BEAUMONT, Calif.

Wildfire burns 10 homes, threatens 500 others

A rapidly spreading wildfire chewed through a rugged Southern California mountain range on Thursday, destroying at least 10 homes, threatening more than 500 other residences and forcing some 1,500 people to flee.

Five people were injured, while more than 1,000 firefighters, 13 helicopters and six air tankers battled the flames as they pushed eastward along the San Jacinto Mountains, a desert range 90 miles east of Los Angeles, Cal Fire Riverside Chief John R. Hawkins said.

A man near the origin of the fire suffered serious burns, Hawkins said. Four firefighters were also injured, including two who suffered heat exhaustion. Officials did not have details to release on the other two.

At least 10 homes have been destroyed and Hawkins said that number would likely triple as authorities make their way into the charred areas to assess the damage.

SOUTH MIAMI, Fla.

Man in Facebook posting of fatal shooting gives up

A Florida man who authorities say fatally shot his wife – and apparently then posted a photo of her body on Facebook – turned himself into police Thursday.

Derek Medina, 31, told officers he had shot Jennifer Alfonso, 26, at their South Miami home, Miami-Dade police reported in a news release. When officers responded to the home, they found Alfonso’s body, as well as her 10-year-old daughter, who was unharmed.

Detectives didn’t immediately give a motive and didn’t address the Facebook post. Charges were pending.

A post on a Facebook page identified as Medina’s said at 11:11 .a.m. Thursday, “Im going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife love you guys miss you guys takecare Facebook people you will see me in the news.”

LAKESIDE, Calif.

Man sought in abduction may have booby-trapped car

A man suspected of abducting a 16-year-old girl after setting his house ablaze with the girl’s mother and possibly her younger brother inside may have booby-trapped his car with homemade explosives, police said Thursday as a search expanded to four states, Mexico and Canada.

Meanwhile, police said an “unusual fascination” with the teenager might have driven suspect James Lee DiMaggio, 40, to flee with her from his burned home on the California-Mexico border.

“That is kind of a working theory, that it may be something of a motivator,” San Diego County Sheriff’s Capt. Duncan Fraser said. “It’s definitely something that we’re looking at.”

Evidence found in the rubble of the home suggested that DiMaggio may have fled with explosives, Fraser said.

DETROIT

Honda Civics top list of best in front-end crashes

Two redesigned Honda Civic models were the only small cars to get the top rating in stringent front-end crash tests performed by an insurance industry group.

In all, half of the 12 compact and subcompact cars tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety fared poorly, but six performed well. Safety is critical in the fast-growing small-car market, with many buyers downsizing from larger vehicles.

The two-door and four-door Civics earned “good” ratings, while the Dodge Dart, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and the 2014 Scion tC were “acceptable.”

But popular models such as the Chevrolet Cruze and Sonic and the Volkswagen Beetle got “marginal” ratings, while the Nissan Sentra and the Kia Soul and 2014 Kia Forte each were rated “poor.”

The group didn’t test the Toyota Corolla because a new version is coming out in the fall. The Corolla is the No. 2 selling small car in America, behind the Civic.

The cars were rated for their performance in the insurance institute’s “small overlap” test of crashes that cover only 25 percent of a vehicle’s front end. These tests, added to the IIHS’s evaluations last year, are forcing automakers to bolster the front-end structure of all cars in order to avoid bad publicity from a poor performance.