footing. Opened the year before, the store had just launched a big book fair at a Malibu school, and was well into making inroads with other local institutions to collaborate on events.
Many politicians love to play fireman, often visiting disaster scenes and advising real firefighters on how they can do things better. No politico does this more than President Trump, who frequently advises California governors they need to rake the forests to prevent fires.
Fire crews in Greece, Spain and Portugal raced Thursday to contain wildfires, taking advantage of calmer winds that slowed the blazes' advance. A drop in wind speeds allowed firefighting aircraft in the three hard-hit countries to step up water drops, concentrating on existing fire zones rather than chasing fast-moving fronts.
Today is another very difficult day with the level of fire risk remaining very high across many parts of the country, fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis said on Wednesday, adding that at least 15 firefighters needed medical treatment for injuries and exhaustion.
