ORANGE COUNTY Fire Authority – which serves Garden Grove, Stanton and Westminster – sent a strike team to help combat the Valley Fire in San Diego County (OCFA photo).

Fourteen firefighters battling wildfires in the Los Padres National Forest were caught as the wildfire raged Tuesday, inflicting injuries of burns and smoke inhalation.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from areas across the state as fires threatened homes, farms and cities. Over 200 people were rescued via an airlift conducted by the California National Guard. Almost 2.3 million acres have been burned in 2020 as the warm weather, dry conditions and – in some places – high winds fed the problem.

According to the Associated Press, 14,000 firefighters across the state were involved in battling the blazes. The fires have led to the loss of electrical power for an estimated 175,000 customers.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday declared a “state of emergency” as the fires raged across 14 counties, mostly in the northern and eastern parts of the Golden State.

Suffocation death prompts police retirements

The chief of police in Rochester, New York, the deputy chief and two commanders will retire from their jobs, it was announced on Tuesday.

The incident prompting those events was the death of a Black man in March while in police custody. Daniel Prude, 41, was found running naked down the street – according to police – when taken into custody. A hood was placed over his head and he was held down until he stopped breathing. The hood, police said, was to prevent Prude from spitting.

Seven police officers were suspended after the incident. Police Chief La’Ron Singletary, is Black, as is his deputy chief, according to the Associated Press.

Also:  No-rush on vaccines, double voting, COVID-19

Nine companies working on coronavirus vaccines are pledging to not hurry the testing process in spite of political pressure. • An estimated 1,000 people may have double-voted in Georgia’s state primary and August runoff, but not enough to affect the outcome of any races. • Monday’s tally of new coronavirus cases showed 24,000 infections, the lowest daily tally in months. The U.S. still leads the world in cases (6.3 million) and deaths (189,200). •  The RealClearPolitics.com average of presidential preference polls has Democratic nominee Joe Biden with 49.9 percent support, with President Donald Trump at 42.8, a difference of 7.1 percent.  FiveThirtyEight.com’s compilation had 50.6 percent for Biden and 43.1 percent for Trump, a margin of 7.5 percent.

Clouds give way to sunnier days

Enjoyed the overcast, cooler-than-expected weather today? Skies should be clearing, which means higher temperatures. Things will warm up a bit, though, through the week, with Wednesday’s high reaching 87 (overnight low of 67), creeping up a bit to 88 on Thursday and Friday. Evening lows will be in the mid-60s.

King James leads Lakers; Dodgers rally 

The Los Angeles Lakers gained the upper hand in their playoff series, and the Angels ended a good streak by helping their opponents end a bad one.

• Lakers 112, Houston Rockets 102. The Lakers took a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semi-finals Tuesday night. LeBron James had 36 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead LA. James Harden shone for the Rockets as well, scoring 33 points, grabbing  nine rebounds and making nine assists. Anthony Davis scored 26 for the Lakers, who also got 40 points off the bench. Game Four of the series will be on Thursday.
• Texas Rangers 7, Angels 1. The Angels’ hottest pitcher – Andrew Heaney – was only lukewarm and the Rangers were hot enough to snap a six-game losing streak in the Lone Star State. Mike Trout collected two hits and Jared Walsh homered but the Angels couldn’t do much more offensively, seeing their five-game winning stretch ended. Lance Lynn (5-2) was sharp for the Rangers, working seven innings and giving up just four hits and one run. He struck out six Angels. The Orange County team is now 17-26 and the fellas from Arlington are 14-27, still fourth and fifth in the AL West standings.
• Dodgers 10, Arizona Diamondbacks 9 (10 innings). Gavin Lux hit two home run, including a three-run blast in the 10th inning as LA rallied from a 6-1 deficit to beat the D-backs. Lux finished 3-for-5 with five RBIs and one walk. Arizona almost caught the Dodgers with a three-run rally in the bottom of the 10th, but was stopped when Wyatt Mathisen was called out on strikes with two out and a man on base. The Dodgers are now 31-12 and lead the NL West by 4.5 games. Arizona is 15-28 and in fifth place.