Burns

The signs for Robert Martinez were not good when he arrived at the hospital four months ago. They rarely are when a body is stripped almost completely of the familiar insulating layer called skin. With more than 80% of his body burned in a refinery steam explosion and his lungs horribly damaged by contaminants from the blast, Martinez could breathe only with the aid of a ventilator as he lay comatose in his specially equipped bed at Torrance Memorial Medical Center.

This week, on Facebook, someone posted one of those preprinted witticisms that vie with cute kittens for the attention of people sharing stuff: "I don't know where YOU live, but the weather here is somewhere between bipolar and psychotic this year. " I live in the woods in Northern California at an elevation of 2,500 feet. In my backyard, fenced to keep the deer out, there are 30 rosebushes. Most years, the first flush of roses comes at the end of May, but there are a couple hundred roses in full bloom out back, an unusual sight at this elevation this early in the season.

In a ceremony that featured tributes from patients and firefighters, the Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital saluted its 25th anniversary Thursday by renaming the acclaimed facility after its founder and medical director. With the help of children who had been his patients, Dr. A. Richard Grossman unveiled a sign declaring it the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital.

The second day of searing temperatures and unseasonably strong Santa Ana winds kept firefighters busy Friday battling blazes that threatened homes in Ventura County, Glendale and Walnut, but the day ended with hope that cooling conditions would ease the siege. The day was filled with tense moments as the Springs fire lurched closer to homes near Thousand Oaks and a fast-moving blaze in Glendale prompted evacuations and temporarily shut down parts of a busy freeway interchange. Although the amount of burned acreage increased significantly Friday, the fires did not cause major damage to structures.

Welcome to another exciting installment of Fun With Math! Today we're going to use basic addition and subtraction to show how running is better than walking for fat loss, no matter what your doctor says. I have no idea where the myth that walking a mile burns the same number of calories as running one originated, but I do know doctors are fond of telling it. My wife — a family physician — tells me that many of her colleagues have relayed this bit of metabolic misinformation. I see it as another example of telling people just what they want to hear: You don't have to work hard to achieve great results.

Mark Twain moved to Carson City, Nev., in the 1860s and fell in love with the area, though a campfire he built accidentally started a low-burning forest fire. The question of where exactly Twain camped on Lake Tahoe has inspired the Gatekeeper's Museum in Tahoe City to host the "Mark Twain Tahoe Mystery Public Festivity," featuring two authors with competing theories. The event takes place June 21 at the museum. Info:   www . northtahoemuseums .org . . . . Airline industry consultant Robert Herbst says to expect a merger of American Airlines and US Airways in the next two years . Fresh out of their own bankruptcies, Delta and Northwest merged in 2008, he notes.

Call this the story of Bo the Wyoming Wonder Dog. A few months back, the severely injured 3-year-old shepherding dog rushed into his owner's home in rural Worland, Wyo. (population 5,487), about 150 miles north of Casper. He'd been shot twice and then burned inside a barrel. The blue-heeler was bleeding from the face, and third-degree burns covered most of his body. But he was alive. Barely. Talk about an animal with nine lives. PHOTOS: Rescued animals “If Bo does have nine lives, he certainly used up at least a couple of them with this incident,” the dog's owner, Abby Redland, told the Los Angeles Times.

Firefighters on Friday fought a fast-growing blaze in New Mexico where two smaller fires have merged into a fierce blaze covering extreme terrain that is making containment efforts difficult. A total of 82,252 acres have been burned by the fire, known as the Whitewater-Baldy Complex in the Gila National Forest, fire officials reported . The Baldy fire was reported May 9 and the Whitewater on May 16. They merged on Wednesday, and almost all of the growth has come since then as winds have whipped through the difficult terrain.

Reports of consumers getting a face full of hot steam and scorching coffee grounds, with 61 suffering burn injuries, have sparked a recall of more than 600,000 Mr. Coffee single-cup brewers. The products, which were sold for up to $80 online and at retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and Wal-Mart, have resulted in 59 American customers and two Canadian buyers reporting burns to their faces, upper torsos and hands. Steam built up in the brewer's water reservoir can force the chamber open and cause hot water and coffee grounds to spew out, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The Southern California wildfire season got off to an ominous start Thursday with a massive brush fire in Ventura County that officials fear is just a preview of dangerous months ahead. The fire showed in dramatic fashion how the region's record dry conditions and lack of rainfall can quickly combine with fierce Santa Ana winds to produce widespread havoc. Firefighters said the dry winter and spring left the brush much more combustible than they've ever seen it at this time of year.

