Fighting fires

Three big fires are raging right now in SoCal. If you're anywhere near them, you probably won't want to read the following:

Bureaucratic red tape is preventing two planes modified for aerial firefighting from combating the wildfires raging today in California.

A DC-10 and a Boeing-747 "Supertanker," specially equipped with firefighting technology, have been waiting for days for the U.S. Forest Service and FAA to approve them to fight the rapidly spreading wildfires that have already consumed 84,035 acres.

Local residents are furious about the idle equipment that could potentially save their homes. "This is ridiculous. The Lockwood valley is already under a voluntary evacuation order, and there are a lot of elderly people living up there," said one resident who lives near Lockwood Valley, an area threatened by the fires.