Disasters

The 13-year-old was trapped in a crack in the rock for about four hours Wednesday in Sandstone, Minn., while crews worked to get her out.
Federal investigators blame valve failure for Husky refinery explosion
A federal agency says a massive refinery fire that forced the temporary evacuation of homes in the coastal Wisconsin city of Superior in April was caused by an explosion that sent debris hurtling into an asphalt storage tank.
Officials are tracking a 2-acre wildfire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
A new book examines the I-35W bridge collapse, 11 years later
Kimberly Brown was among the survivors when the I-35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis 11 years ago. Her new book details her experience healing from injuries sustained in the collapse, and her own investigation into why the bridge fell.
Jetliner in Mexico crashes, catches fire, but all 103 aboard escape
A jetliner crashed in bad weather shortly after takeoff from the western Mexican city of Durango, skidding to a halt in a nearby field. However, all 103 passengers and crew managed a miraculous escape before flames consumed the plane.
Firefighters making tentative progress against deadly California wildfires
The largest Carr Fire, which has engulfed more than 100,000 acres and killed six people, is now 23 percent contained. Meanwhile, the Ferguson Fire east of Los Angeles is 30 percent contained.
When the weather is extreme, is climate change to blame?
While it's difficult to attribute individual events to climate change, scientists say global warming makes extreme weather more common.
Fire officials in Greece raised the death toll from a wildfire that raged through a coastal area east of Athens to 91 and reported that 25 people were missing Sunday, six days after Europe's deadliest forest fire in more than a century.
Hope grows as deadly northern California blaze slows down
The deadly northern California wildfire that has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes burned virtually unchecked Sunday as fire crews surveyed a small town that was reduced to an ashy moonscape of blackened trees and smoldering rubble.
Experts say urban sprawl, climate change are increasing risk of major wildfires
A fire that started in a rural community in northern California underscored a new reality in the state when days later it suddenly roared through neighborhoods on the edge of the city of Redding: Urban areas are increasingly vulnerable to wildfires.