Environmental Health

Fuel reduction efforts dropped from the year before     SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vastly overstated wildfire prevention work completed by his administration, according to a Capital Public Radio investigation released Wednesday. State fire officials ...

“The program has to last forever.”     By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — In the 1950s, when University of California forestry professor Harold Biswell experimented with prescribed burns in the state’s pine forests, many people thought ...

Zero containment on fire between Phoenix and Flagstaff     By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Southwest U.S. continued to bake Saturday, and weather forecasters kept warnings in effect for excessive heat in Arizona, Nevada and ...

Nearly 80% of the state is in a drought     By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho officials are bracing for what could be a challenging wildfire season. A meteorologist on Tuesday told Republican Gov. Brad ...

State has experienced more fires to date than all of last year     BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The number of wildfires this year in North Dakota has increased significantly, according to state officials, who cite extremely dry conditions. Data ...

Excessive heat stretched from southeast California across Arizona and Nevada and into New Mexico     By ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Dangerous, record-busting heat spread across the U.S. Southwest on Tuesday and into parts of Utah, Montana ...

Wildfires could be the first use of “Flex Alert”     SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California residents may be asked to reduce electricity use this week to avert rolling blackouts amid a heat wave that threatens to strain the state’s ...

The drought, coupled with rising temperatures, has led to widespread fire restrictions     By TERRY TANG Associated Press A wildfire in Arizona that had neighboring New Mexico breathing in smoke was one of several blazes scorching the drought-stricken Southwest, ...

Emergency plans and new evacuation zones     By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — In northeast Oregon’s Union County, the snowpack is so thin that it has completely melted away in measurement sites. Rivers are running lower, ...

Approximately 90% of the state is in an extreme drought category     By SOPHIA EPPOLITO Associated Press/Report for America SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox urged residents and businesses to cut down on their water usage ...