Fire Deaths, Wildfire | featured news

A verdict has been reached in the penalty phase of the trial of a man convicted of murdering five federal firefighters who were overrun by a wildfire he ignited in Southern California in 2006.

The confirmed death toll from Australia's deadly wildfires reached the grim milestone of 200 Tuesday, and a police official said some bodies reduced to ash in the inferno would never be identified.

The koala moved gingerly on scorched paws, crossing the blackened landscape as the fire patrol passed. Clearly in pain, the animal stopped when it saw firefighter David Tree following behind.

Australia's raging wildfires have killed at least 130 people, decimating massive spans of land and leaving thousands of residents homeless, creating situation officials say they've never experienced.