Forest Fire

As a stubborn wildfire continued to burn across the canyon lands in northeast Orange County on Wednesday, the U.S. Forest Service said it would cover all firefighting costs because it accidentally started the blaze. The fire, which has changed direction several times since it broke out before dawn Monday, grew Wednesday to about 8,635 acres. More than 2,000 firefighters were working to bring it under control.

Aircraft from around Europe dropped water on raging forest fires in drought-stricken Portugal as firefighters and soldiers evacuated hamlets near the town of Miranda do Corvo. A civilian was killed Monday when he was struck by a firetruck while helping battle a blaze. Firefighters also found the burnt body of an elderly woman, but it was unclear how she had died, an official said.

Indonesia will prosecute 10 companies, eight of them Malaysian, for illegally lighting fires on Indonesia's Sumatra island that have enveloped much of Malaysia in smoke, Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban said. The haze, which began Aug. 2, has forced the closure of schools and workplaces and dramatically increased respiratory ailments. Farmers, plantation owners and miners on Sumatra, near Malaysia, light fires to clear land during dry weather.

A noxious haze blamed on forest fires in Indonesia reached dangerous levels in Kuala Lumpur and nearby areas Wednesday, closing schools, grounding some flights and keeping residents indoors. Environment Minister Adenan Satem said the haze, which appeared last week, is concentrated over the Klang Valley, home to Kuala Lumpur, the capital. "The situation is not getting better.

Eleven firefighters trying to extinguish a forest fire sparked by a smoldering barbecue were killed in central Spain. The charred remains of the firefighters were found together in a gully, said Rosario Arevalo, environmental chief for the central Castilla-La Mancha region where the fire occurred. Arevalo offered no further details on the deaths.

More than 1,100 forest fires burning in central Indonesia have enveloped the region in a choking haze that has endangered health and delayed flights. Bush fires have sent smoke billowing over Sumatra and Kalimantan in recent months, and the cloud has also spread to Malaysia. Officials have distributed face masks to schools and residents who request them.

As forest supervisor for the Los Padres National Forest, I would like to offer my observations regarding the current working relationship between this national forest and the Ventura office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As mentioned in "Federal Agency Faulted in Fires" (Dec. 15), the General Accounting Office report in August 2003 indicated that the Los Padres National Forest staff was frustrated by the amount of time it took the FWS to address our prescribed burn proposals. Our discussions with the GAO occurred in late 2002, at a time when the Ventura office of the FWS lacked sufficient staff and resources to review our projects in a timely manner.