Even as I urged them to leave, from my home in the Mojave Desert, I was moved by a different compulsion: to get in my car, report to work and rush, via fire engine or helicopter, toward the fires. It ...

The helicopter took off from the Octopus carrying two crew members at about 8 a.m. local time (1100 GMT). It was not clear why an emergency landing was necessary, Postman said.