Causes for California's Worst Wildfires Often Remain Undetermined
"If we don't know what causes a fire, we don't know how to prevent them," said Carrie Bilbao, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center.
Watch CBS News
"If we don't know what causes a fire, we don't know how to prevent them," said Carrie Bilbao, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center.
The U.S. Forest Service says the largest wildfire in California history is now 100 percent contained.
The Snell Fire, which has burned almost 2,500 acres between Middletown and Lake Berryessa in Napa County, is now 100 percent contained.
One of the largest pet adoption events in the country was happening at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. Many of the animals lost their homes to wildfires.
The evacuation orders issued for the Irving Fire in Marin County were lifted early Tuesday evening, according to Marin County Fire officials.
The Snell Fire in Napa County held at approximately 2,400 acres Sunday and was at 20 percent containment as of 7 p.m., Cal Fire said.
A fast-growing wildfire erupted near Middletown Saturday afternoon, triggering mandatory evacuation orders for residents along Snell Valley Road and in Berryessa Estates.
The Delta Fire in California's Shasta-Trinity National Forest was burning out of control Saturday with crews scrambling to prevent it from reaching mountain communities.
A stretch of Interstate 5 near the California-Oregon border will remain closed through the weekend as crews try to tame the Delta Fire roaring along the roadway.
The Delta Fire broke out Wednesday north of Redding, closing Interstate 5 in both directions. It has tripled in size and now fire crews have a long battle ahead.
Staff at two senior care centers abandoned residents during an evacuation as wildfires swept through the North Bay last October, state officials said Thursday as they moved to revoke licenses from the Santa Rosa facilities.
Along a section of California's busy I-5 freeway Thursday, crews removed the burned out remains of several big rigs that fell prey to the destructive blast of the Delta Fire.
An explosive wildfire that closed down dozens of miles of a major California freeway nearly tripled in size overnight.
Both directions of Interstate 5 connecting California and Oregon were closed and evacuations were ordered Wednesday when a fast-moving wildfire swept through a wilderness area.
A new wildfire in Placer County is complicating the return trip home for many people who spent the Labor Day holiday in the mountains.
Californians will foot the bill for the recent wine country wildfires, according to a plan just approved by state lawmakers.
The Assembly and Senate adjourned for the year shortly before midnight Friday after passing one of the most contentious bills lawmakers confronted.
State fire officials said Thursday that the Carr Fire which charred nearly 360 square miles in and around Redding, is surrounded.
As of late August, only nine of nearly 2,700 single-family homes lost here had been rebuilt, according to figures from the city's permitting office.
Debate over legislation to prevent California wildfires and allow utilities to pass along costs to ratepayers is going down to the final hours as the lawmakers face a crucial deadline on Tuesday.
More destructive fires, brutal heat waves and rising sea levels are just some of the effects of climate change according to a new study on climate change.
A vegetation fire near Interstate 580 in Castro Valley burned more than 40 acres as crews worked to contain it Sunday afternoon.
Verizon said it removed all speed cap restrictions for emergency workers fighting wildfires on the West Coast and for those in Hawaii.
A suspect was arrested after a man was found dead inside a Lafayette home on Saturday morning, police said.
On Saturday, a pilot and former prisoner of that war was remembered for the life he lived and what his eventual return, captured in an iconic photograph, symbolized for the nation.
Emotions ran high at a contentious school board meeting Saturday as the San Jose Unified School District weighed a proposal to close five elementary schools at the end of the academic year.
Stephen Curry will begin participating in full team practices in the coming days as he works back from a right knee injury that forced the Golden State Warriors star to miss his 21st straight game at Atlanta.
Christian Dvorak scored a tiebreaking goal early in the third period and added an assist, Dan Vladar made 24 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 to complete a three-game West Coast sweep.
A suspect was arrested after a man was found dead inside a Lafayette home on Saturday morning, police said.
On Saturday, a pilot and former prisoner of that war was remembered for the life he lived and what his eventual return, captured in an iconic photograph, symbolized for the nation.
Emotions ran high at a contentious school board meeting Saturday as the San Jose Unified School District weighed a proposal to close five elementary schools at the end of the academic year.
Stephen Curry will begin participating in full team practices in the coming days as he works back from a right knee injury that forced the Golden State Warriors star to miss his 21st straight game at Atlanta.
Christian Dvorak scored a tiebreaking goal early in the third period and added an assist, Dan Vladar made 24 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 to complete a three-game West Coast sweep.
