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SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS >> The Blue Cut fire continued to bu Sunday moing and fire officials say they’ve made progress on the blaze’s containment. The fire didn’t grow beyond 37,020 acres oveight and was 83 percent contained by 7 a.m. according a news release from the U.S. Forest Service. As of Sunday moing, officials with U.S. Forest Service say the fire has destroyed a total of 105 homes and 213 outbuildings. • Photos: Firefighters gain upper hand on Blue Cut fire moving into day 6 The only other community still under mandatory evacuation is Lytle Creek, according to the news release. The San Beardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a tweet that Lytle Creek residents would be al...

The Blue Cut fire continued to menace communities north of the Cajon Pass on Thursday, but the lifting of some mandatory evacuation orders and the reopening of the 15 Freeway signaled progress against a fast-moving wildfire that shocked even seasoned firefighters with its behavior and ferocity. The fire has consumed almost 36,000 acres in the San Beardino Mountains as of Thursday evening, but containment rose to 22 percent, up from 4 percent that moing. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Bob Poole credited the success to finally having enough resources to keep up. • Live Updates: Latest on the Blue Cut fire from our reporters and photographers in the field “Now that we have the resources, we are...

A nonprofit known for training people to give great speeches has clammed up about efforts to move its worldwide headquarters out of Southe Califoia. The silence from Toastmasters Inteational executives no doubt stems from an opposition campaign launched by a proud Torrance member who decries the group’s lack of transparency. With 179 employees and 345,000 members in 15,900 clubs in 142 countries, Toastmasters will hold a vote this week at its Inteational Convention in Washington, D.C., on a proposal to move to Denver from Rancho Santa Margarita, where the organization’s home base has been since 1990. A two-thirds vote is required for approval. The Toastmasters board recommended in 2015 on i...

The SuperScoopers have landed! Just in time for sizzling temperatures this weekend, the county officially unveiled a huge part of its aerial firefighting fleet Friday. •RELATED STORY: SuperScoopers arrive 3 weeks early to help combat LA County brush fires Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich and Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby showcased the recent arrival of two Canadian SuperScoopers and an Erickson Air-Crane. •RELATED STORY: Massive Sand fire nearly contained after more than a week The water bombers landed at Van Nuys Airport Aug. 6 after their flight from their home base in Quebec, Canada. They are usually leased during the fall for work on L.A. County’s fires, but this year they ha...

Robyn Gogue will take her twin 5-year-old daughters to their first day of kindergarten next week in Menifee. Her husband, Roy, a Calu2009Fire firefighter, isn’t able to attend the milestone moment. “I know he’s upset that he will miss another first in their lives,” Robyn Gogue said. Corona firefighter John Deyoe was looking forward to a dier date with his daughters and girlfriend, whom he hadn’t seen in 10u2009days, but he had to cancel because of a last-minute work assignment. “My heart dropped to my feet. It was like somebody punched me in the stomach,” Deyoe said. Such is the life of Southe Califoia firefighter families at the height of the wildfire season, where one spouse — in most cas...

ISTANBUL >> Authorities say fighting between Turkish forces and Kurdish rebels in the restive southeast of the country has killed eight Turkish soldiers and 35 Kurdish fighters. The office of Turkey’s General Staff headquarters said Saturday the eight soldiers were killed in a clash Friday afteoon with Kurdish militants at a checkpoint in the southeaste Hakkari province. A subsequent operation against the Kurdish rebels left eight Kurds dead, the military said. Separately, a further 27 fighters from the Kurdish Workers’ Party, or PKK, were killed in the same province when Turkish troops launched an air-and-ground operation against groups of PKK fighters attempting to infiltrate an area...

Wildfires have become a grim reality for Southe Califoia. With miles of dry sage brush carpeting most of the land — much of it in steep, rugged and inaccessible terrain — there’s plenty of material to fuel a blaze. And five years of drought ensure a future of even bigger fires for the region. The cost to battle these blazes is already high. With thousands of firefighters on the ground and fleets of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft on the scene, the price for fighting an aggressive fire can escalate quickly. The cost for fighting the Sand Fire, which broke out last week near Sand Canyon Road and the 14 Freeway in Santa Clarita, was projected this week to be around $28 million, and that bl...

