Evacuations

A wildfire burning near one of the main entrances to Yosemite National Park destroyed at least 12 homes and 27 outbuildings in and near the town of Midpines, and burned more than 26,000 acres of brush and woodlands, authorities said Sunday. With smoke and ashes blanketing much of the area, residents have been evacuated from nearly 500 homes, and authorities have cut power to the park. Three firefighters had sustained minor injuries in the fire, which was 10% contained as of 8 p.m.

. -- Residents to the world: What about us? As the Telegraph fire raged through the wilderness for the fifth day Tuesday, amused locals wondered why Yosemite National Park was getting all the ink. Sure, the park's famous vistas are obscured by smoke. And many hotel rooms there remained without power, but "it's Mariposa's fire," said Darci Bazinet, 35, who evacuated with her three children and four pets Saturday. "It's burning our houses. It's not in the national park."

Fire broke out early Sunday in the Angeles National Forest, destroying a house and three motor homes and prompting the evacuation of about 1,200 residents of 450 homes in the areas of Lopez and Kagel canyons, authorities said. By Sunday night, the so-called Marek fire, named for Marek Canyon, had burned about 2,100 acres in the area north of Lake View Terrace. It was about 20% contained, officials said.

A small but dangerous brush fire that edged toward pricey Newport Beach homes Monday afternoon, damaging two homes and spurring a brief evacuation, was contained just two hours after it began, authorities said. The 35-acre fire, pushed by Santa Ana winds, chewed up hillsides in a neighborhood near Bonita Canyon Drive off the 73 toll road, threatening but not destroying any homes, said Jennifer Schulz, community education coordinator with the Newport Beach Fire Department.

October in Twin Lakes is the season Anna Cox backs her car into the driveway so she can escape quickly. Santa Anas come out of the passes hard there, and in the 23 years she's lived in the canyon, fire has strafed her community too many times to remember. She accepted the risk.

The Westmont College gym was itchy hot and getting hotter. Eye-burning smoke seeped inside, despite the blue duct tape covering the cracks between the double doors. As campus officials repeatedly assured about 800 students and faculty that this sturdy, cinder-block gym was the safest place to be, some evacuees formed prayer circles on the wooden floor. Others made frantic cellphone calls to family and friends. One played a guitar and sang.

Although flames had chewed through the power lines that serve the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, staff members thought that they would be fine. The hospital prided itself on its "state-of-the-art" backup systems. But wind-whipped flames and choking smoke brought Olive View to a dark standstill early Saturday as the hospital lost power and its emergency generators failed. "It was total darkness," said hospital spokeswoman Carla Nino. "We had our flashlights. We went into our disaster mode."

Enough already. That seems to be the general consensus among residents in the fire-ravaged and now mudslide-threatened neighborhoods of Yorba Linda. So when the latest mandatory evacuation order went out Monday morning, many people decided to stay put. "Once you leave, you can't come back," said Michele Zenk, who like many of her neighbors in the Box Canyon area has been through this drill too many times to count. "This is not a good time of year to get stuck in your home."

Thousands of harried passengers were evacuated Friday from both terminals at Oakland International Airport after an unidentified man bolted past security without being screened. Outbound flights were held and air travelers herded into the parking lot while officials searched for the man, who was not found. Airport Drive, which leads to the terminals, was also closed to traffic. "Our parking lot was completely full of passengers," said Joanne Holloway, an airport spokeswoman.

Authorities were investigating the cause of a mysterious sulphurous stench Monday that wafted over Manhattan and parts of New Jersey, prompting building evacuations and disrupting mass transit. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg told nervous New Yorkers that there was no indication the air was unsafe to breathe. A Homeland Security official said there was no sign of terrorism. Officials tracked the smell to New Jersey.