Latest news with #CalFire
CBS News
3 hours ago
- CBS News
Woman dies in plunge off Devil's Slide cliff in San Mateo County
A 37-year-old San Francisco woman died Thursday night after falling off a cliff near Devil's Slide in San Mateo County, authorities said. The San Mateo County Coroner's Office on Friday identified the woman as Inna Kurtzeliieva. Sheriff's deputies were called shortly before 8 p.m. to Devil's Slide near Highway 1. Emergency crews and multiple agencies also responded, but the woman died at the scene. Authorities didn't release any information about what led to the woman's fall. An investigation was underway, the sheriff's office said. Earlier Thursday, crews were sent at about 2:45 p.m. to another emergency in the area. A gray Tesla was dangling over the side of a 200-foot cliff south of Gray Whale Cove near Devil's Slide, according to Cal Fire. The car was only being supported by a tree, and one person was trapped inside. Firefighters managed to stabilize the car, set up a rope system, and remove the motorist through the back window, Cal Fire said
Los Angeles Times
15 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Fireworks are out of control in L.A. Here are 5 things experts wish you knew
One thing I still can't get used to living in L.A. is the Bayhem-level of firepower Angelenos bring to bear on the Fourth of July. My neighbors have already started setting them off. By all accounts — and there are many — we are living in the illegal firework capital of the United States. That's not just because all fireworks are illegal in the City of Los Angeles, which the doctors, public safety officials and pollution experts I talked to about their dangers are at pains to point out. Many immigrant Angelenos come from cultures where DIY fireworks are common, and we're an easy drive from places where they're cheap and legal. With few exceptions, the penalty for setting off professional-grade pyrotechnics is small and difficult to enforce. Nationwide, the problem is much bigger now than it ever was. In 2024, almost 15,000 Americans were treated for firework-related injuries — a jump of more than 50% from the year prior, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In 2025 alone, Cal Fire and its partner agencies have confiscated more than 600,000 pounds of illegal fireworks. Still, the folks who most want you to stop buying M80s — city managers, ER doctors, Smokey the Bear — know their pleas fall on deaf ears. The quest to save fingers, lungs, palm trees and the state budget from fireworks was described to me as 'quixotic' and 'Sisyphean.' Even January's firestorm is unlikely to tame our passion for pyrotechnics, they said. At least one expert told me he thinks 2025 will be 'worse than it's ever been,' describing fireworks as a kind of Freudian pressure valve for communities on edge. Here are five things experts wish you knew about your cache of emotional-support explosives. 'We have among the worst air quality in the country on the night of July 4 into July 5,' Dr. Scott Epstein of the South Coast Air Quality Management District said. 'Over the past 15 years, we have seen an upward trend.' Remember those two dozen semitrucks worth of confiscated fireworks I mentioned earlier? Golden State taxpayers foot the bill to ship them to Ohio, Hawaii and Massachusetts to dispose of. 'Think about packaging up a couple thousand pounds of fireworks and sending them to Ohio — it's going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,' said Cmdr. David Barrett, head of MySafe:LA. Multiply that a couple hundred thousand times, you're looking at a budget black hole. 'The number one thing kids tell us is: 'We don't want fireworks, but our parents bought them,'' Barrett told me. 'The message doesn't need to be for kids, it needs to be for parents,' he said. 'Something like: 'How do you feel about your kid having four fingers?'' 'The things I've seen the most are loss of a finger or a hand, or severe damage to the eye,' said Dr. Jeremy Swisher, a sports medicine doctor in the orthopedics department at UCLA. 'Burns are the most common.' Many of those burns come from sparklers. 'When it's over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, holding it for a few seconds can cause a lot of damage,' the doctor explained. 'It can cause deeper burns into the skin, which can lead to the need for skin grafting, many surgeries and needing to stay in the hospital for a week or more.' 'If you look forward to the next three years, we have the World Cup, the Super Bowl, and the year after that we have the Olympics,' Barrett said. 'They're all summer events, so the potential for out-of-control fireworks is significant.' 'The last thing we need is for the Hollywood Hills to burn down because of fireworks.' Today's great photo is from Times contributor Yasara Gunawardena. This year's jacaranda bloom in L.A. was short a few trees following the January wildfires, but experts say many burned trees will recover. Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
CBS News
3 days ago
- Climate
- CBS News
Hawk Fire near Feather Falls in Butte County prompts evacuation warning
A new wildfire, named the Hawk Fire, has prompted an evacuation warning for part of Butte County on Tuesday. The fire is burning off of Black Hawk Trail in the Feather Falls area. About 1.5 acres have burned as of early Tuesday afternoon, Cal Fire says. An evacuation warning is in effect for Zone 665 near the community of Feather Falls, according to the Butte County Sheriff's Office. Exactly what started the fire is unclear. Feather Falls is about 25 miles east of Oroville and about 90 miles north of Sacramento.
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- Climate
- San Francisco Chronicle
Wildfires erupt in Contra Costa County, prompting evacuation warning
Two fast-moving wildfires broke out Monday afternoon in Contra Costa County, triggering an aggressive aerial attack in Rodeo and an evacuation warning in Alamo as fire crews worked to contain the simultaneous blazes. The larger of the two, the Rodeo Fire, erupted southeast of Clayes Court and Stirling Drive, just off Highway 4. It quickly grew to 15 acres in dry grasslands with a moderate rate of spread, threatening nearby homes. Cal Fire launched a coordinated air assault involving tankers and helicopters, including the Fire Hawk chopper. Though the fire was burning close to homes, officials said Monday afternoon that was moving away from residential areas. It remained active with potential to grow to 50 acres, fire officials said. Meanwhile, another fire, known as the Alameda Fire, ignited on the 2300 block of Alameda Diablo in Alamo. Both fires remained uncontained as of Monday afternoon.
CBS News
4 days ago
- Climate
- CBS News
Vegetation fire burns in Rodeo near homes, Highway 4
A brush fire was burning in Rodeo Monday afternoon near a residential subdivision and close to state Highway 4. The fire was burning grassland on the eastern edge of Rodeo just north of Highway 4 and east of Stirling Drive. The flames were seen just yards from homes on Dennis Court and also close to the Phillips 66 carbon plant off of Franklin Canyon Road. Cal Fire air tankers dropped retardant and helicopters performed water drops on the fire as crews on the ground dug lines around the blaze. There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire. As of 1 p.m., the fire had burned 15 acres, Cal Fire said.
