Crews Slowly Making Progress Removing Debris After Mudslides

By MICHAEL BALSAMO, Associated Press MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — Recovery crews are slowly making progress digging away masses of mud, boulders and toppled trees in a California community that was ravaged by deadly mudslides, but officials said they’ve removed enough debris from creek canals to prevent another potential disaster when the next rainstorm hits. Workers were…

Hopes Of Finding Anyone Alive Dwindle In Mud-Stricken Town

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER and BRIAN MELLEY, Associated Press MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — More than two full days after mudslides ravaged this coastal town, the search for the missing became an increasingly desperate exercise Thursday, with growing doubts about whether anyone would be found alive. Seventeen people were confirmed dead and eight others were unaccounted for. “They’re…

Search Continues For Victims Of California Mudslide

By MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ and ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — Hundreds of searchers continued the grueling work Thursday of hunting for survivors and digging up bodies in the sea of mud and wreckage left by flash flooding in this wealthy coastal enclave. Muck-spattered searchers from around the state slogged through knee-deep ooze, poking…

Residents Flee As Flames Approach Wealthy California Enclave

By ROBERT JABLON and CHRIS CARLSON, Associated Press MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — Residents piled into cars and fled on Saturday, turning downtown Santa Barbara into “a ghost town” as surging winds drove one of the biggest fires in California’s history toward the city and the nearby wealthy enclave of Montecito. The mandatory evacuations around Montecito and…

Crews Struggle To Keep Flames From California Neighborhoods

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER, Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The fifth-largest wildfire in California history expanded Tuesday, ripping through dry brush atop a coastal ridge while crews struggled to keep flames from roaring down into neighborhoods amid fears of renewed winds. Elsewhere, fire officials announced that a cooking fire at a homeless encampment sparked a blaze…

New Evacuations As Huge Southern California Fire Flares Up

CHRISTOPHER WEBER, Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A powerful flare-up on the western edge of Southern California’s largest and most destructive wildfire sent residents fleeing Sunday, as wind-fanned flames churned through old-growth brush in canyons and along hillsides toward coastal towns. Crews with help from a fleet water-dropping planes and helicopters saved homes as unpredictable…