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MADRID (AFP) – Underground fires have been raging for weeks in a wetlands area in southern Spain, sparked by the dry summer and the overuse of water for agriculture, an environmentalist said Tuesday. The Tablas de Daimiel National Park, fed by the Guadiana river, has been drying up since the 1980s, and some lagoons have already disappeared. In late August, hot dry weather caused the peat subsurface to catch fire, and plumes of smoke can be seen rising from the ground, said Jose Manuel Hernandez, head of the environmental organisation that looks after the park. "This is a new phenomenon...

The monster Station Fire burning north of Los Angeles was human-caused, a U.S. Forest Service official said Wednesday. Meanwhile, fire crews prepared for potential setbacks because of returning drier conditions, MSNBC.com reported. Investigators don't know specifically how the Station Fire was started but have enough information to determine it was caused by a person, the Forest Service's deputy incident commander Carlton Joseph said during a news conference. Investigators were determining whether the fire was accidental or arson and identified the point of origin as mile marker 29 on Angeles Crest Highway. Firefighters caught a weather break Tuesday when moister, cooler...

The White House on Monday fired back after former Vice President Dick Cheney called the Obama administration's decision to open a probe into alleged CIA abuses an "outrageous political act." White House Press Secretary Roberts Gibbs broadly dismissed Cheney's comments on "FOX News Sunday" as typical and unfounded.

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...

"INCENDIARY" abortion law reforms last year that made Victoria "the baby-killing state" are responsible for the devastating bushfires, controversial Christian leader Danny Nalliah said yesterday. "God's protection has been taken off the state, and Satan is having a go at the nation," Mr Nalliah, senior pastor of Catch the Fire Ministries, told The Age. Mr Nalliah's Australia Day prayer rallies have been supported by former prime minister John Howard and former treasurer Peter Costello. Mr Costello delivered a televised address to Mr Nalliah's Australia Day prayer meeting last month. Mr Costello yesterday rejected Mr Nalliah's abortion explanation for the fires...

Fire crews are worried major blazes burning out of control near Melbourne could join to create one massive bushfire. Firefighters are working on containment lines around the Maroondah-Yarra fires and the Bunyip fires. At this stage no communities are under threat and 18 kilometres separate the two fire complexes, but lightning has caused spot fires between them. CFA deputy chief fire officer Steve Warrington says there are fears a wind change could push them together. "There are a number of settlements in that particular area, if you look at the proximity of Powelltown, which pretty well sits right in the...

Sad picture (not to mention the human suffering and deaths):

THE death toll from the Victoria fires catastrophe leapt to 173 overnight as authorities found bodies clustered together where people fleeing the flames or trying to save their homes had been overwhelmed. Twenty-four fires were still burning early this morning and towns remained under threat as authorities moved deeper into the ruins of those communities hit in the fire's first wave, when more than 700 homes were lost. The death toll from the bushfires is certain to rise further. Bushfire relief funds were receiving $1 million in donations per hour yesterday, with $15 million pledged by last night. Victorian Premier...

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd said arsonists in Victoria had committed mass murder as the death toll in Australia's worst ever bushfires rose to 108 this morning. The final toll was expected to rise further and fires were still burning out of control and putting towns at risk in the Beechworth and Yackandandah regions in the state's northeast. Amid speculation some of the fires were deliberately lit - and with reports yesterday that people were returning to relight blazes after fire crews had left an area - Mr Rudd said: "There are no words to describe it other than mass murder."...

FIFTY people are confirmed dead in bushfires that have devastated several Victorian communities. Police have just confirmed the new figure. 640 houses have been destroyed. While firebugs are being blamed for several blazes ravaging Victoria, the Country Fire Authority has confirmed that several fires are being deliberately relit by arsonists. CFA deputy chief Steve Warrington said an arsonist is hampering firefighters’ efforts in Churchill with an intense blaze taking hold. "We know we do have someone who is lighting fires in this community. While we often think it's spotting, we also know that there are people lighting fires deliberately," he...

Washington, DC -- The Madoff fundraising scandal has had some beneficial fallout for the pro-life movement. Combined with the current economic downturn, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America is feeling the pinch and has laid off 20 percent of its staff. The nation's largest abortion business, which does 25 percent of all abortions in the United States annually, laid off about 30 people this week.

