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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A massive fire in the Angeles National Forest nearly doubled in size overnight, threatening 12,000 homes Monday in a 20-mile-long swath of flame and smoke and surging toward a mountaintop broadcasting complex and historic observatory. The fire was the largest of at least eight burning up and down California after days of triple-digit temperatures and low humidity. The Los Angeles-area blaze had burned at least 21 homes and was moving north, south and east through the rugged foothills northeast of the city. Despite a lack of wind, the fire surged without letup by running through steep...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Firefighters tried Monday to hold back a massive wildfire from consuming thousands of Los Angeles-area homes and a crucial communications center as they mourned two firefighters killed when their vehicle rolled down a mountain. About 12,000 homes, as well as communications and astronomy centers atop Mount Wilson, were threatened by fire. At least 6,600 homes were under mandatory evacuation orders Sunday night and over 2,500 firefighters were battling the flames. On the blaze's northwestern front, two firefighters were killed Sunday on Mount Gleason near the city of Acton.

Firefighters' goal: Keep the fire within the blue line. The northern flank is nearing the Acton area, prompting evacuations along Highway 14. The fire is two miles from Mt. Wilson, site of communications towers and an observatory. To the southwest, flames are still spreading above the foothills above the 210. La Crescenta and La Cañada Flintridge expands evacuation areas.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today urged residents in fire evacuation zones to flee as firefighters predicted another difficult day battling a wildfire that has burned 35,000 acres and threatened more than 12,000 homes from Acton to Altadena. Schwarzenegger noted at a morning press conference that three residents in Big Tujunga Canyon suffered serious burns trying in vain to save their homes Saturday. "There will be people who don't listen," the governor said at the fire command post in Lake View Terrace. ". . . Move as soon as [firefighters] say to move." Although thousands of homes are covered in the evacuation...

Date: August 15, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FIRE INVESTIGATORS DETERMINE CAUSE OF LA BREA FIRE GOLETA, CA... A week-long investigation by U.S. Forest Service Special Agents, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit and Fire Investigators has revealed the cause of the La Brea Fire. Investigators revealed that the La Brea Fire was started by a cooking fire in a marijuana drug trafficking operation. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit has confirmed that the camp at the origin of the fire was an illegal marijuana operation believed to be run by a Mexican National Drug Organization. The Narcotics Unit has...

The La Brea Fire has reached 67,092 acres and remains 10 percent contained. A slight increase in humidity helped the fire crews overnight, however the fire was very active, gaining almost 10,000 acres in about 12 hours. The evacuation order remains in effect for about 234 residences in Tepusquet, Colson, Ruiz, Moon and Eckert canyons. For all evacuation information, click here. There will be a community meeting on the fire Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the Benjamin Foxen Elementary School, located at 4949 Foxen Canyon Road in Sisquoc.

Heavy smoke from the Lockheed Fire in northern California had cleared enough by Friday that authorities could see it had spread substantially from the day before and had destroyed two buildings.A California Department of Forestry and Fire source said smoke had prevented authorities from accurately assessing the amount of damage. "Now that the smoke has cleared we can get a better view of it," he said. Hundreds of firefighters had managed to contain about 5 percent of the northern California wildfire that grew from 2,800 acres on Thursday to 4,100 acres Friday. No injuries have been reported, according to Cal...

(IsraelNN.com) Fire fighters in northern Israel fought dozens of blazes that broke out during the day Wednesday, most of them around noontime. A source in the Hadera Fire Services told News1 that due to the fact that numerous fires broke out in a relatively limited area, the working assumption is that they were deliberately set. “We still do not know how the fires were set and we do not have details about the arsonist or arsonists,” he said.

A CFA volunteer is the prime suspect for lighting the fire that devastated Marysville, killing 39 people. The Herald Sun reports sources have revealed a man has been interviewed and released over the Marysville blaze by the Phoenix Taskforce investigating the Black Saturday fires. The man, who has not been named, was formally interviewed in the weeks after the catastrophe, but has not been charged as investigators gather more evidence. A police spokesman said the force would not confirm or deny a lead suspect had been identified. On April 1, Assistant Commissioner Dannye Moloney said police were close to pinning...

The U.S. Forest Service wants to thin or burn 25,000 acres of overgrown forest on Pikes Peak and surrounding foothills, areas where fire suppression has created "unnatural forest conditions prime for catastrophic wildlfire," . It would be the largest tree removal project on the peak since 1890s loggers left wide swaths of the mountain bare to meet the demands of Cripple Creek's gold rush. Officials say thinning and burning is needed because a major fire on the peak would pose a threat to the lives and property of the many people who live adjacent to the peak's forests, Colorado Springs'...

