Zach Behrens

Officials with the U.S. Forest Service are "convinced" the Station Fire was human-caused, but are not precisely sure how, reports KNX1070 on air. Basically, they know it was not caused by lightning--it could have been arson, a spark from equipment, a cigarette butt or any other possibility on a long list that investigators will narrow down. The fire began around mile marker 29 on the Angeles Crest Highway, where a car turnout is located....

A modified Martin Mars seaplane tanker aircraft drops water trying to contain a fire threat to the observatory on Mount Wilson (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) HIgh temperatures and low humidity today began to subside, aiding firefighters in controlling the Station Fire, now 127,513 acres, nearly 200 square miles, in size. The blaze is now 22 percent contained, according to Forest Service officials. However, a change in weather could again downgrade containment and begin to threaten...

Photo by jondoeforty1 via Flickr Although officials don't know for sure, the drowning of a 3-year-old boy last week might have been prevented if rolling cuts were not in effect. To close a $54 million gap in the department's budget, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa cut non-emergency overtime in lieu of furloughs or layoffs. The cut meant shutting down 15 engines and 9 ambulances at rotating locations around the city daily. When a 3-year-old boy drowned...

This rumor has been floating around for years. If you're getting robbed and forced to take out money at an ATM, you can alert police by entering your PIN in reverse, but still get the money out so the bad guy is none the wiser. The locally based Snopes.com calls the rumor false and gives a history of the technology, which was first patented in 1994 by a Chicago businessman, but hasn't found an...

Photo by musique nonstop via LAist Feautured Photos on Flickr As firefighters get an upper hand on the Station Fire in portions of Acton, officials with the L.A. Department of Water & Power feel relieved enough to announce a decreased threat to two of their 500 KV lines. If those lines were to be cut off from the city's power grid, there was the potential of blackouts due to the mixture of hot weather...

The two fires burning in San Bernardino County grew slightly over night, but are keeping firefighters on edge. "The Oak Glen fire has now consumed 1,012 acres and is currently 40 percent contained and the Yucaipa fire [named the Pendleton Fire] measures 640 acres and is 45 percent contained," reported the Press-Enterprise around 9:15 a.m. Thousands of homes, mostly in Oak Glen, are threatened and one has been damaged. Officials are hoping to let...

Imagine this if you will. A fire in a forest finds itself near a rodent, whose fur lights on fire. Still alive, the little guy flees to another part of the unburned forest only to light dry brush, thus spreading the fire. That's what firefighters are dealing with in the Oak Glen III Fire out in San Bernardino County, according to a brief in the Press-Enterprise. Rodents are trying to flee the fire and...

An apocalyptic look of downtown Los Angeles, taken Saturday | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist The Station Fire is not only threatening homes across the region and broadcast towers on Mount Wilson, but also the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's two 500 KV transmission lines northeast of the Acton. "These high-voltage power lines are critical to maintaining a steady supply of power to the city, especially as demand for energy rises throughout the...

A resident watches flames approach In a statement this morning about the deaths of two L.A. County Firefighters, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also mentioned that the LAPD has evacuated 200 residents in the Riverwood and Apline communities of the northeast San Fernando Valley due to the Station Fire. Regarding the recent cutbacks in number of city fire personnel on duty over budgetary reasons, "Interim Chief Millage Peaks has suspended the department’s Modified Coverage Plan to...

Firefighters at the Station Fire | AP Photo/Philip Scott Andrews Officials with the Los Angeles County Fire Department released the names of the two firefighters who lost their lives in the Station Fire earlier today. Captain Tedmund “Ted” Hall, 47, and 35-year-old Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo ”Arnie” Quinones went over the edge of a mountainside road south of Acton as they were overrun by the fire while driving a vehicle. Hall, a 26-year veteran of...

Although authorities were hoping to keep the Oak Glen III Fire in the San Bernardino Mountains to at least 600 acres before knocking it down, last night it flared up aggressively, burning 900 acres, according to the Fire Information Line at the San Bernardino National Forest. It remains at zero percent containment. The blaze, east of Yucaipa, began yesterday around 1:45 p.m. south of Oak Glen, prompting a mandatory evacuation of some 2,000 homes...

As the Station Fire consumes most resources and attention, here's a look at the three other major fires burning in the greater Los Angeles region. Morris Fire It began early Monday evening last week in the Angeles National Forest north of Asuza and Glendora, but has stayed out of harms way for the most part, save for a mandatory evacuation at Camp Williams. As of tonight, the conflagration is 95 percent contained after burning through 2,260 acres. Full containment is expected tomorrow by 6 p.m.