Bloomington, IN -- The Planned Parenthood staff member in Indiana who appears in a recent undercover video covering up an alleged case of statutory rape has been fired. The video sent shockwaves throughout the nation as "Diana" didn't want more information on the abuse and told a girl how to get a secret abortion.

Although investigators have determined the fires plaguing the areas around Santa Barbara and Montecito, Calif. were “human caused,” California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a different idea of what is behind the lengthy wildfire season. Schwarzenegger appeared on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” Nov. 16 and discussed the dilemmas plaguing his state, especially the widespread fires throughout California, which forced Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency that very day. Schwarzenegger told Stephanopoulos global warming has caused wildfires to be a year-round problem. “Through global warming, we have now a fire season all year round,” Schwarzenegger said. “We used to...

Malibu -- A 39-year-old man was arrested for suspicion of arson near Malibu Creek State Park, a sheriff's deputy said today. Suren Sahakyan was booked on suspicion of arson at the sheriff's Lost Hills Station and held in lieu of $75,000 bail, said Deputy Byron Ward of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

A 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson near Malibu Creek State Park, a sheriff's deputy said Sunday. Suren Sahakyan was booked on suspicion of arson at the sheriff's Lost Hills Station and held in lieu of $75,000 bail, said Deputy Byron Ward of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau. An area resident saw the man on shoulder of Stokes Canyon Road near Mulholland Highway, starting a fire using paper and leaves about 5:20 p.m. Saturday, Ward said. The resident stomped out the fire, and Sahakyan fled but was caught by sheriff's deputies a short distance away.

Extremists are threatening an environmental disaster by sparking a series of catastrophic wild fires. We first posted on this last year. Western intelligence agencies fear that Al Qaeda terrorists are planning a “global fireball” in a new departure in its war on the West. Deliberately lighting forest blazes in Europe, the US and Australia would not only stretch emergency services but leave insurance companies facing multi-billion pound damage bills as the credit crunch bites. The fires would also create a pollution disaster, with billions tons of climate change gases escaping into the atmosphere. The so-called “forest jihad” is being championed...

CNN) -- Community organizing group ACORN, investigated this year for filing fraudulent voter registration forms, has fired two board members it had asked to investigate allegations that an ACORN founder's brother embezzled nearly $1 million. The fired board members were investigating allegations that money was embezzled from ACORN eight years ago. An internal document from the ACORN executive board, obtained by CNN, shows that members Karen Inman and Marcel Reid were "removed from any office or committee position you may have held." A separate document says that "the memberships of Karen Inman and Marcel Reid in ACORN is canceled, and...

Senior NAACP official Hilary Shelton said blacks would get angry if they felt disenfranchised because of voting irregularities. "On Election Day," she said, "you may have some tempers flare."

..."documents found by a team of intelligence a number of countries in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan revealed that bin Laden wanted al-Qaeda devastating fires in the forests of the United States, Australia, Europe and South America to build the so-called "a bullet around the world," Or "global fire."..

You know how sometimes when you try to fix a problem you end up causing more trouble for yourself than what the initial problem posed? Here's another instance of this phenomenon with a man trying to end the lives of some wasps that are holed up in his garage. When will humans learn, don’t fool around with Mother Nature and her offspring? (FARDAL, Norway, Aug. 7 (UPI) — A Fardal, Norway, man said his attempt to rid his garage of wasps ended with the structure burning to the ground with his car inside.

Members of the honor society for the Boy Scouts of America who had to change their service project plans in Wyoming when the U.S. Forest Service instead allowed the Rainbow Family hippie group to use a location the Scouts had sought now are helping the federal agency fight a forest fire in the state. According to a report in the Casper Star-Tribune the Scouts, some of an estimated 1,000 members of the Order of the Arrow in the state, have "stepped in" to help firefighters in the Bridger-Teton National Forest fight the New Fork Lakes fire, about 19 miles north...

Weary firefighters got no Independence Day reprieve from a pair of out-of-control wildfires that roared along California's central coast, chewing through opposite ends of an arid forest in the Los Padres National Forest. Despite cooler temperatures and light winds, flames from the stubborn fire that forced the evacuation of Big Sur inched closer to historic vacation retreats. Meanwhile, firefighters farther south dealt with winds with speeds up to 40 mph that fanned a wildfire in Santa Barbara County. About 5,000 homes there were under evacuation orders, while residents in 1,400 homes were warned to pack up and be ready to...

