All posts tagged: Wildfire

Amtrak Cancels Florida Auto Train Service as a Wildfire Disrupts Routes

Amtrak Cancels Florida Auto Train Service as a Wildfire Disrupts Routes

Published by Sam Flores

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Amtrak train service in Florida was disrupted Monday because of a wildfire in the northeast part of the state, officials said. The auto train service between Sanford, Florida, near Orlando, and Lorton, Virginia, outside Washington, was canceled for Monday, Amtrak said in a statement. The train service allows passengers to take their cars on trips. The Silver Meteor route, which runs between Miami and New York, was starting and ending in Jacksonville instead of South Florida on Monday, and one of its two daily train trips was canceled for Tuesday. The Floridian route, running from Miami to Chicago via Washington, was starting and ending in Savannah, Georgia, and one of its two train trips was canceled for Tuesday, Amtrak said. Amtrak on Monday was providing some bus service between Jacksonville and Miami for passengers on the Silver Meteor and Floridian routes. The Florida Forest Service reported a 2,700 acre (1,093 hectares) fire along the eastern border of Putnam and Clay counties, south of Jacksonville. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. …

Wildfire smoke linked to higher assault rates, study finds

Wildfire smoke linked to higher assault rates, study finds

Published by Jenni Sidey

Smoke from distant wildfires can drift into a city without warning, turning the sky hazy and the air sharp. It can make your throat scratch and your eyes sting. Now, new research suggests it may also shape how people act toward each other. A study published finds a consistent link between wildfire smoke and higher assault rates in Seattle over an eleven-year period. The research, led by political scientist Lion Kircheis from the University of Konstanz, does not claim that smoke directly causes violence. Still, it shows a clear pattern that raises new questions about how polluted air may influence behavior. Kircheis examined daily crime data from 2013 to 2023, focusing on days when wildfire smoke affected the city. Across all eleven years, assault rates rose by an average of 3.6 percent on smoky days compared with clear ones. In a city the size of Seattle, that increase equals about one additional assault per day. “I would especially like to emphasize that our study does not provide evidence of a direct causality for the effects …

Southern California Wildfire Mostly Contained as Officials Lift Many Evacuation Orders

Southern California Wildfire Mostly Contained as Officials Lift Many Evacuation Orders

Published by Sam Flores

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A smoky wildfire in southern California that broke out a day earlier and prompted evacuation orders was mostly under control Saturday afternoon, fire officials said. Encompassing roughly 6.3 square miles (about 16 square kilometers) in Riverside County, about 64 miles (103 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, the Springs Fire was no longer growing and at least 75% percent contained Saturday, said Terra Fernandez, public safety information specialist for the Riverside County Fire Department. It was 25% contained on Friday. Fire officials also lifted evacuation orders for a large swath of neighborhoods Saturday morning. Fernandez said she expected the rest will be lifted by the end of the day. “It’s pretty much under control,” Fernandez said. The fire was fueled by strong Santa Ana winds with gusts predicted to get up to 45 mph (72 kph) on Saturday. But winds had “dissipated a bit” since Friday, helping the efforts of fire crews, Fernandez said. Natural equestrian trails around the area also helped firefighters make access to the fire and build effective containment …

How much wildfire prevention is too much?

How much wildfire prevention is too much?

Published by skeptic

It’s a wild promise, and one that my colleague James Temple dug into for his most recent story. (You should read the whole thing; there’s a ton of fascinating history and quirky science.) As James points out in his story, there’s plenty of uncertainty about just how well this would work and under what conditions. But I was left with another lingering question: If we can prevent lightning-sparked fires, should we? I can’t help myself, so let’s take just a moment to talk about how this lightning prevention method supposedly works. Basically, lightning is static discharge—virtually the same thing as when you rub your socks on a carpet and then touch a doorknob, as James puts it. When you shuffle across a rug, the friction causes electrons to jump around, so ions build up and an electric field forms. In the case of lightning, it’s snowflakes and tiny ice pellets called graupel rubbing together. They get separated by updrafts, building up a charge difference, and eventually cause an electrostatic discharge—lightning. Starting in about the 1950s, …

Wildfire debris removal underway at Palisades Bowl Mobile Home park

Wildfire debris removal underway at Palisades Bowl Mobile Home park

Published by Sam Flores

Crews finally are removing fire debris from the Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Estates, a roughly 170-unit, rent-controlled mobile home park along Pacific Coast Highway. Cleanup of the property — the largest site in Pacific Palisades still filled with fire debris — is starting more than a year after wildfire destroyed the park, and more than four months after the city of Los Angeles declared the site a public nuisance. The sights of excavators and hazmat suits this week prompted a sigh of relief from Palisadians worried about the health risks of the potentially toxic debris. But for residents of the Bowl, it’s hardly a step toward returning home. Share via Close extra sharing options “The owner, still, is not communicating with us … and the only reason they’re doing this is because the city eventually threatened them,” said Jon Brown, who lived in the Palisades Bowl for 10 years and now helps lead the fight for residents to return home. “But once they get it cleaned up, they’re able to just sit on their hands …

