BIG SUR FIRE IS 20 PERCENT CONTAINED: BIG SUR (AP) — A wildfire that has burned more than a dozen homes in the Big Sur area of central California is now 20 percent contained.
Los Padres National Forest spokeswoman Lynn Olson says the blaze that began early Monday has destroyed 22 buildings. About 14 of those structures were homes, including that of Big Sur Fire Chief Martha Karstens.
No injuries have been reported.
The fire has burned about 769 acres, or a little over a square mile. The cause is still under investigation.
Big Sur is a popular tourist destination along the Central California coast with high-end resorts and beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean.
SAN FRANCISCO HOME COLLAPSES, SLIDES: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A newspaper reports that a San Francisco home that collapsed and slid down a hill belongs to a developer who once served as president of the city's Building Inspection Commission.
The home in the city's Twin Peaks neighborhood is owned by 67-year-old Mel Murphy, a partner in Murphy & O'Brien Real Estate Investments. It was under renovation, a project that the Chronicle says some neighbors were not happy with.
Police say the home came down around 10:30 p.m. Monday, leading to the evacuations of at least one residence. The cause of the collapse is under investigation.
11 INJURED IN OVEN DOOR BLAST AT CALIFORNIA JAIL: ALAMEDA (AP) — Fire officials say 11 people were injured, one critically, when an oven door exploded in a kitchen at a San Francisco Bay Area jail.
Alameda County Fire spokeswoman Aisha Knowles says the oven door blew off at the Santa Rita Jail around 11:40 a.m. Tuesday while inmates were baking.
Four inmates were taken to hospitals, including one with critical injuries. A deputy was among the other seven who were injured. They were treated at the jail with what appeared to be minor injuries.
Knowles says investigators will look into the possibility of a natural gas leak or arson.
M4.2 QUAKE OCCURS OFF CALIF. NORTH COAST: FERNDALE (AP) — A magnitude-4.2 undersea earthquake has jiggled communities along California's far north coast.
The Humboldt County sheriff's office says there are no reports of damage or injury from the predawn Tuesday quake.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the 5:28 a.m. temblor was centered in the ocean 16 miles west-northwest of Ferndale and 21 miles west-southwest of Eureka.
Residents posting to the USGS community Internet intensity map reported the shaking as light to weak.
MINUTEMAN 3 TEST MISSILE LAUNCHES FROM CALIFORNIA: VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE (AP) — The U.S. Air Force has test-launched an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile from the central California coast.
The missile lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 4:36 a.m. PDT Tuesday on a 4,200 mile flight over the Pacific to a target on the Kwajalein Atoll.
The Air Force Global Strike Command says the test was a success.
Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein, commander of the 20th Air Force, said in a statement that the test was a visible demonstration of the nation's nuclear deterrent.
