A sky crane helicopter being used for the fire fighting effort scoops up water from the 9th hole at the TPC Valencia golf coarse in Valencia, Calif., as smoke rises from the Stevenson Ranch fire north of Los Angeles, Monday, Oct 22, 2007. As wildfires were charging across Southern California, nearly two dozen water-dropping helicopters and two massive cargo planes sat idly by, grounded by government rules and bureaucracy.
...''This situation here is the worst I've seen in terms of impact on individuals, families, homes, businesses,'' said Charley Wolk, who's been farming in San Diego County for 35 years, and now manages hundreds of acres of mostly avocados, citrus and flowers....