SAN DIEGO >> Among the rows of booths selling limited-edition figurines, Marvel posters and Double Dare T-shirts at last week’s Comic-Con Inteational sat an indie artist from Los Angeles who’s locked in an epic battle of her own. Tuesday Bassen sells patches, pins and stickers adoed with cartoon women with attitude, strawberries and snarky slogans. Her work is popular among hip, L.A. locals and, according to her, with Zara, the world’s largest clothing retailer . Last week, Bassen accused the companyof stealing her original artwork and reproducing it for their own clothing and accessories. Bassen began collecting examples of the alleged copies in January after fans of her work tipped ...

There are plenty of business-related activities going on in Southe Califoia at any given time. But few are as important as the business of fighting fires. It’s dirty, it’s hard work and it’s often very dangerous. I realize that “business” may not exactly be the right word. But regardless of what you call it, I can personally report that Los Angeles County firefighters and others from the U.S. Forest Service who battled the Sage Fire did a heck of a job in containing the blaze. • PHOTOS: The Sage Fire bus near Santa Clarita The fire ignited a week ago at The Old Road and Calgrove Boulevard near the 5 Freeway just west of Santa Clarita and it quickly grew to more than 800 acres, prompting nei...

The Long Beach Fire Department seized 500 pounds of fireworks over the weekend and issued one fireworks citation, fire officials said. Long Beach firefighters also responded to four fires likely caused by fireworks, Brian Fisk, spokesman for the fire department, said this moing. The first incident — a tree fire — happened at 9:06 p.m. Monday in the 1400 block of Gardenia Avenue, Fisk said. Units were called to the second incident, a garage fire in the 400 block of East Louise Street at 10:05 p.m. Monday, he said. The first units arrived three minutes later and the blaze was knocked down at 10:16 p.m. A neighbor who attempted to help at the scene was transported to a hospital with minor, non...

The Los Angeles Fire Department teamed up with a jokester from comedy website Fuy or Die on Friday to show what can happen when fireworks aren’t handled safely. In an effort to encourage Southe Califoians to be more careful over the Fourth of July holiday, firefighters and a host from Fuy or Die gathered at an Los Angeles Fire Department training center in East L.A., and used plastic maequins to demonstrate the types of injuries that can result from firecrackers and other types of fireworks. The results were no laughing matter. A maequin holding a kitchen spatula and a firecracker in one hand and a sparkler in the other, lost one of its hands as part of the demonstration. “That’s pretty rea...

The Los Angeles Fire Department teamed up with jokesters from comedy website Fuy or Die on Friday to show what can happen when fireworks aren’t handled safely. In an effort to encourage Southe Califoians to be more careful over the Fourth of July holiday, firefighters and hosts from Fuy or Die gathered at the Los Angeles County Fire Department Headquarters training center in East L.A., and used plastic maequins to demonstrate the types of injuries that can result from firecrackers and other types of explosive ordinance. The results were no laughing matter. One maequin holding a firecracker lost a hand as part of the demonstration. “That’s pretty realistic of what I’ve seen in the past,” sai...

Lawyers for the city of Los Angeles say attoeys representing a former training officer for ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Doer aren’t entitled to view all of the investigative reports and persoel records involving the late rogue officer and want a judge to impose limits on what is released. Doer killed himself in a 2013 standoff with police in San Beardino County. Sgt. Teresa Evans alleges in a lawsuit filed last October that she is being made a scapegoat because of the racial cootations attached to Doer’s claims before he died. Evans is White and Doer was black. Evans’ attoeys want investigative files and Doer’s persoel records to help them prepare their client’s case for trial. But the City ...

GOLETA — The Latest on wildfires in the Weste U.S. (all times local): 8 a.m. A wildfire racing across central New Mexico has charred more than 26 square miles and destroyed two dozen homes near the small community of Chilili. Authorities said Friday that the latest infrared mapping shows the fire is holding south and west of State Highway 337 and is a half-mile from Chilili, which was evacuated earlier this week as the fire ballooned in size thanks to hot, dry and windy conditions. Authorities expanded the area covered by mandatory evacuations oveight to include a few more subdivisions. They could not immediately say how many homes were immediately threatened by the fire. Several roads are ...