Category: CNN Regional

By Michael Martin

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    SALT LAKE CITY (KSTU) — The Dry Creek Fire that sparked overnight near the University of Utah campus has grown to an estimated 89 acres, but officials say its forward progress has been stopped.

Utah Wildfire Info said around 2:30 p.m. that although the forward spread has stopped, official containment is at 0% as they work to establish a perimeter.

No structures are currently threatened, and there are no evacuation orders. The Salt Lake City Fire Department is monitoring the situation should that change.

People are being told to stay off trailheads going up towards the fire location in Dry Creek, City Creek, Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and the surrounding foothills, even up behind the Avenues neighborhood and near the University of Utah Hospital.

The fire department is waiting and relying on outside resources to battle the fire, as the flames are in an area too far up for them to reach. Officials told FOX 13 News that the Division of Forestry and state resources are monitoring and assisting in the situation.

Even with all the rain the area has received, the new fire is a reminder that there is still plenty of dry vegetation that can start a new wildfire.

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By Erin Cox

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    Utah (KSL, KSL TV) — After nearly three years in the hospital, one community decided to surprise a 5-year-old and her family.

The Barton’s Saratoga Springs neighborhood has supported them from the beginning. From prayers and rides to the hospital to raising more than three grand to send the Burton’s daughter to Texas for a donor heart — now they wanted to give her a grand welcome home.

Shalise Swenson, who helped plan the surprise, gathered pink and purple to line the streets for the Barton’s daughter, Sienna, who loves Taylor Swift and Disney.

“She’s spice and big heart,” Swenson said.

A big heart that’s been through a lot. Sienna was born with half a heart. She had surgery at six days old, six months old and was supposed to go in again at three years old.

“It’s a very discouraging process,” said Francesca Barton, Sienna’s mom.

In January 2023, Sienna went into heart failure and was hooked up to a mechanical heart while she waited for a new one.

“Twenty eight months later, we were still there waiting,” Barton said.

That’s when the Barton’s found a hospital in Texas that would have a greater chance of finding a donor with the right heart size for Sienna.

They flew to Texas in May 2025, and Sienna had a donor by June.

“Our daughter is only alive today because another family chose donation,” said Fano Barton, Sienna’s Dad.

Sienna needed to stay at least 90 days following her heart transplant. And on day 975 of the family’s journey, Sienna returned home to Saratoga Springs.

“She was two years old when she went into the hospital and now, she’s five,” Fano said.

Sienna waved her hands and threw out candy to neighbors as their car paraded through the streets.

“Our community has been behind us these past three years,” Barton said. “We’re just so grateful to them.”

After all this time, Sienna’s big heart, still beats.

“Our hearts are so full,” Barton said.

There’s a lot of healing and learning left for Sienna.

The Barton’s will go to Texas every six weeks for checkup appointments. The family said Sienna has physical therapy, feeding therapy and on top of that, they just want to catch up on being all together as a family after nearly three years of living in different places.

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By Olivia Young

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    Colorado (KCNC) — A Colorado couple on vacation in San Francisco found a puppy who had been horribly abused. They rescued the pup and ultimately decided to adopt her. For a week now, she has been recovering in Colorado.

To see the pup playing in her Broomfield yard, you’d have no idea what she’s been through. But her name, “Brazen,” reflects how strong she is.

“It just fits her so well. I love the definition being bold and without shame,” said Lina Robles.

The night Robles and her partner, Allison Lopez-Bock, found Brazen is burned into their memory.

Returning to their San Francisco Airbnb after a concert, they saw a flash of black fur running at them.

“We think for sure we’re about to get mauled,” Robles said.

But when the dog got close, the pair realized it was a puppy, with duct tape around her mouth and eyes and a rope around her neck.

“It was horrific. I mean, I was shocked, I was appalled and also just really worried about her,” said Lopez-Bock.

“It was really distressing to see her in that state. She was just whimpering. She just cowered in between my legs,” Robles said.

Immediately, the women carefully removed the tape.

“She made a really big cry when we cut it off,” Robles said.

They brought her inside, cut off the rope, and gave her food and water.

“Immediately just licking us,” said Lopez-Bock.

The next morning, they dropped her off at a shelter and flew home to Colorado.

“At that point, it was just like, this is goodbye,” Robles said.

But they couldn’t get the 4-and-a-half-month-old lab they’d named Brazen off their minds.

When the shelter called to say they were running out of room, the women knew what to do.

“We felt like it was meant to be,” said Lopez-Bock.

They went back to California that day to adopt Brazen themselves.

“It was incredible. Her excitement was off the charts when we first saw her. She was very excited, jumping all over us,” said Lopez-Bock. “It was really sweet. Really cuddly, puppy loving. It was so sweet.”

They also shared Brazen’s story on social media.

“Just the outpouring of support and kind messages, donations, like, even just like people offering to donate their, like, dogs’ old toys to us. It’s just been really moving. I think she’s set for life. She has so much support now,” said Robles.