BIG SUR,CA Weary firefighters got no Independence Day reprieve from a pair of out-of-control wildfires that roared along California's central coast, chewing through opposite ends of an arid forest in the Los Padres National Forest. Despite cooler temperatures and light winds, flames from the stubborn fire that forced the evacuation of Big Sur inched closer to historic vacation retreats. Meanwhile, firefighters farther south dealt with winds with speeds up to 40 mph that fanned a wildfire in Santa Barbara County. About 5,000 homes there were under evacuation orders, while residents in 1,400 homes were warned to pack up and be...

BIG SUR -- The fires that bedevil California took another ominous turn Thursday as a blaze near Goleta triggered more evacuations and authorities shut another 10 miles of Highway 1 along the flaming Big Sur coast. Mushrooming in size, the Goleta fire was declared a local emergency by Santa Barbara County officials. Because of its proximity to populated areas, it was also designated the top firefighting priority in a state currently plagued with a multitude of fires, some of them burning without intervention in remote areas. In Goleta, residents of more than 1,600 homes had been ordered to evacuate by...

A fire has reached as close as 2 miles to populated areas of Goleta today after burning through about 250 acres in Los Padres National Forest since Tuesday evening, authorities said. Meanwhile, the stubborn Big Sur blaze jumped a containment line this morning, forcing more evacuations there and shutting down Highway 1 -- the area's chief road -- for 30 miles. The development was a setback not just for local residents but for a number of famed resorts and restaurants that had been in harm's way earlier but reopened in the past few days.

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008 – Army and Air National Guard members from California and North Carolina are supporting firefighting efforts in Northern California today following a state active-duty call-up by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a request for airborne firefighting assets by the Interagency Fire Center. The governor's office reported yesterday that a "swarm of dry lighting cells over the last 16 hours sparked nearly 400 new fires across the state, spanning from Monterey and Fresno counties to the Oregon-California border." Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency June 22 for Monterey and Trinity counties. The governor made similar declarations for...

This is the complete list of 2008 major incidents that have been posted to this site. Please use the dropdown to select the number of incidents you would like to see per page. If you have an RSS News Feed Reader or RSS enabled browser, you can subscribe to the CAL FIRE Incidents RSS News Feed (RSS Help)

Arsonists like to pick on Brevard County more than almost any area of Florida. So far this decade, the county ranks second statewide in the amount of brush land and woods intentionally set ablaze by firebugs, state records show. Police suspect that at least one arsonist ignited the south Brevard blazes this week. Authorities were questioning a Palm Bay man Wednesday but did not charge him. They warned that others could have started fires. "It's not uncommon for them to be a firefighter or a police officer," he said. One such case was Henry Schook III, 30, a Brevard County...

Relentless wildfires burned Tuesday morning across Florida's Atlantic coast, taxing firefighters and overwhelming residents trying to save their homes with garden hoses. Firefighters in Brevard County were working for a third day trying to stop flames that have destroyed four homes and damaged about 70. The state's largest blaze has charred about 3,800 acres, or nearly 6 square miles, in the neighboring towns of Palm Bay and Malabar. "Every time I turn around another house is on fire. We don't have enough resources on our own to do a job like this," said Palm Bay spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez. Officials expressed...

WASHINGTON - The Colombian government said Saturday it has fired Mark Penn's public relations firm after the chief campaign strategist for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for meeting with Colombian officials pushing a trade deal with the U.S. Colombian officials said they terminated their contract with lobbying and public relations giant Burson-Marsteller in response to a statement released Friday by Penn, the firm's chief executive, calling the meeting an "error in judgment." Clinton opposes the trade deal. "The Colombian government considers this a lack of respect to Colombians, and finds this response unacceptable," government officials said in a news release....

SACRAMENTO -- The Canadian political operative hired by the California Republican Party on a coveted H1B visa to do campaign consulting has been fired after it was revealed he was apparently working in violation of immigration law. The dismissal, announced this week, came after The Chronicle reported last month that Christopher Matthews apparently violated federal immigration law when he also earned money from a second employer. Matthews, a Canadian citizen, was hired last year as deputy political director for the California Republican Party, with responsibility for handling campaign operations and information technology for the country's largest state GOP operation, U.S....