California turns to prisoners to fight huge fires
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SANTA YSABEL, California  - As California struggles to extinguish some of the state's most devastating forest fires, it has turned to a record number of prisoners for some of the most demanding work.
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An infusion of fresh firefighters allowed officials to get the upper hand early Tuesday on a wildfire that has burned more than 12,500 acres of land in Northern California&#39;s wine country.
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Fast-moving wildfires raged across Southern California on Monday, forcing at least 250,000 people to flee their homes and destroying hundreds of buildings as desperate fire officials called for help from other states.
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AH, CALIFORNIA. The land of warm sunshine. Plentiful beaches. Stunning scenery. Hollywood glitz.  Who wouldn't want to live there? Well, maybe not the inmates jammed into the Golden State's overcrowded prison system.
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As wildfires were charging across Southern California, nearly two dozen water-dropping helicopters and two massive cargo planes sat idly by, grounded by government rules and bureaucracy.
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Governors told to move as many inmates as possible to open jails in response to prison overcrowding
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More than 250,000 people fled their homes as out-of-control wildfires raged across California on Monday, prompting authorities to draft in the US military to support weary firefighters.
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SAN DIEGO Oct. 7, 2004 - A federal grand jury indicted a hunter on charges he started the largest wildfire in California history last year&#39;s Cedar Fire, which charred 273,000 acres and killed 15 people.
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California's troubled prison system was dealt a setback Tuesday when a judge ruled the state cannot ease its severe overcrowding by transferring inmates elsewhere.
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Some 35,000 people have fled their homes as forest wildfires force a state of emergency in southern California.
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Firefighters Sunday were battling two raging wildfires in Southern California that forced nearly 2,000 people to evacuate.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Faced with unprecedented prison overcrowding _ and the threat of a federal judge imposing an early release program as soon as this summer _ state officials Friday announced a temporary plan to transfer thousands of inmates against their will to out-of-state prisons.
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Firefighters on Sunday battled a 9,200-acre wildfire that was bearing down on California's prized wine country and threatened to knock out power to parts of northern California.
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Wildfire-hit California prepares for at least another 24 hours of high winds and scorching temperatures.
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California wildfires that have destroyed 1,300 homes and forced the evacuation of 500,000 people raged into a fifth day on Thursday but firefighters seized on a break in the weather to largely halt the march of destruction.
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Modern technologies are giving Southern California firefighters a leg up on the 16 wildfires ravaging 425 square miles from north of Los Angeles to southeast of San Diego since the weekend.
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Wildfires spread to threaten new areas   Up to 950,000 people already evacuatedOfficials hope winds will aid firefighters todayHelp given by Mexico, state prisoners