Wildfire victims decry state law protecting utilities from cost of disasters they cause

Wildfire victims decry state law protecting utilities from cost of disasters they cause

Published by Sam Flores

A year after the Eaton fire, survivors and the state’s electric utilities are clashing over whether state law should continue to protect the companies from the cost of disastrous wildfires they ignite. Southern California Edison says that with the help of those state laws it expects to pay little or even none of the damage costs of the Eaton fire, which its equipment is suspected of sparking. But in recent filings to state officials, fire victims and consumer advocates say the law has gone too far and made the utilities unaccountable for their mistakes, leading to even more fires. “What do you think will happen if you constantly protect perpetrators of fires?” said Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network. At the same time, Edison and the state’s two other big for-profit electric companies are lobbying state officials for even more protection from the cost of future fires to reassure their investors. If government investigators find Edison’s equipment ignited the Eaton fire, at least seven of the state’s 20 most destructive wildfires …

Amid Wildfire Grief, an LA-Area Resident Sowed Sunflowers and Hope Where Her Home Once Stood

Amid Wildfire Grief, an LA-Area Resident Sowed Sunflowers and Hope Where Her Home Once Stood

Published by Sam Flores

ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — Missi Dowd-Figueroa brought life back to the fire-ravaged plot where her home once stood — one sunflower at a time. The registered nurse and mother of three lost her 1898 farm-style house in the Eaton Fire, one of two deadly wildfires that tore through the Los Angeles area last January, obliterating entire neighborhoods and displacing tens of thousands of people. A year later, many are still grappling with grief and sorrow. Few have been able to rebuild so far, and the rest face no shortage of challenges. “The Altadena I know and love is gone,” Dowd-Figueroa said, referring to the suburb devastated by the fire. “Everything burned down — my dentist, my pharmacy — all of it’s gone. But there’s still something about Altadena that feels like Altadena now, even though there are no homes.” She’s among those who decided to stay. Her process of healing started with tiny seeds that gave her hope and eventually turned her barren property into a flourishing garden. Dowd-Figueroa and her family had lived in …

Food fundraisers for wildfire relief in Los Angeles

Food fundraisers for wildfire relief in Los Angeles

Published by Sam Flores

A coalition of Japanese chefs across 20 restaurants in L.A. — including Times 101 Best Restaurants such as Hayato, Mori Nozomi and Sushi Kisen — have formed Japanese Chefs Unite (JCU), and are offering T-shirts with 100% of proceeds donated to the LAFD Foundation. T-shirts are $35 apiece and must be purchased in person. Stay for a meal to support local restaurants that have suffered loss of business after the fires. Participating restaurants include: Sushi Gen, Sushi Inaba, Morihiro, Kogane, Sushi Kaneyoshi, Asanebo, Shunji, 715, Bar Sawa, Sushi Takeda, Shin Sushi, Sushi Yui, the Brothers Sushi, Sushi Chitose, Sushi Yamamoto, Sushidokoro Miyama and Kaiseki Motoishi. Source link

10 dance parties that raise funds for L.A. wildfire victims

10 dance parties that raise funds for L.A. wildfire victims

Published by Sam Flores

For 16 years, A Club Called Rhonda has been one of L.A.’s most vibrant and inclusive disco and house events, a pansexual celebration of joy, liberation and community. When the fires ravaged parts of the region, however, questions arose about whether hosting events so close to such devastation was a good idea. Several members of the Rhonda team, as well as staff from such venues as Los Globos in Silver Lake and Catch One in West Adams, had been directly affected by the fires. Amid the heartbreak, the Rhonda team recognized the importance of providing work for the community and creating a space for those seeking a brief escape from their troubles. “We had people reaching out who had lost homes, saying, ‘I know this is weird, but I hope you don’t cancel. I appreciate everyone’s support, but what I really need right now is a place where I can go out and smile,’” Rhonda co-founder Loren Granich, who goes by DJ Goddollars, shares. It was in those words that the true purpose of Rhonda …

Food fundraisers in Los Angeles for wildfire relief efforts

Food fundraisers in Los Angeles for wildfire relief efforts

Published by Sam Flores

In the days and weeks since wildfires broke out across L.A. County, destroying thousands of homes, businesses and other structures and claiming 27 lives, the local food industry has rallied to provide immediate relief to those most affected. L.A.-based publicist Christina Gilmour tapped into her network of restaurateurs and chefs to launch Community Meals, an initiative that makes it easy for diners to donate to restaurants providing free meals to first responders, displaced residents and organizations offering direct wildfire relief. The list is updated daily, making it easy for diners to spread out their support to restaurants that are also deeply affected by the wildfires. DineLA kicks off on Jan. 24 and runs through Feb. 7, offering prix fixe meals at restaurants across L.A. County to encourage Angelenos to explore beyond their usual haunts and support the local food industry. It also can be an opportunity to try a fine-dining spot that might typically be reserved for special occasions, such as Josiah Citrin’s Citrin restaurant in Santa Monica, which has crafted a $99 three-course menu …