burned

Nearly 100 acres of Ventura County lands have burned due to two fires that began Monday, with the larger blaze nearly under control but the smaller growing with no containment in sight.

The Maria fire burned about 15 acres, and about 140 firefighters were involved in the battle, along with three helicopters and one dozer.

After their home burned down, the estimates the couple received to rebuild were in excess of $3 million, the lawsuit says.

Before European settlers arrived in California and insisted on suppressing fire at every turn, the landscape burned regularly.

Thousands of them are now in storage facilities in South Africa, with some people arguing that they should be burned to avoid the obvious risk of theft, keeping them off the black market.