California: Fast-moving wildfire chases holiday campers

A wildfire spread rapidly across 10,000 acres of national forest Sunday, sending thousands of holiday campers fleeing.

The fire was burning in the Azusa Canyon area of the Angeles National Forest about 30 miles east of Los Angeles.

About 8,000 campers were told to evacuate campgrounds.

“This was a holiday weekend, and the canyon was full of people,” state Department of Forestry dispatcher James Arthur said.

In El Dorado County east of Sacramento, a fire destroyed one house and threatened at least 30 others. It had consumed 700 acres Sunday and was 30 percent contained.

A 15-year-old boy was in the county’s juvenile hall in connection with the fire. A second boy, also 15, was questioned then released to his family, sheriff’s Lt. Kevin House said.

One boy was playing with matches when the fire started Saturday between the cities of El Dorado Hills and Rescue, House said.

San Francisco: Higher tolls charged on Golden Gate Bridge

Travelers crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco paid higher tolls Sunday in a move meant to address a budget shortfall.

The increase from $3 to $5 for autos took effect at midnight Saturday.

The Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District raised the tolls and boosted bus and ferry fares to compensate for an anticipated $441 million budget shortfall over the next five years.

The bridge toll rose from $2 to $3 in 1991.

Nevada: Burning Man festival ends weeklong run

Thousands of revelers headed home Sunday as the annual Burning Man counterculture festival ended a peaceful one-week run.

A record 29,000 people attended the 17th annual gathering on the Black Rock Desert, 120 miles north of Reno.

The event combines camping, art and music and bans commercial vendors. Artwork created during the week included a giant Spanish galleon with full mast and sail and a light show resembling synchronized swimmers.

Participants cheered and danced Saturday night at the traditional climax: the ceremonial torching of a 70-foot-high wooden statue of a man for whom the event is named.

“It’s clearly the most surreal experience of my life,” said Lisa Slocum of New York City.

Law enforcement agencies reported no major problems, though some participants were arrested or cited on drug charges, Bureau of Land Management spokesman Jamie Thompson said.

The celebration began in San Francisco in 1986 and moved to the Nevada desert in 1990.

Honolulu: Ten girls escape from detention center

Ten girls at a juvenile detention center escaped after overpowering a guard and stealing a van.

The breakout Saturday came two weeks after the girls’ section of the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility was entrusted to a private organization that uses guards trained as counselors.

The inmates, among 17 girls held at the facility, remained at large Sunday.

“We’ve had escapes before, but 10 at one time…I can’t remember when we had 10,” said Bert Matsuoka, executive director of the state Office of Youth Services.

The girls, who ranged in age from 14 to 17, were being held for a variety of offenses, Matsuoka said.

The escape began with an inmate asking a guard for a pain reliever. The girls then overpowered another guard, took her keys and drove away in an unmarked white van.

They also cut phone lines so staff couldn’t call for help.