California firefighters make significant progress against wildfire east of San Francisco Bay
Associated PressCalifornia’s largest wildfire so far this year was significantly surrounded Monday after blackening a swath of hilly grasslands between San Francisco Bay and the Central Valley. The wind-driven fire erupted Saturday afternoon on land managed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of the country’s key centers for nuclear weapons science and technology. Though this fire is nearly contained, in general, fire burns hotter when the weather is hotter, said Jacob Bendix, professor emeritus in the geography and the environment department at Syracuse University. That’s what happened in drought-stricken Osteen, Florida this weekend when a brush fire ran toward houses; multiple fire departments had to assist the forest service with the blaze, said Volusia County fire department’s battalion chief Scott Smoak.