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PHELAN >> Dozens of exotic animals weathered Tuesday night’s rampaging Blue Cut fire at a family-run High Desert sanctuary. Joel and Chemaine Almquist, owners of the Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary, spent part of Tuesday afteoon putting birds and other smaller animals in crates to get them out of the smoke. But moving the dozens of animals, including more than two dozen big cats, wasn’t necessary. • Photos: The Blue Cut fire bus 30,000 acres and is still out of control “The firemen did an excellent job of detouring the fire around us,” Chemaine Almquist said Wednesday. “All of the animals are safe, all the humans safe.” Forever Wild will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday, at le...

The flames chewing at vegetation in the San Beardino Mountains have grown to cover 6,963 acres as of Tuesday moing, and firefighters say they still have the blaze about 6 percent contained. Nobody has been injured, and no structures have been lost in the Pilot fire, said San Beardino County Fire Battalion Chief Marc Peebles. The number of firefighters at the blaze has also grown from 843 Monday night to 934, Peebles said. • Photos: Fight against Pilot fire continues on Day 2 as acreage grows • Photos: ...

LOS ANGELES >> Temperatures hit 110 at Glendale by noon today, as a pressure cooker of high pressure sat clamped above the southweste United States and made coastal June Gloom a fond memory. Red Flag Waings were posted today for the entire county. Fire weather - - hot, dry air, strong winds and low humidity -- was clamped over Southe Califoia by a huge high pressure system over the Four coers region, and would produce dangerously hot conditions today and Monday in all areas across the basin, according to the National Weather Service. Woodland Hills hit 106 at 1 p.m., it was 105 at Fullerton, Corona, Riverside and Van Nuys. Coastal areas did not escape the moing’s blast fuace. At noon,...

Last month, state water officials eased conservation mandates in response to slightly above-average winter rain and snow in much of Califoia, leading many to speculate that the state’s long-ruing drought has tapered off. If only. The El Niño winter that forecasters said could drench the state with rain and snow veered north instead, striking mostly the Pacific Northwest. The amount of rain and snow that hit Northe Califoia was a tick above average and looked impressive mostly because it contrasted sharply with the extreme drought of the previous four years. Southe Califoia was wetter than in previous years, but not by much. Now, conditions are shifting, and El Niño’s counterpart, La Niña – a...