On Saturday, a pilot and former prisoner of that war was remembered for the life he lived and what his eventual return, captured in an iconic photograph, symbolized for the nation.
Relatives of a family of four killed in a car crash in San Francisco are angry and disappointed by the sentence handed down to the driver on Friday afternoon.
The community of Foster City on the Peninsula announced that they have been hit by a cybersecurity breach and are planning to declare a state of emergency.
Illuminate, the nonprofit hosting the event, said founder Ben Davis, and the artist behind The Bay Lights, Leo Villareal, will be in attendance and speak ahead of the grand relighting.
Inside the Church of 8 Wheels, roller skating is more than a pastime — it's a way of life.
A suspect was arrested after a man was found dead inside a Lafayette home on Saturday morning, police said.
An Oakland Fire Department dispatcher was honored on Friday in a ceremony where she met the parents of a baby she calmly helped deliver over the phone when the mother unexpectedly went into labor.
The Bay Area and Central Coast are expected to see one more day of record hot temperatures before relief arrives, as an unprecedented March heat wave entered its fifth day on Friday.
The second of two rescued tigers being cared for at the Oakland Zoo was euthanized after it was recently diagnosed with cancer, the zoo announced.
Voters in Alameda County may decide on a proposal later this year that would raise the county's minimum wage to $30 an hour, nearly double the state's current minimum wage.
Emotions ran high at a contentious school board meeting Saturday as the San Jose Unified School District weighed a proposal to close five elementary schools at the end of the academic year.
A boy riding an electric bicycle in San Jose died of his injuries after crashing the bicycle, police said.
Santa Clara was seeking its first tournament win since 1996, when future NBA MVP Steve Nash was a senior.
A Hayward police officer is suspected of unlawfully and knowingly accepting a $1,000 bribe and "free access to sex workers," the Alameda County District Attorney's Office said.
To cut down on homelessness in the South Bay, a woman has created what she calls an "emergency room" for people facing eviction.
Sonoma County sheriff's deputies have made an arrest after a woman died following an attack inside a mobile home near Santa Rosa Wednesday evening.
The county says once funding is completed, construction could begin as soon as this fall, with completion sometime in 2028.
Marcus Ziemer, part of a Bay Area soccer coaching dynasty and longtime Sonoma State University men's soccer team head coach, died in Germany after a weekend accident.
In downtown Santa Rosa, shady spots with a place to sit and rest were commodities. But it was a quiet day for many businesses.
The driver of a vehicle that entered the water near the Sausalito Yacht Harbor was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital.
Stephen Curry will begin participating in full team practices in the coming days as he works back from a right knee injury that forced the Golden State Warriors star to miss his 21st straight game at Atlanta.
Christian Dvorak scored a tiebreaking goal early in the third period and added an assist, Dan Vladar made 24 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 to complete a three-game West Coast sweep.
Jalen Duren scored 23 points as the Detroit Pistons beat the Golden State Warriors 115-101 in a game missing two of the NBA's biggest stars.
Santa Clara was seeking its first tournament win since 1996, when future NBA MVP Steve Nash was a senior.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Hayden Birdsong will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire season.
A suspect was arrested after a man was found dead inside a Lafayette home on Saturday morning, police said.
Relatives of a family of four killed in a car crash in San Francisco are angry and disappointed by the sentence handed down to the driver on Friday afternoon.
The community of Foster City on the Peninsula announced that they have been hit by a cybersecurity breach and are planning to declare a state of emergency.
The failure to protect explicit case evidence in Denise Huskins' kidnapping and sexual assault case is driving reform at the State Capitol. New developments exposed a little-known gap in state law that could expose videos of sexual assault victims.
A Northern California nanny was arrested and is facing felony charges after she allegedly abused a young child in her care at a park earlier this week.
A jury has found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors by deliberately driving down Twitter's stock price in the tumultuous months leading up to his 2022 acquisition of the social media company.
The community of Foster City on the Peninsula announced that they have been hit by a cybersecurity breach and are planning to declare a state of emergency.
A college student who survived a fiery crash involving a Tesla Cybertruck in the San Francisco Bay Area has sued the automaker, alleging the vehicle's design trapped the occupants inside.
A Bay Area gender gap in the tech industry threatens the full participation of women in the future of artificial intelligence.
Across San Jose, nearly 474 automated license plate reader cameras scan passing vehicles every day, capturing plate numbers, vehicle descriptions, and location.
The early-season heat wave gripping the Bay Area also means the allergy season is already kicking into high gear.
