Fire California

Four C-130 transport planes loaded with fire retardant flew from Point Mugu to a Northern California Air Force base on Monday to be within easy striking distance of wildfires in Yosemite National Park and other Northern California hot spots. Meanwhile, a 38-member ground crew from the California Youth Authority camp in Camarillo joined more than 2,400 firefighters Monday to battle the fires in Yosemite.

California's two U.S. senators and several local House members Thursday called on Congress' investigative arm to launch a sweeping probe into the Forest Service's response to last summer's disastrous Station fire. In asking for the investigation by the Government Accountability Office, which typically grants such requests, the lawmakers recommended a broad examination of the Forest Service's decisions and tactics. Those include the use of aircraft early in the fight and the question of whether everything possible was done to protect homes that burned in Big Tujunga Canyon.

In 2005, veteran Los Angeles County firefighter Crystal Golden-Jefferson died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. At first her death was a mystery: The 41-year-old Inglewood mother had always prided herself on her fitness. But now Jefferson's parents believe long-term exposure to brominated chemicals used as flame retardants in household furniture foam caused their daughter's death. Studies show that when burned, such compounds convert to brominated dioxin. Firefighters inhale the fumes and are exposed through soot contact with the skin.

A big rig carrying 47,000 pounds of potatoes caught fire, blocking two lanes of traffic and baking the potatoes in the process, authorities said Monday. The truck was traveling on the Antelope Valley Freeway south of Golden Valley Road at about 10 p.m. Sunday when the driver noticed that the trailer was on fire, California Highway Patrol Officer John Manduca said. The blaze apparently was caused by the friction of a flat tire rubbing against another tire, Manduca said.

A 15-acre brush fire near California 94 and Jamacha Road near Rancho San Diego was the largest of several grass fires in San Diego County on Sunday. The fire was extinguished by about 100 firefighters from the California Department of Forestry. Carlsbad firefighters, with help from Oceanside, extinguished a 10-acre grass fire in three hours near Lake Calavera.

Fire crew staffing is being increased in Riverside County because of dry conditions. About 26 more personnel will staff six engines and fly two aircraft for the Riverside County Fire Department/California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Capt. Julie Hutchinson, an agency spokeswoman. Currently, there are 10 engines staffed. The additions are part of what the department calls "peak staffing" to increase manpower for the summer.

The 720-acre wildfire west of Hayfork is believed to be an arson fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported Sunday. The rural Trinity County blaze had not burned any structures since it began Friday evening, and it was 60% contained by Sunday morning, fire officials said. They expected full containment by 6 p.m. Monday. The blaze started on private property and moved into the Shasta Trinity National Forest, and 21 square miles of the forest have been closed.

California Department of Forestry investigators labeled a 60-acre brush fire Friday near Wildcat Canyon Road northeast of Lakeside arson. The blaze was "maliciously started," investigators said, and an incendiary device was found at the scene. Donna Adams, CDF information officer, said the fire was started about 1 p.m. Anyone who was near Wildcat Canyon Road and Muth Valley Road about that time is asked to contact CDF investigators at 588-0364, Adams said.