After detailed maps of local military operations and anti-government slogans were found in a south Minneapolis apartment, federal authorities are now involved in the investigation. The three tenants were evicted from the property this weekend, but what they left behind has caught the interest of the FBI and Homeland Security. A cleaning crew made the discovery shortly before 12 p.m. on Tuesday. One of the workers told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they noticed maps on the walls with government chains and commands. Inside a closet, they found numerous rolls of maps. Authorities said the details are disturbing. "We ran into a...

GLOBAL warming preachers have been crowing over the bushfires in ways not just despicable but dangerous. Just hours after the first bodies were being recovered, Greens leader Bob Brown was already on television, lecturing us on our sins against the planet. Rather than confess that green activists had been desperately wrong to oppose fuel reduction burns, Brown was eager to boast that this catastrophe had instead proved them right. About global warming, you know. "(The fires are) a sobering reminder of the need for this nation and the whole world to act and put at a priority the need to...

THE Canberra firefighter who died near fire-ravaged Marysville was trying to connect a hose to a tanker when a tree fell on him, Victorian police said. The firefighter killed at Cambarville, east of Melbourne, last night was a 58-year-old man from Banks in the ACT, Victoria Police said today. The ACT Fire Brigade member is the first firefighter to die in the Victoria fires emergency, which so far has claimed at least 200 civilian lives. "It appears the firefighter was attempting to connect a hose to the back of an ACT strike team tanker when a large tree came down...

THE death toll from Victoria's worst ever bushfires has climbed from 189 to 200. A full report will follow shortly. Meanwhile, anger at accused bushfire arsonist Brendan Sokaluk has led to threats against a member of his family and harassment of a former girlfriend. Mr Sokaluk, 39, is charged with lighting the Churchill fire, which killed at least 10 people, and is in custody at a secret location amid fears vigilantes will harm him. He has been charged with one count each of arson causing death, intentionally lighting a bushfire and possessing child pornography. Victoria's Supreme Court today heard there...

GIPPSLAND firefighters are outraged at the jail sentence handed down to a pregnant arsonist in Morwell Magistrates' Court this morning. Rosemary Ann Harris, 31, of Moe, was refused bail this afternoon after she was sentenced to three years with a minimum of two-and-a-half behind bars for lighting two fires at Tyers, near Traralgon, and Driffield, near Morwell on a total fire ban day in December 2006. "In the circumstances the application for bail is refused," Magistrate John Dugdale said, explaining the refusal was based on "the nature of the offending and the prevailing bushfire situation in Victoria". The bail hearing...

THE man accused of starting one of the deadly Victoria fires, which killed at least 21 people in Gippsland on Black Saturday, has failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing in Melbourne. The hearing was held without 39-year-old Brendan Sokaluk. He was remanded in custody until a committal hearing, which will be held on May 25. The man, who faces charges including arson causing death and possession of child pornography, can now be named after a court order banning publication of his name was lifted. However the order remains barring publication of his address or a photo of him....

THE public has been urged not to threaten the safety of an accused firebug scheduled to appear in court today on a deadly arson charge. A 39-year-old man accused of starting the Churchill-Jeerelang bushfire in Gippsland, in Victoria's east, has been remanded in custody and is due to appear in court today. "Coming to court and protesting is not an appropriate thing to do,'' Police Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said today. "Obviously, we will make sure this person is well protected. "We hope that we don't have to deal with a gang of people who are angry and concerned...

POLICE have released an image of a man sought for questioning over a scrub fire that threatened houses at East Ivanhoe, in Melbourne's northeast. Up to 50 Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) officers fought the three hectare blaze blaze in scrub that began in the Yarra Flats at East Ivanhoe about 3pm (AEDT), police said. It's believed the fire was deliberately lit and police are investigating.

Angry residents last night accused local authorities of contributing to the Victorian bushfire toll by failing to let residents chop down trees and clear up bushland that posed a fire risk. During question time at a packed community meeting in Arthurs Creek on Melbourne's northern fringe, Warwick Spooner — whose mother Marilyn and brother Damien perished along with their home in the Strathewen blaze — criticised the Nillumbik council for the limitations it placed on residents wanting the council's help or permission to clean up around their properties in preparation for the bushfire season. "We've lost two people in my...

A thirsty koala rescued from the Australian wild fires has become a star on YouTube, the video-sharing website, emerging as a lucky survivor of the disaster that has killed more than 180 people. Firefighter Dave Tree stumbled across the female marsupial, nicknamed Sam, as he was battling blazes in Victoria state and was amazed when the parched animal allowed him to approach and guzzled water from a bottle he offered. “Things do survive the bush fire ... are you alright buddy?” he asked in footage captured by a fellow volunteer on a mobile phone. The cuddly appearance of the koala...