firefighters

Omicron surge sidelines 800 police, firefighters in Los Angeles

By Brian Melley, Associated Press

A dramatic surge in coronavirus cases has sidelined more than 800 Los Angeles city police and firefighters and led to slightly longer ambulance and fire response times.

U.S. to bolster firefighter ranks as wildfires burn year-round

By Keith Ridler, Associated Press

U.S. wildfire managers have started shifting from seasonal to full-time firefighting crews to deal with what has become a year-round wildfire season as climate change makes the American West warmer and drier.

California prison inmates become a critical resource for fighting wildfires

By William Brangham, Sam Lane, Lena I. Jackson

The Dixie Fire, now the second-largest in California history, continues to burn northern parts of the state. It comes as California faces a shortage of firefighters, a scenario that's bringing new attention to a critical firefighting resource: prison inmates. William…

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Lack of federal firefighters hurts California wildfire response

By Sophie Quinton, Stateline

Roughly a third of all federal firefighters work in California.

Fires rage in several states as heat wave broils U.S. West

By Associated Press

Firefighters working in searing weather struggled to contain a Northern California wildfire that continued to grow Sunday and forced the closure of a major highway, one of several large blazes burning across the U.S. West amid another heat wave that…

WATCH: Biden announces pay raises for federal firefighters

By Aamer Madhani, Matthew Daly, Associated Press

President Joe Biden announced the moves during a virtual meeting with governors from Western states and as a huge swath of the Pacific Northwest endures one of the worst heat waves in recent memory.

'Unprecedented' Pacific Northwest fires burn hundreds of homes

By Gillian Flaccus, Sara Cline, Associated Press

Firefighters in the Pacific Northwest are scrambling to keep up with multiple catastrophic fires in the region that have forced people to flee their homes and trapped firefighters and civilians.

Firefighters overtaken by flames in California mountains

By Marcio Jose Sanchez, Brian Melley, Associated Press

More than a dozen California firefighters trying to protect a fire station in rugged mountains were overrun by flames Tuesday, and several were hurt.

California sets record with 2 million acres burned so far this year

By Marcio Jose Sanchez, Christopher Weber, Associated Press

Officials say the most striking thing about the record is how early it was set — with the most dangerous part of the year ahead.

Weather, reinforcements aid battle against California fires

By Haven Daley, Associated Press

Crews aided by better weather and reinforcements with bulldozers made progress penning in massive California wildfires that have killed at least seven people and burned nearly 1,300 homes and other buildings.