The brush fire in Griffith Park near Travel town, first reported at approximately 2 p.m. today, is now 60% contained and has no active hot spots, according to an LAFD alert. 300 firefighters from multiple area agencies were on scene and about 50-60 acres have burned so far. The fire is expected to be totally contained by midday tomorrow. Fortunately, there have been no injuries so far.......

A view of the fire yesterday in Griffith Park | (AP Photo/John Antczak) Yesterday's 25-acre brush fire in Griffith Park forced the evacuation of nearby zoo patrons as well as animals from a breeding facility, like the endangered Condors. There was a quicker-than-usual response to the fire, which was first report at about a quarter to one in the afternoon, because firefighters from Hollywood were "already deployed nearby to conduct a brush fire drill,"......

AP Photo/The Los Angeles Times, Spencer Weiner Blackwater might be a more appropriate name for the future of some private firefighting business. Robert at Calitics has been looking into federal firefighter shortages during the recent spate of wildfires (over 1700 in total since June 20). He reports that there have been "deliberate staffing shortages have left the USFS [US Forest Service] unable to do vital off-season brush clearance, and left them without the staffing......

View Larger Map A wildfire broke out in various places this morning around 1:00 a.m. in Banning, 85 miles east of Los Angeles. Last reports state that it has grown to at 75 acres with 130 firefighters responding to battle the blaze. "In Northern California 13 fires have broken out in 72 hours. Homes and other structures have been destroyed, and evacuations are widespread," Warren Olney stated on KCRW's Which Way LA while asking if......

*UPDATE 5:01: One firefighter was killed and another critically injured after reporting to the scene of an explosion that blew manhole covers off the ground and damaged part of a building in Westchester. The firefighters were responding to a report of an underground explosion and blown manhole covers in the 8800 block of Sepulveda (between Manchester and La Tijera) and were injured in a second, larger explosion after reporting to the scene, according to LAFD......

Fairfax Avenue is the Bomb!!! Declining enrollment and rising costs means less expansion and construction to help relieve overcrowding in LAUSD schools. The LA Times reports that "since the fall, the school system has canceled plans for 19 new schools and additions to existing campuses in South Gate, Bell, Van Nuys, San Fernando, Sun Valley and central Los Angeles, among other areas, citing new enrollment projections." Kids, you don't mind sharing that book, do......

Fire departments across the Southern California area were preparing for this all week and beginning at 3:30 a.m. this morning, another Malibu wildfire began. Here are the facts as of so far: 35 homes lost 220 acres burned Fire began near Malibu Lake on state park land About 100 homes in three communities evacuated No injuries were reported Evacuation Center set up at Agoura High School Do not evacuate to Zuma Beach as smoke is......

There are 14,000 firefighters our there right now helping protecting us. 3,000 of them are prison inmates who began working the front lines yesterday.A spokesman for the corrections department says it's close to the most the state has ever used. The inmates go through a four-week training program. They must be physically fit, have no history of violent crime and have between four months to three years remaining on their sentences. They're paid $1......

This playlist of 45 songs was hand-picked to help you focus on your Wednesday Happenings while rockin' out to songs about fire and burning. This goes out to the thousands of firefighters who spent the past 72 hours on high alert, saving people, pets and property across Southern California. The tally according to the LA Times: 420,424 acres burned, 1,155 homes destroyed, 881,500 people evacuated. If you are where you'd normally be on a......