A fast-moving brush fire powered by Santa Ana winds raged out of control Wednesday in Riverside County, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes and creating a thick pall of smoke that stretched for miles and affected air quality in the region. The Summit fire, which had charred at least 2,950 acres near Banning, spread quickly after breaking out shortly after noon as hundreds of firefighters struggled to create containment lines and protect homes, officials said. The blaze destroyed at least one home and left one firefighter with minor injuries.

A brush fire caused by live-fire training at Camp Pendleton has burned more than 80 acres, the Marine Corps said Thursday afternoon. The fire is being fought by three trucks and a water tender. There are no reports of injuries or damage to structures and no threat exists to surrounding communities, the Marines said. tony.perry@latimes.com   ALSO: Exotic snakes on the loose at Torrance park Alleged O.C. drug dealer charged with murder in overdose death Coastal commissioner resigns after Vietnam 'carpet bombing' remark

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's attorney general said Tuesday that seven people had been killed and 61 injured in post-presidential election clashes between police, supporters of newly elected President Nicolas Maduro and challenger Henrique Capriles, who has demanded a recount. Atty. Gen. Luisa Ortega Diaz also said that 135 people had been arrested since election results were announced late Sunday that gave Maduro a victory by 1.5 percentage points. Capriles, the governor of Miranda state, has charged that Maduro stole the election, citing 3,200 alleged irregularities in Sunday's balloting.

Police are trying to determine a motive for an attack in which a man sitting in his SUV was set on fire outside a 7-Eleven store in Long Beach. Raymond Sean Clark, 38, is accused of dousing the 62-year-old victim with a flammable substance while he was parked in front of the store at about 5 p.m. Friday, said Long Beach police Sgt. Aaron Eaton. There were reports that there had been an argument between Clark, who has been described as homeless, and the victim just before the attack, but Eaton said that had not been confirmed.

A 63-year-old man who was set on fire while sitting inside his sport utility vehicle outside a 7-Eleven store in Long Beach on Friday has died, authorities say. The victim was pronounced dead Monday morning at a local hospital, three days after the incident. Long Beach Police Department identified him as Jerry Payne. Raymond Sean Clark, a 38-year-old homeless man, was initially booked on suspicion of attempted murder and on two outstanding warrants Friday night. Authorities say they will now rebook Clark on suspicion of murder.

A performer with Lyric Opera of Chicago suffered serious burns Monday afternoon when his face went up in flames during a dress rehearsal of Wagner's “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg” at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. Wesley Daniel, 24, is expected to be OK and should be released from the hospital this Thursday, according to the Chicago Tribune. Daniel's father, Clifton Truman Daniel, 55, was in the audience when the accident occurred. “It's horrifying,” he told the Tribune.

Reports of consumers getting a face full of steam and scorching coffee grounds, with 61 suffering burns, have sparked a recall of more than 600,000 Mr. Coffee single-cup brewers. The products - which were sold for up to $80 online and at retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and Wal-Mart - have resulted in 59 American customers and two Canadian buyers reporting burns to their faces, upper torsos and hands. Steam built up in the brewer's water reservoir can force the chamber open and cause hot water and coffee grounds to spew out, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Officials in Nevada's isolated Pershing County want to make it perfectly clear: When it comes to the wild-and-wacky Burning Man festival held each year in their midst, they're not going to get burned financially. Not even close. The want to increase their bill for law enforcement and security for the Labor Day weekend bacchanal in the Black Rock Desert, on land overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. So far, state legislators aren't buying any price increase plans. A Nevada legislative panel this week narrowly approved a bill to prevent the sprawling county (population 6,734)

A fire in Ventura County that burned two homes and threatened many more is 80% contained, fire officials said Monday. The Fillmore fire , sparked by a downed power line, started Monday afternoon and burned a mobile home in the 1400 block of Goodenough Road and then spread to nearby brush and began burning uphill. "We got a lot of work done last night" after the winds died down, Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Mike Lindbery told The Times. "Today is our day to get strong work done.