He advises people to lie down, extend their arms, and hold the phones above their heads, or people should hold their phone at eye level, rather than looking down.
Food containing norovirus may smell and taste normal but still cause serious illness if consumed, FDA warns.
The city said there was no evidence of community-spread or of an outbreak, and that the health advisory was issued to give health care providers guidance.
Tests of dozens of baby formulas by Consumer Reports found that nearly half contained potentially dangerous chemicals.
Robert Mueller served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013 and led the investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Wait times aren't expected to improve until government funding is restored and TSA officers receive paychecks.
A federal judge has struck down some of the Defense Department's strict controls on how journalists with access to the Pentagon are allowed to report — ending a policy that caused many news outlets to leave the Pentagon.
It is unclear under what circumstances President Trump would authorize the use of U.S. troops on the ground in Iran.
The FCC announced Thursday that it had approved the $6.2 billion merger of major broadcast station owners Nexstar and Tegna.
A man has been arrested and accused of a hate crime after a San Francisco church was vandalized over the weekend, police said.
A Yosemite park ranger was fired last year after helping to display a transgender pride flag from El Capitan.
After more than two years of renovations, the historic Castro Theatre is back open for business.
A large Pride flag has been removed from the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village. The National Park Service said it did so under guidance from the federal government.
The billionaire and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $45 million to The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on suicide prevention and advocacy for LGBTQ young people.
CBS News announced Friday that CBS News Radio will be shutting down this spring after nearly 100 years of broadcasting, citing "challenging economic realities."
Illuminate, the nonprofit hosting the event, said founder Ben Davis, and the artist behind The Bay Lights, Leo Villareal, will be in attendance and speak ahead of the grand relighting.
Chuck Norris' family said his death at 86 was sudden, but did not share any details on the cause.
Afroman spoke to CBS News after he won the case, which tested the limits of parody and the license artists can take in social commentary directed at public figures.
The film follows CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp through their seven-year journey to document the toll of America's school shooting epidemic.
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oakland Unified School District has seen an alarming spike in the number of unhoused students in the school system who deal with a host of challenges far beyond what most children face.
Meteorologist and CBS News Bay Area's resident pilot Lt. Jessica Burch got a treat during Fleet Week, taking to the skies with one of the Blue Angels.
A Bay Area man discovered his devastating loss left him with a new opportunity to rethink how he lives -- follow his journey in virtual reality, 360-degree video.
A groundbreaking medical study involving the UCSF Medical Center has shown some colorectal cancer patients can safely skip radiation treatment and enjoy a potentially higher quality of life.
Every day, San Francisco bar pilot Captain Zach Kellerman goes through what might just be the world's most dangerous commute.
The Antioch Police Department will ask city council for permission to incorporate an AI chatbot into their non-emergency phone line.
Here's look at the weather forecast Saturday evening.
In November, Colonel Robert Stirm passed away at the age of 92. On this day, family, friends and fellow airmen gathered in San Mateo to celebrate the life of a man who endured unspeakable torture during years of captivity in the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison camp.
Parents and students were warning the San Jose Unified school board about the harm of closing their neighborhood schools.
with Zoe Mintz.
In 2025, KPIX is moving to a new community service award: the CBS News Bay Area Icon Award. Submit nominations for an outstanding community hero at kpix.com/icon.
It's the most wonderful time of the year for a South Bay woman who has played Mrs. Claus for more than 40 years for the children of North San Jose's Alviso District.
For residents of the Oakland Hills, the prospect of another wildfire always remains a concern. This week's Jefferson Awards winner has made it his mission to make the hills and other high-risk areas safer.
In East Palo Alto -- where state education numbers show more than nine in ten public school students are low income and more than half are English learners -- many are finding hope and connection at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula.
This week's Jefferson Award winner is Army veteran who continues to live a life of service into his 80s, by feeding hundreds of San Francisco families a week.
A Bay Area man who overcame tremendous obstacles to excel in school has made it his mission to gear up other students for success in the classroom and in life.
For Students Rising Above scholar Josh Collins it took moving across the country to realize the value of his Bay Area family.
Samir Hooker had to grow up fast after his stepfather was shot dead 12 years ago. Now he is watching over his mom and sister while attending UC Berkeley.
It's hard enough to graduate from one of the most prestigious schools in the country when you're the first in your family to go to college. Imagine doing that while you're also trying to protect your parents from being deported?
Some students who are the first in their families to go to college face the challenge of balancing a rigorous academic load while still working to help support their family back home.