Briefly

California wildfires force evacuations

Hemet, Calif. Firefighters on Sunday battled several wildfires that blackened thousands of acres and forced scores of people to evacuate their homes.

A new fire moved rapidly through thick brush in Riverside County, charring 400 acres and triggering evacuations about 110 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Nearly 700 firefighters converged on another blaze in Angeles National Forest that had burned 1,200 acres near a Los Angeles suburb. Also, firefighters expected to extinguish three Northern California wildfires that began Friday and consumed more than 4,000 acres about 110 miles east of San Francisco.

Oil field firefighter ‘Red’ Adair dies

Houston Oil field firefighter Paul N. “Red” Adair, who was instrumental in capping Kuwaiti oil wells set ablaze by Iraq and was immortalized by John Wayne in a movie based on his life, has died at age 89.

Adair, who boasted that none of his employees ever suffered a serious injury fighting hundreds of dangerous well fires around the world, died Saturday of natural causes at a Houston hospital, his daughter said.

Adair revolutionized the science of snuffing and controlling wells spewing high-pressure jets of oil and gas, using explosives, water cannons, bulldozers, drilling mud and concrete.

Ethiopian girl missing after Children’s Games

Cleveland Police were searching for a 15-year-old Ethiopian girl who vanished after competing in the International Children’s Games.

Aden Alemu was missing when her sponsoring family awoke Saturday, police said.

The family had overheard the girl talking on the phone and to friends, saying she wanted to defect to the United States. An unknown male called the family Saturday, saying Alemu was all right and wanted to stay in the United States.

The Children’s Games, endorsed by the International Olympic Committee, offer competition for children ages 11 to 15 in track and field, swimming, soccer, basketball and gymnastics.

Gorilla’s sign language tells handlers of pain

Woodside, Calif. When Koko the gorilla used the American Sign Language gesture for pain and pointed to her mouth, 12 specialists, including three dentists, sprang into action.

The result? Her first full medical exam in about 20 years, an extracted tooth and a clean bill of health.

About a month ago, Koko, a 300-plus-pound ape who became famous for mastering more than 1,000 signs, began telling her handlers at the Gorilla Foundation in Woodside she was in pain.

Five dead, 3 injured in desert near border

Gila Bend, Ariz. Five illegal immigrants were found dead Sunday, and authorities were searching for another who was among a group of 10 that became stranded in the desert after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Three other people were hospitalized and were expected to survive, said Andy Adame, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, which covers most of the Arizona-Mexico border. He said authorities were hopeful they would find the remaining missing person, who may have run out of water.

We don’t mind jury service, poll finds

Atlanta People want to serve on juries and would prefer to have jury trials if ever in court, according to a poll.

Three-quarters of people surveyed for the American Bar Association poll disagreed with the notion that jury service is a hardship.

More than 60 percent of those polled had been called for jury service.

Harris Interactive interviewed 1,029 adults from July 15-18 in the poll, which had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.