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The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for the South Los Angeles, Long Beach and Whittier areas as a powerful new storm moves ashore. The warning is expected to be in place for at least 45 minutes. Radar shows heavy rain falling in Long Beach, with the storm moving in at 35 mph to the northeast. There were also reports of thunder and lightning across the region. Forecasters said the storm was capable of producing a tornado, but there was no evidence at this time that any tornadoes have developed on land. [Updated at 1:03 p.m.: The tornado...

FLASH FLOOD WARNING CAC037-130215- /O.NEW.KLOX.FF.W.0006.091213T0011Z-091213T0215Z/ /00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/ BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OXNARD CA 411 PM PST SAT DEC 12 2009 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OXNARD HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... THE STATION FIRE BURN AREA IN CENTRAL LOS ANGELES COUNTY * UNTIL 615 PM PST * AT 405 PM PST...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED FLASH FLOODING WITH MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWS ON THE ANGELES CREST HIGHWAY ABOUT 8 MILES NORTH OF INTERSTATE 210. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS IN AND BELOW THE STATION FIRE BURN AREA SHOULD BE ALERT TO...

By the time heli-tankers arrived in force, the blaze had leaped Angeles Crest Highway. The last best chance to prevent a catastrophe had vanished.On a sizzling August morning, as flames burned unchecked down the road, fire crews milled about at an Angeles Crest Highway ranger station. Others were parked along the pavement -- a critical line of defense -- their engines quiet and hoses slack. It was more than an hour after first light, and some six hours after U.S. Forest Service commanders had determined that the fire required a more aggressive air attack. But the skies remained empty of...

LOS ANGELES -- L.A. County Sheriff's detectives investigating the massive "Station Fire" want to talk with a transient they say started a smaller fire in the same general area days earlier. Officials are looking for Babatunsin Olukunle, 25, a Nigerian man who dropped out of the Unviersity of California, Davis in 2007, according to L.A. County Sheriff's Lt. Liam Gallagher. Gallagher says Olukunle is wanted for questioning in the Lady Bug fire, which broke out on August 20, six miles away from the Station Fire ignition point along Highway 2 near a ranger station north of La Canada Flintridge. "During...

A wildfire in the foothills north of Los Angeles that has claimed the lives of two firefighters, ravaged more than 250 square miles and destroyed more than 60 homes was caused by arson, the federal Forest Service said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has begun a homicide inquiry looking for the person or people responsible for the wildfire, which continues to burn. The blaze, known as the Station Fire, has burned for over a week in the Angeles National Forest outside Los Angeles. After a forensic investigation, officials with the U.S. Forest Service determined on Thursday that the fire...

LAKE VIEW TERRACE, Calif. (KABC) -- It was an emotional tribute for the 1,200 to 1,500 firefighters that gathered early Friday morning to say their personal goodbyes to the two firefighters killed in the Station Fire. Capt. Ted Hall and firefighters Arnie Quinones both died Sunday afternoon when their vehicle went over the side of a mountain. ..."It was just important to bring closure," said Paul Lowenthal from the Santa Rosa Fire Department. "It's not only a family within your own station. It's a family across the state, across the country, so we all look out for one another, and...

LOS ANGELES, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A huge wildfire burning in the mountains above Los Angeles, the largest ever in the county, was started by arson and will be investigated as a homicide, authorities said on Thursday. The arson declaration was made after investigators found evidence of arson at the point of origin for the so-called Station Fire, which has blackened an area the size of Chicago, started. "Arson investigators from the U.S. Forest Service (and other agencies) ... have concluded that the Station Fire was the result of an arson," Forest Service Commander Rita Wears told reporters at a...

Aug 30, 2009 2 Firefighters Killed As Station Fire Grows Station Fire Threatens Thousands Of Homes Fire crews struggled to contain the Station fire, which has already burned 35,000 acres and was threatening thousands of homes. L.A. County Coroner's officials have confirmed that two firefighters were killed when their vehicle overturned on Mount Wilson Sunday, where fire crews anxiously worked to contain the monstrous Station fire. The 35,000-acre fire threatened over 10,000 homes, 500 commercial properties and 2,000 other structures and rained ash on cars as far away as downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, spreading in all directions in hot,...

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 so-called Station Fire, which now covers more than 120,000 Southern California acres and is burning largely uncontained, continues to threaten the century-old Mount Wilson Observatory, home to astronomer Edwin Hubble at the time he made his landmark observations of the universe's expansion. The observatory is currently unmanned due to the fire threat and the attending smoke, but a webcam atop Mount Wilson's 150-foot solar tower has provided observatory managers and concerned observers with a view from the scene. At 12:55 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) the camera showed a great deal of smoke but no flames. ...According to the Los...

If flames were to reach the top of Mt. Wilson, home to the region's TV and FM radio transmitters, what would happen? Severe damage could disrupt cellphone service, as well as television and radio programming for those who receive signals over the air. It also could interrupt some emergency law enforcement communications. ... Mt. Wilson is home to more than two dozen towers that occupy its peak just north of Sierra Madre. It supports antennas that beam signals for television and FM radio stations throughout the region. The fire also threatens the historic solar observatory atop the mountain, which houses...

Four major fires have consumed around 4,600 acres across the greater Los Angeles region this past week. Here's the latest, as of 9:30 a.m., according to fire information officers for each of the blazes. Palos Verdes Fire The fire that began around 8 p.m. last night has only consumed 100 acres in a residential area prompting the evacuation of around 1,200 to 1,500 people. It's 35 percent contained and despite earlier reports of lost homes, six structures have been damaged along with the complete destruction of one outbuilding and a gazebo, according to Inspector Steve Zermeno from the LA County...