Sharon McNary

Large utilities cut off power to millions of Californians over the past two months to reduce the risk that power lines might spark new fires. Nearly 200,000 Southern California Edison customers were blacked out, some for days at a time.

Nearly 200,000 SoCal customers in rural, mountain and foothill communities lost power in October and November, some for days.

The settlements resolve claims brought by 23 cities, counties and local governments, but not lawsuits brought by individuals and businesses.

Southern California Edison cut power to about 170,000 customers this year as a fire prevention measure, most during windstorms in October, but now state regulators are digging into the company's decision-making and the problems the outages caused.

Dr. Jeffrey Nordella says benzene from crude oil droplets that showered the area could be causing illnesses.

It's not (just) luck. Money and technology are combining to help fight fires better.

The Environmental Working Group is holding up your community's tap water to their own stricter standards for contaminants, making many systems appear to fall short of healthy.

Fire moves fastest when it’s driven by the wind up a slope. Residents who live atop the scenic ravines of Porter Ranch know their homes can be especially vulnerable to wildfire.

During wildfires, fire experts estimate about 10 percent of people ignore evacuation orders, and another 25 percent wait around to see how bad the fire is before leaving. KPCC’s Sharon McNary has the story of one woman in that wait-and-see group.

The owner illegally doubled the capacity of his RV park to house more families, a move that triggered enforcement actions.

The Aliso Canyon gas leak broke out near Porter Ranch nearly four years ago. On Tuesday a City Councilman called for an investigation of a different underground gas field after troubling images surfaced on video.

A new focus on turf replacement (not just removal) has lots more rules to meet to get your $2 per square foot rebate.