SF News Humpday Headlines: Napa Wildfire Reaches 570 Acres, Evacuation Order Lifted The Old Fire in Napa is now 15% contained and Tuesday's evacuation orders have been lifted, Oakland is limiting rent-controlled rent increases to 3%, and the Marin sheriff has agreed to stop sharing license plate data from highway cameras with federal agencies.
SF News Thursday Morning What's Up: Three Wildfires Break Out Around State Three fires are burning around the state after Wednesday's winds including one that's destroyed 20 homes in Laguna Beach, Catherine Stefani likely tops London Breed's shortlist for Boudin replacements, and a retail theft ring was busted in Pittsburg.
SF News Thursday Morning What's Up: Vegetation Fire Contained Near Altamont Pass A wind-whipped vegetation fire grew to 50 acres last night in eastern Alameda County, Twitter released decent earnings for the first quarter of 2022, and Alice Waters' new LA cafe has opened and isn't that exciting according to one Berkeley resident.
SF News PG&E Agrees to $55 Million Settlement to Make Criminal Charges Disappear in Dixie Fire and Kincade Fire Two settlements for two different wildfires that impacted six different counties will halt several separate criminal investigations, as PG&E will pay $55 million to settle criminal allegations in the Dixie and Kincade fires.
SF News Illegal Marijuana Farmer Found Guilty for Starting the 2020 Dolan Fire The Dolan Fire that killed a firefighter and 12 California condors was started intentionally, and the 31-year-old illegal marijuana grower who started it was found guilty of arson on Thursday.
SF News Report: Wildfire Smoke Could Double or Triple in Coming Decades, Causing More Wildfires The dirty air from wildfire smoke could occur two to three times more frequently a generation or two down the line, thanks to a vicious cycle that makes the smoky air itself cause more wildfires.
SF News The Dixie Fire Was Officially the Most Expensive to Fight in U.S. History The firefight in last year's Dixie Fire, which was paid for by the U.S. Forest Service using largely contracted local and private firefighting services, cost almost $640 million and ranks as the most expensive in history.
SF News Fire Near Big Sur Now 55% Contained; Was Sparked By Ember From Burn Pile The Colorado Fire, still burning since Friday in Monterey County, was sparked by an ember from a burn pile on a nearby residential property, according to Cal Fire.
SF News PG&E About to Finish Criminal Probation for San Bruno Explosion, Judge Says They're Still a ‘Menace to California’ During its five years of criminal probation, PG&E has been blamed for more than 30 wildfires, destroying 23,000 homes, and killing 113 Californians, raising questions about the effectiveness of corporate probation.
SF News Yep, PG&E Lines Responsible for Dixie Fire We already knew, less than a week after the record-shattering Dixie Fire began last July, that PG&E would likely again be to blame for starting the blaze. And now Cal Fire has confirmed it with the conclusion of their investigation into the fire.
SF News Father and Son Arrested on Suspicion of Starting the Caldor Fire in August A father and son who were in the vicinity of the ignition point of the massive Caldor Fire in August, and who made the first 911 calls about the wildfire, are now under arrest and set to be charged with wildfire arson.
SF News Up to 5% of World's Giant Sequoia Trees Killed This Year In KNP Complex and Windy Fires Collectively, the KNP Complex and Windy fires burned over 185,000 acres in California — damaging at least 28 giant sequoia groves. And it's now believed that around 5% of the world's giant sequoias died as a result.
SF News Fawn Fire Arson Suspect Deemed Mentally Unfit to Stand Trial Well that was quick! 30-year-old bioengineer-turned-yoga instructor Alexandra Souverneva, the sole suspect in September's Fawn Fire, has been deemed mentally incompetent to face trial by a judge in Shasta County.
SF News 30 Years Ago, A Firestorm Swept Through the Oakland and Berkeley Hills It was originally called the Tunnel Fire, because it broke out near the Caldecott Tunnel, but over the years it's become better known as the Oakland Hills Firestorm, or the Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm, since the inferno didn't respect city limits.
SF News Newell Fire In Napa County, Possibly Caused By Arson, Reaches 132 Acres The Newell Fire, which began as a quickly moving grass fire Monday evening in American Canyon and was soon threatening homes and American Canyon High School, is 60% contained and only reached 132 acres as of Tuesday morning.
SF News Expect Some Smoke Haze From Sierra Fires Over the Bay Area Today Smoke from the ongoing fires at the edge of the southern Sierra, the KNP Complex and Windy fires, will be moving at elevated levels over the Bay on Monday, creating hazy conditions.
SF News Fire Updates: Fawn Fire 90% Contained, KNP Complex Near Sequoias at 20%, Dixie Fire Will Burn Another Month The Fawn Fire, which was believed to be started by an arsonist last week in Shasta County, has reached 90% containment and evacuation orders in the area have been lifted. Meanwhile the massive Dixie Fire, already burning for two and a half months, stands at 94% containment.
SF News Fawn Fire Arsonist Set to Be Charged In Separate Fire From Previous Night; Claims She Was Stoned, Trying to Boil Water Shasta County officials say they have reason to believe that another small vegetation fire set the night before the Fawn Fire was also the work of Souverneva.
SF News Palo Alto Scientist Arrested In Fawn Fire May Be Serial Arsonist The circumstances around last week's arrest of a 30-year-old Palo Alto woman who was in the immediate area of the Fawn Fire as it began in Shasta County remain a bit mysterious, and there is likely more to the story that investigators haven't made public.
SF News PG&E Has Now Been Charged With Manslaughter In 2020 Zogg Fire Pacific Gas & Electric has once again been criminally charged in the deaths of four people during the Zogg Fire in Shasta County last year.
SF News Possibly Mentally Disturbed Bay Area Woman Arrested For Setting Fawn Fire In Shasta County; Fire Grows to 1,200 Acres A woman seen in the area of the explosive Fawn Fire in Shasta County on Wednesday who later sought help from firefighters has now been arrested on suspicion of being the arsonist behind it.
SF News As the Colony Fire Approaches Giant Forest, Sequoias Are Wrapped In Foil The trunks of giant sequoia trees in Sequoia National Forest are being wrapped in aluminum foil insulation today to help protect them from the oncoming flames of the Colony Fire, which continues burning in the direction of Giant Forest.
SF News Hundreds In South Lake Tahoe Give Heroes' Sendoff to Caldor Fire Firefighters With the Caldor Fire now 71% contained and the city of South Lake Tahoe deemed safe to return to, some firefighters were packing up to leave town in recent days, and a large group of city residents gathered to cheer for them on Tuesday.
SF News Lightning-Caused Fires Threaten California's Giant Sequoias In Two National Parks Two wildfires are threatening two national parks in central California that are home to the biggest trees on the planet, giant sequoias. Sequoia National Park was shut down Monday and its staff evacuated due to the approaching KNP Complex fires — known separately as the Colony and Paradise fires.
SF News Over 100 Lightning Strikes Hit Bay Area; No Major Fires Detected So Far This week's lightning scare became an actual lightning storm on Thursday night, and around 110 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were recorded across the Bay Area during a time of extreme fire danger.
