Fiery family dispute in Los Angeles County neighborhood prompts SWAT response

VIDEO: A man reportedly suffering from a mental health crisis, who was allegedly armed with a gun, has been taken into custody after a domestic disturbance led to a home in the Los Angeles County neighborhood of Lynwood being fully engulfed in flames. Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Century Station responded to reports of the family disturbance in the 4800 block of East Olanda Street at around 3:45 p.m., LASD confirmed to KTLA. Authorities say responding deputies thought they heard gunfire at the scene, which LASD later confirmed in a post to social media. Footage of the incident posted to the Citizen App showed heavy smoke billowing out of the house as deputies arrived on the scene and an LASD helicopter flew overhead.
KTLA-TV CW 5 Los Angeles

New ladder truck in Tulare County put right to work

PHOTOS: Just hours after being put into service for the first time, Tulare County’s newest fire truck was dispatched to its first call, the Tulare County Fire Department says. On Wednesday, Fire Station 21 in Terra Bella took delivery of a new Spartan 110-foot aerial ladder truck, also dubbed Truck 21. Firefighters say just before 6 a.m. Thursday they received a report of a second-alarm commercial building fire about 15 miles away in Pixley. The truck was sent to assist other crews at a smoke shop fire at Court Avenue and Main Street by offering vertical ventilation. Fire personnel say the fire originated in a storage room in the back of the building and the official cause has not been determined. The fire was contained to the contents in the storage room.
KGPE-TV CBS 47 Fresno

CAL FIRE & USFS students take part in two-week air attack training

VIDEO: Specialized interagency training is getting firefighters prepared to battle from above this wildfire season. 18 students from different CAL FIRE units and the U.S. Forest Service are going through a two-week course called the California Aerial Supervision Academy. Students take part in air attack scenarios using air tanks and helicopters for water drops. "It's another avenue for us to take in our careers within aviation, but even off on the rural areas, the tactics and knowledge we're getting out of this translates into multiple areas: working on the helicopter, working on the ground, understanding what is happening firefighting-wise above you," Helitack captain with the CAL FIRE Mendocino unit, Gary Engen, said. During the simulation, assistant chief Clint Blackmon with CAL FIRE’s Tulare unit says students work on communication with each other to make sure they can fight wildland fires safely and effectively.
KNVN-TV NBC 24 Chico

School Fire burns over 1,200 acres east of Maricopa, evacuation warning lifted

A grass fire that has burned nearly 1,300 acres just east of Maricopa on Thursday afternoon, prompted a brief evacuation warning in the nearby area, officials said. The fire broke out at around 1:13 p.m. in the area of Highway 166 between Basic School and Pentland roads. Multiple firefighting crews including engines, trucks and aircraft were called to fight the flames. Fire officials said the fire was burning quickly through dry grass in the area. Kern County Fire officials said the School Fire has burned 1,286 acres so far and is at 50% containment. County officials issued evacuation warnings for nearby areas, but lifted them at around 5:30 p.m.
KGET-TV NBC/CW+ 17 Bakersfield

Conception captain to be sentenced in 2019 dive boat fire that killed 34 people near Santa Cruz Island

VIDEO: The captain of the Conception dive boat that caught fire near Santa Cruz Island on Labor Day 2019 is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for criminal negligence in the deaths of all 33 passengers, including two Santa Monica residents, and a crew member. Jerry Boylan faces up to 10 years in federal prison. The federal criminal jury in downtown Los Angeles returned its guilty verdict last Nov. 6 on the single charged count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer, a pre-Civil War law also known as seaman's manslaughter, at the end of the first day of deliberations. The fire is considered the worst maritime disaster in modern California history. "This ship captain's unpardonable cowardice led to the deaths of 34 lives," Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement.
KABC-TV ABC 7 Los Angeles

Fresno warehouse fire prompts HAZMAT team response

A fire in a commercial building in Fresno prompted a HAZMAT team response on Wednesday afternoon. According to fire officials, warehouse employees in the area of Home and Sierra Vista Avenues reported a fire in the warehouse and adjacent buildings around 2:30 p.m. Upon arrival, firefighters say they found light smoke coming from the building. The building contains chemicals used for manufacturing, so the HAZMAT Team was requested. As a precaution, fire officials say the building next door was evacuated as well. The HAZMAT team was able to safely move the chemicals away so that the fire could be extinguished. No injuries were reported during this incident. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
KGPE-TV CBS 47 Fresno

Man charged with hate crime after Yucaipa church damaged by fire

A 36-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to arson charges, including a hate crime allegation, after he was arrested in connection with two fires that authorities say were set in Yucaipa. One of the fires damaged a church. Jonathan Nava of Albuquerque, New Mexico, entered his pleas on Monday, April 29, in Superior Court in San Bernardino via closed circuit television from West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. He was charged with two counts of arson of an inhabited structures and one count of arson to terrorize. Places of worship, courthouses, public libraries and places that provide abortion counseling are among those covered by the terrorism statute in the state Penal Code. Battalion Chief Alison Hesterly, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire’s San Bernardino Unit, declined to say why the department believes Nava targeted the church, citing the ongoing case.
San Bernardino Sun - Metered Site

Duckling rescued by Roseville firefighters

PHOTOS: A fire crew with the Roseville Fire Department was not called to rescue the typical cat stuck in a tree on Wednesday, but a duckling in a storm drain. When calls came in for a duckling stuck in a storm drain and no animal control officers on duty, the members of Engine 6 responded. The team was able to find the suspect storm drain and located on the duckling that they successfully rescued. After the rescue, the duckling was brought to the Bird and Pet Clinic of Roseville where it was given a clean bill of health before being handed off to the Gold County Wildlife Rescue.
KTXL-TV FOX 40 Sacramento