MURDER CHARGES FILED IN FIRE-RELATED DEATHS

HOPLAND, Calif., Aug. 28 -- A man who the police say may have run an
illegal drug laboratory where a wildfire broke out on Monday was charged
today with murder in the deaths of two pilots whose firefighting planes
collided over the blaze.

The man, Frank Brady, 50, of Redwood City, Calif., was being held in jail
without bail. A second man, Richard Mortensen, 43, of San Pablo, Calif.,
was arrested on outstanding warrants for drug and weapons charges.

Investigators were trying to determine whether the two men had been
operating a drug laboratory where the fire began, said Gary Hudson, the
Mendocino County undersheriff.

The wildfire has destroyed at least 12 structures and threatened more than
a dozen others. It was 60 percent contained today.

The planes collided on Monday evening near Hopland, about 100 miles north
of San Francisco, while the pilots were dropping fire retardant on the
250-acre wildfire, killing Larry Groff, 55, and Lars Stratte, 45.

The pilots were flying alone in the Korean War-era Grumman S-2 planes when
they clipped each other in a pass over the fire.

One plane broke apart and plummeted to the ground, exploding on impact,
said Jeff Anderson, who saw the collision from his home. The other plane
crashed less than a quarter-mile away. The cause of the collision was under
investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The pilots were employed by San Joaquin Helicopters of Delano, Calif. The
safety board listed six accidents since 1995 involving aircraft operated by
the company. Of those, a crash in 1998 resulted in the death of an air
tanker pilot.

Jim Josephson, president of the company, praised the two men today, saying,
"They were highly trained, professional pilots who were dedicated to the
firefighting mission." Each had years of experience in aerial firefighting,
Mr. Josephson said.

Late tonight, officials ordered the evacuation of the entire northern town
of Weaverville, about 3,000 residents, because of a fast moving fire.

"There are two heads on the fire, so it's moving in two different
directions," said a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry,
Jason Martin. "It's ugly."

Firefighters battling another blaze, near Lake Tahoe, were hampered by heat
and steep terrain today as a forest fire burned uncontained for a fourth day.