This checklist, compiled by the Santa Cruz Sentinel, is an excellent resource to use to prepare for any type of fire, but especially wildfires. It is helpful to read through the checklist and make preparations in case of a fire (like keeping all your important documents in one easily-accessible location), and to talk about the checklist with all family members.

The Summit Fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains is now expected to destroy more than 10,000 acres, and is threatening another 190 homes after destroying at least 10. Here is some footage of the fires.

Fire officials battling the blaze in the Santa Cruz mountains have now requested backup from five East Bay fire agencies, including the Fremont, Newark, Union City, Hayward, and Alameda County departments.

More than 2,000 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 90 miles south of San Francisco, have gone up in flames since 6:00 a.m. this morning. Officials don’t know what caused the fire, by dry, fast (up to 40 mph) winds are making the situation very difficult.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than 1 million portable electric heaters from Vornado Air Circulation Systems, Inc., a now defunct Kansas company, in August 2004. Vornado now has to pay $500,000 in civil penalties because it didn’t report problems with the heaters in a timely manner.