"Significant progress was made against a forest fire threatening homes in California's San Bernardino Mountains, while up the coast firefighters sought to prevent a 107-square-mile blaze near Big Sur from encroaching on Highway 1, authorities said Wednesday."

"A wildfire burning out of control in mountains and foothills east of Los Angeles mushroomed more than 50 percent overnight, forcing authorities to order three school districts to cancel classes due to heavy smoke and dangerous conditions."

"A Southern California wildfire has surged in size and put thousands of homes in potential peril. Smoke plumes roiling from flaming ridges of the San Bernardino Mountains blew all the way across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas as the blaze on Monday forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes."

"There's a voracious little bug destroying forests across the eastern U.S. Scientists say emerald ash borers, exotic beetles imported accidentally from Asia, have killed as many as 50 million trees. They're now threatening groves in New York's Adirondack Mountains that are used to make an iconic kind of baseball bat."

"Joshua trees are weird. They've got shaggy bark, twisted branches and needle-like leaves."

"Wildfires are burning in seven Western U.S. states, from California's famed Big Sur region to tribal towns and hamlets near Reno, Nevada. More than a dozen homes were destroyed in Montana, and evacuations were ordered in Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming. Firefighters were trying to stop a Washington blaze from reaching a thickly forested security zone at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation." The Associated Press had an overview of some of the fires August 2, 2016.

"A wildfire burning along California's Big Sur coastline keeps growing a week after it broke out, and looks to be a problem for the scenic region for weeks to come."

"Firefighters scrambled on Thursday to contain a deadly wildfire that has forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents and gutted dozens of homes near the coast of central California."

"Firefighters in drought-hit California who are battling a 50-square-mile wildfire could be hampered by triple-digit heat, wind gusts up to 30 mph and low humidity on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service."

"Rushing to stop a fire that never came, Forest Service logged miles of big trees, critical habitat"