Firefighters Northern California

A Northern California fire chief was acquitted this week on charges he stole a Los Angeles County fire engine, leaving unanswered the question: Who did get away with it? The San Fernando Municipal Court trial of Pat Colleary, chief of the Mendocino County-Anderson Valley Volunteer Fire Department, took longer than it ordinarily would have because so many of the witnesses were fellow firefighters, who had to be brought in from the fire lines as disastrous blazes swept Southern California.

A Northern California fire chief was acquitted this week on charges he stole a Los Angeles County fire engine, leaving unanswered the question: Who did get away with it? The San Fernando Municipal Court trial of Pat Colleary, chief of the Mendocino County-Anderson Valley Volunteer Fire Department, took longer than it ordinarily would have because so many of the witnesses were fellow firefighters, who had to be brought in from the fire lines as disastrous blazes swept Southern California.

Firefighters in Northern California expect to fully contain a 600-acre blaze in the Santa Cruz Mountains by tonight, but struggled Friday to control three other major fires burning from Monterey County north to Tehama County. Dying winds and beefed-up crews helped in the fight against the blazes, which by Friday night had burned nearly 50,000 acres, had injured 14 firefighters and civilians, had damaged or destroyed more than 70 buildings and were battled by more than 5,300 fire personnel, officials said.

Wildfires raged in at least eight states, from California to Florida, on Monday, a red-hot reminder that up to a quarter of the U.S. is gripped by drought. "Hot and dry, and that's the way it's going to stay for the foreseeable future," said Pat O'Bannon, a U.S. Forestry Service official on loan from his Northern California region to help fight fires that raced through woodlands in five Florida counties.

Firefighters in Northern California had contained 90% of a 520-acre blaze in the Santa Cruz Mountains on Saturday, and slowly gained the upper hand on three other major fires burning from Monterey County north to Tehama County. Dying winds, cooler temperatures and beefed-up crews helped in the fight against the blazes, which had burned more than 53,000 acres and at one point had firefighters concerned about the town of Paradise. "That happened yesterday, but we were able to hold it back," Janet Upton, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Saturday.

In the midst of intense state budget negotiations, Democratic lawmakers stole away to an elegant wine-country lodge where the gourmet meals, rooms and cocktails were provided by a trio of interests with much at stake in the Capitol. Soon after the trial lawyers and the unions representing firefighters and carpenters covered the $14,000 tab, their agendas advanced in Sacramento.

After years of cutbacks, the citizen soldiers California turns to in times of trouble have begun to receive a new infusion of money and modernized gear. At National Guard armories across Southern California, money for spare parts simply dried up through much of the 1990s, as the nation's military downsized. During the worst of it two years ago, platoon sergeant Kenneth La Mere recalls, about 90% of the vehicles at his Gardena armory were inoperable.

After years of cutbacks, the citizen soldiers California turns to in times of trouble have begun to receive a new infusion of money and modernized gear. At National Guard armories across Southern California, money for spare parts simply dried up through much of the 1990s, as the nation's military downsized. During the worst of it two years ago, Platoon Sgt. Kenneth La Mere recalls, about 90% of the vehicles at his Gardena armory were inoperable.

An unrelenting wildfire jumped a fire line Tuesday in the San Bernardino Mountains and headed toward Lake Arrowhead, devouring homes and disease-racked forests in its path. Downcast fire officials said they appeared to be losing their battle for the alpine resort region.