(TNS) - Nevada’s political leadership is continuing to develop measures to combat the increasing threats posed by wildfires across American West and in the Silver State.

A committee of state lawmakers will begin meeting next year to discuss the effect wildfires have on Nevada, and to develop ideas for legislation to introduce in the 2021 session.

In one case, a new name – one with all the sex appeal that “insurance” can add to a title – has people like Framroze Virjee, president of California State University Fullerton, visibly stoked.

(TNS) - Last month’s power shutdowns by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. left nagging questions about Marin County’s communications system and whether senior housing facilities in the county are prepared for the next shutdown.

On Oct. 27, when PG&E switched off electricity to most of Marin, nearly 50 percent of the county’s cell phone transmission sites failed. The next day 57 percent of the cell sites, 134 transmitters, were down in Marin, and the day after that more than 35 percent of the sites remained offline. No other county in the state had its communications system disrupted to this extent by the power outage.

(TNS) - Chainsaws were humming and backhoes were beeping. Wood frames were being hammered into place.

It was the sound of Paradise rebuilding, one nail at a time.

“I love it up here — it’s beautiful,” said Holly Austin, watching from a camper as her husband and a small crew worked on their new garage on Paradise Avenue.

One year after the Camp Fire destroyed much of the town in California’s deadliest wildfire, Paradise is coming back to life. Eleven homes have been rebuilt, and the town has issued more than 300 permits to those who lost their homes and wouldn’t think of moving elsewhere.

Fires have terrorized Californians in the last several weeks, and various organizations from the private and public sectors have responded by offering an array of resources to help those who have been injured or displaced.

One resource comes from software company Socrata: a map of available Federal Emergency Management Agency shelters and open homes. The map has a search bar where a user can enter an address, at which point the map zooms in on that location, revealing any nearby places of refuge.

There was “no way in hell” Victoria Sinclaire was rebuilding in Paradise, Calif.

She’d thought she was going to die during the six hours it took her to escape the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The town where she’d raised her family was nearly wiped out, two of her three cats had disappeared into the flames, and she “was done.”

A California dam could fail during an extreme storm and send water flooding into Mojave Desert communities that are home to about 300,000 people, authorities said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it has changed its risk characterization of the Mojave River Dam from low to high urgency of action.

A small earthquake has rattled a Northern California wine region where a huge wildfire was burning, the United States Geological Survey confirmed.

The USGS reported the quake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.2 struck at 12:34 p.m. Sunday near the Geysers.

(TNS) - Like nomads, thousands of people fleeing the ferocious 75,000-acre Kincade Fire have been migrating south — town to town — trying to stay a step ahead of the destructive blaze that has been steadily expanding since it broke out near Geyserville last Wednesday night.

Many of the more than 180,000 evacuees moved into the homes of family and friends to await news of when they can safely return, hopefully to homes that are still standing. But many others have had to sleep in evacuation centers, their cars and RVs, county fairgrounds and even campgrounds. Hotels across the region have been booked solid by fire refugees.

California governor Gavin Newsom announced a new state-wide system, created in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, that will provide California residents with an early warning for coming earthquakes. Part of the system is an emergency messaging system that sends text warnings, similar to those that cell phone users already get for floods and missing persons. The other component of the system is a new app called MyShake, which will give people “tens of seconds” advance notice before a quake strikes. If you are in a house, that might be enough time to get to a safe spot away from falling furniture. If you are on the road, it may be enough time to pull off the road or stop before a bridge or tunnel.