In brief: Illegal burn may have caused wildfire

Wellington, Nev. – A wildfire that destroyed two homes in a rural neighborhood near the California-Nevada line may have been caused by an illegal burn that had been smoldering at a private residence since the weekend, investigators said Wednesday.

Rugged terrain forced firefighting crews to concentrate on an aerial attack to try to slow the flames. The fire had consumed about 6,000 acres of mostly sagebrush, cheat grass, juniper and pinion as it burned in the mountains within miles of another residential area in rural Lyon County, about 60 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe.

No deaths or injuries have been reported, and evacuations have been lifted.

Investigators believe the fire started when a resident failed to properly snuff out a burn Sunday and it suddenly burst into flames Tuesday afternoon at Topaz Ranch Estates.

EU meeting ends without financial plan

Brussels – European Union leaders concluded their latest summit early today with few concrete steps to fix the continent’s festering financial crisis even as the potential for a messy Greek exit from the euro appears to be rising.

The leaders of the 27 EU countries agreed to give institutions such as the European Investment Bank the task of drawing up proposals for growth in time for another summit in June.

But there was discord over more aggressive actions promoted by some leaders heading into the summit, such as issuing bonds jointly as a way of reducing borrowing costs for heavily indebted nations in the eurozone, which is made up of 17 countries.

The perception that European leaders lack the political will to tackle the continent’s financial and economic problems has left markets on edge for weeks.

Device lets officers check prints in field

London – Scotland Yard is equipping its police officers with handheld fingerprint devices, something that will help identify suspects in a matter of seconds, Britain’s largest police force said Wednesday.

Scotland Yard said it has distributed 350 of the cellphone-sized devices to officers across various parts of London, part of a nationwide rollout championed by Britain’s National Policing Improvement Agency.

The force said Wednesday that the devices capture fingerprints and remotely check them against the police database, flagging wanted criminals in 30 seconds.

Zimmerman accused cops of corruption

Orlando, Fla. – George Zimmerman accused the Sanford police department of corruption more than a year before he shot Trayvon Martin, saying at a public forum the agency covered up the beating of a black homeless man by the son of a white officer.

“I would just like to state that the law is written in black and white,” Zimmerman said during a 90-second statement to city commissioners at a community forum. “It should not and cannot be enforced in the gray for those who are in the thin blue line.”

The forum took place on Jan. 8, 2011, days after a video of the beating went viral on the Internet and then-Sanford Police Chief Brian Tooley was forced to retire. Tooley’s department faced criticism for dragging its feet in arresting Justin Collison, the son of a police lieutenant.

Zimmerman’s public comments could be important because the Martin family and supporters contend the neighborhood watch volunteer singled Martin out because he was black. Zimmerman has a Peruvian mother and a white father. His supporters have said he is not racist.

The Miami Herald first reported details from the January 2011 community forum Wednesday. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the tape from the meeting.