Disasters: Summer Fires, Take Two | Newsweek Periscope

NATIONAL AFFAIRS
California Burning
Charlotte Buchen 10/14/2008 12:00:00 AM
Wildfires are once again ravaging California, with three major blazes that have killed two people and burned more than 10,000 acres in an area from San Diego to Los Angeles. Though wildfires are not uncommon here, the state is catching fire earlier in the season and in more places than ever before. Thanks to its vast forests and hills of dry grasses, oak and underbrush, the state is naturally vulnerable to wildfire, and this year was one of the driest on record. A bark beetle infestation is killing trees in the south, creating further fuel for the flames. After a lightning storm started fires in Northern California in June and Big Sur's legendary forests later began to burn, the state's massive fire authority, Cal Fire, has been forced to turn to unexpected places for help. During another round of fires in early August, NEWSWEEK's Charlotte Buchen talked with Dan Burns, an assistant fire chief with Cal Fire (the official nickname of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection), about the various groups helping in the battle against the flames and the potentially "catastrophic" fall fire season. Excerpts:
Crews Make Gains on Calif. Fires
10/28/2007 12:00:00 AM
LAKE ARROWHEAD, Calif. — Firefighters Sunday hoped to hold on to the strong gains they made against Southern California blazes, despite a forecast of warmer, drier weather and a continuing threat to some homes.
2 Burned Bodies Found in Calif.
10/25/2007 12:00:00 AM
Crews found two burned bodies in a gutted house, authorities said Thursday, and flames drew perilously close to thousands of homes in Southern California's firestorm despite a break in the harsh winds and a massive aerial assault.
Bush to Tour California
10/25/2007 12:00:00 AM
President Bush, as he left Thursday to get a close-up view of the devastation caused by wildfires in Southern California, thanked firefighters, expressed sympathy for those who lost their homes and businesses and promised federal assistance.
Calif. Wildfire Losses Top $1B
10/24/2007 12:00:00 AM
The devastating wildfires in Southern California have caused at least $1 billion in damage in San Diego County alone, officials said Wednesday, as easing wind gave firefighters hope that they could begin to gain ground against the flames.
DISASTERS
The Scorched-Earth Obsession
Evan Thomas
They call it the "devil winds." Dave Hillman woke up at 2 a.m. last Monday feeling sick. The weather reports forecast high winds, and Hillman, chief arson investigator for California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, knew devil winds had a way of stimulating arsonists. Whenever a "wind event" occurs, he knows, after 37 years as a firefighter (24 of them studying arson), that "there are always going to be nuts coming out of the woodwork."