Archived issues
On the Cover
A Los Angeles County, CA, Fire Department handcrew superintendent shields himself from flames after lighting a backfire during a 950-acre brushfire in Santa Clarita, CA, on Dec. 4, 1995. The fire, sparked by a welder's torch, was fanned by Santa Ana winds in excess of 30 mph. Over 500 firefighters from six departments used eight water-dropping helicopters along with five fixed-wing aircraft to control the fire and keep it from spreading into the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles City that suffered a disastrous brush fire in 1988.
