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A fast-growing wildfire has exploded across 1,500 acres in Sonoma County and triggered evacuations for dozens of residents amid dry conditions and possible record-breaking heat Monday. The Sawmill fire, which is 20% contained, started at 10:50 a.m. Sunday off Big Geysers Road and Geysers Resort Road about 10 miles east of the picturesque city of Cloverdale, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Mandatory evacuations were issued for residents who live in the Geysers area. The firefight has been difficult for crews, fire officials said.

Red flag warnings are in effect through Monday afternoon, as soaring temperatures and the first major Santa Ana winds of the season are expected to sweep through an already parched Southern California. “I’d say the tinder box would be Southern California itself,” said David Sweet, a metereologist with the National Weather Service. “All areas in Ventura County and Los Angeles County are being subjected to gusty winds, high temperatures and low humidities.”

The next two years of leadership on the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors were cemented Thursday with the election of the agency’s board officers, whose terms will begin Oct. 1. Encinitas City Councilman Mark Muir, who represents the San Dieguito Water District on the Water Authority’s Board and has served as the board’s vice chair for two years, was elected the new chair of the 36-member board, which represents 24 retail member water agencies. Jim Madaffer, board secretary for the past two years as a representative from the city of San Diego, will serve as vice chair.

Most San Diegans are drinking water containing hexavalent chromium at levels higher than the goals set by California’s scientists, but that fall well below the state’s legal limits for the toxic metal, a new report by the Environmental Working Group found. The report, released Wednesday, seeks to draw attention to a chemical that’s ubiquitous in drinking water in more than 200 million Americans. It also highlights the tension between maximizing public health and setting limits that regulators deem practical.