When the fast-moving Oak Knoll fire jumped from a field of dry grass and weeds across Interstate 5, it began devouring a row of Ashland homes, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air. "Heavy, thick, dark, acrid smoke was rolling through the subdivision," Jackson County Fire District 5 Chief Darin Welburn said of the 2010 fire started by a mentally ill homeless man.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mail Tribune

A wind-whipped wildfire roared through a Northern California town still recovering from a devastating blaze nearly a year ago, destroying more than 100 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee, authorities said Monday. The fire seemed calm Sunday before gusts kicked up the flames that tore through neighborhoods in Lower Lake, a town of 1,200 about 90 miles north of San Francisco, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KGO-TV ABC 7 San Francisco

A former Old Orchard Beach fire chief has been indicted on a felony arson charge and a related misdemeanor in connection with a seven-alarm fire in April that burned 42 acres of marshland in the town. Ricky Plummer, 59, of Biddeford resigned from his post about a week after he was arrested on the arson charge on May 7.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Press Herald

Shawano Area (WI) Fire Department, pumper. Spartan Gladiator cab and chassis; Cummins ISL9 450-hp engine; Integra Plastic Products 1,000-gallon polypropylene tank.

Firefighters say the cause of the blaze that burned two Yakima homes Saturday came at the hands of children. Investigations reveal that kids playing with lighters and aerosol cans on North Second Street sparked the blaze that started in an apartment unit and jumped to a nearby home. It took 66 firefighters and two hours to bring the fire under control.
- PUB DATE: 8/14/2016 7:25:26 PM - SOURCE: KIMA-TV CBS 29 Yakima