U S Forest Service

Firefighters battled a 7,000-acre brush fire in the Mendocino National Forest that started earlier in the week near Stonyford. Eight air tankers, five helicopters and more than 750 fire personnel from the U.S. Forest Service, the California Department of Forestry and area fire departments were battling the blaze. The fire started early Wednesday and quickly spread through rough terrain between the cities of Willows and Covelo. Phoebe Brown, a spokeswoman with the U.S.

More than 1,000 campers and up to 4,000 residents fled the mountains of Santa Barbara County as a fast-moving wildfire swept through part of Los Padres National Forest and surrounding areas, officials said. The White fire broke out about 2:45 p.m. Monday in the rugged terrain about 12 miles north of Santa Barbara and by evening had grown to about 1,000 acres and blanketed the tourist city with smoke and a dusting of ashes. No homes had burned but up to 5,000 people were ordered to evacuate before the fire changed course and headed toward unpopulated terrain, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Andrew Madsen.

More than 100 firefighters on Sunday planned to work around the clock to put out a fire that by nightfall had burned about 50 acres of sage, grass and chaparral in the Sespe Wilderness Area, officials said. The fire--located eight miles east of Ojai in the Los Padres National Forest--was 10% contained by Sunday night. Officials did not expect full containment until tonight, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Joe Pasinato said. No structures were threatened in the blaze that ignited about 2:15 p.m.

A 1,300-acre brush fire that swept through Angeles National Forest near Castaic was extinguished early Wednesday morning, a forest spokeswoman said. More than 200 Los Angeles County and U. S. Forest Service firefighters began mop-up efforts after the fire was controlled at 6 a.m., said Joan Wynn, a spokeswoman for Angeles National Forest.

A brush fire fueled by warm temperatures was partially contained but it continued to spread rapidly through the Los Padres National Forest, consuming more than 3,500 acres by Sunday evening. About 700 firefighters battled the flames in dry grassland and chaparral about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, said Earl Clayton, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. The fire had been about 15% contained, but firefighters lost ground by Sunday evening, said U.S.

The U.S. Forest Service has abandoned a controversial proposal to ignore mass e-mails and other mailings from the public commenting on its pending rules and regulations. The plan, part of a proposed rule change by the Bush administration, received widespread criticism from environmentalists and public advocacy groups. "We saw the error of our ways," said the U.S. Forest Service's Jody Sutton. "We want everyone's comments."

A former U.S. Forest Service employee was sentenced to the maximum of 12 years in state prison for starting the biggest wildfire in Colorado history. Terry Lynn Barton, 39, who in June started a 138,000-acre blaze that destroyed 133 homes and one business, already had been sentenced to six years on federal charges. The state and federal terms will run concurrently.