Brazen has adjusted to her new life in Colorado quickly.

“We went on our first hike this weekend. Took it in the fall foliage. And she had a great time,” Robles said. “We’re loving having her here. And now that we have her, we can’t picture it any other way.”

But a scar on her neck is a reminder of the abuse she endured. The rope had been tied so tight that it caused a laceration and infection.

“I was bawling, like crying so hard, thinking about someone doing that to her and the audacity that anybody has to treat pets that way. It’s so cruel,” said Lopez-Bock.

San Francisco Animal Care & Control told CBS Colorado they took Brazen in on Sept. 7 and treated her for wounds around her neck. They said, “The dog did not have a microchip and there were no cameras in the area the dog was found. We have no leads on who abused the dog and there is no active investigation.”

“I worry that she has a whole litter of puppies that is out there being still abused. So that’s a really big concern of mine,” Robles said.

Robles and Lopez-Bock hope Brazen’s story inspires others to take better care of animals.

“If you have the ability and the time to spend some time with dogs or even better foster dogs, adopt a dog, that that would probably be my biggest message,” Robles said.

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By Tori Luecking

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    SPOKANE COUNTY, Washington (KXLY) — Deputies arrested a man and a woman for breaking into a hotel room and stealing a guest’s wallet and rental car keys on Tuesday, according to Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Around 11 p.m. on September 23, SCSO responded to a reported burglary at a hotel near Division Street and Cascade Way in the Town and Country area.

The victim told deputies he was staying in the hotel and went to dinner with a friend earlier that night and returned to his hotel room around 6:30 p.m.

When he arrived back at the hotel, the victim realized he didn’t have his room keycard and went to the front desk to get another one.

While changing clothes in the bathroom of his hotel room, the victim said he heard a knock at the door and a woman’s voice say “housekeeping.”

He said he then heard his hotel room door open and someone enter his room, but when he exited the bathroom to check, no one was there.

Later in the evening, the victim said he noticed his wallet and rental car keys were missing from his room. He checked his banking app and saw that two fraudulent charges had been made to his credit card, prompting him to call law enforcement.

Through an investigation, deputies learned 46-year-old Barry Buchmann and 43-year-old Natasha Schwencer arrived at the hotel in a black sedan and entered the victim’s hotel room with his keycard.

Using the car model and license plate, deputies soon found Buchmann and Schwencer.

They told deputies they were at the same restaurant the victim was at with a friend when they saw him drop his hotel room keycard.

Buchmann and Schwencer told deputies they picked up the victim’s keycard, went to the hotel and used it to enter his hotel room and steal his wallet and rental car keys.

They then used the car keys to enter his rental car and steal personal items from the car.

A search of Buchmann and Schwencer’s home found some of the victim’s property.

Both Buchmann and Schwencer were arrested and booked into Spokane County Jail for various charges including burglary, identity theft, prowling and other unrelated past charges.

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By Natalie Grant

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    GRANT COUNTY, Washington (KXLY) — A three-year-old made a scary discovery in his front yard: a live hand grenade.

It happened near the intersection of Willard and May Street in Hartline.

According to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, the young boy discovered the grenade Monday night and brought it inside to show his parents.

His parents then called 911.

The Washington State Patrol Bomb Squad was called to help, and they were able to determine that the grenade was live.

The Bomb Squad was able to carefully remove the device and take it to a remote area north of Hartline to dispose of it.

According to the GCSO, the grenade appeared to be weathered and exposed to the elements for a long time. Right now, it’s not clear how the grenade ended up in the front yard or how long it had been there.

This type of grenade is consistent with those used during World War II.

No one was injured in this incident.

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By Michael Logerwell

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    PUEBLO, Colorado (KRDO) — On Sunday, park officials at Lake Pueblo State Park saw quite an unusual bird. A bird, we’d wager, has never been spotted at the lake before. That bird was named Bert. He’s an emu, and he was on the run after escaping from a small farm just south of Pueblo.

“Somebody, I think it’s the cows, had pushed in the gate and let the birds out,” Joslyn Rafferty says. She couldn’t find any break in the fence that would’ve led to Bert the emu’s great escape.

The next time Bert was seen by the Rafferty family was on Facebook. Lake Pueblo State Park posted this photo (seen above), asking if anyone had lost their emu.

Joslyn said her son, Logan, was the only one home when Bert, the emu, went missing. He contacted friends, family, neighbors, and anyone with a phone in Southern Colorado.

“I had everybody, all the way from here to Beulah up to Pueblo. I even had people down in Colorado City, like, ‘Oh, we’ll keep an eye out,” Joslyn said. Bert didn’t make it that far, but he did make it six miles away from his home.

Joslyn said in the four years she’s had the big birds, this was the first escape. She credits the John Wayne movie Hatari! with sparking her love for emus (and ostriches, but she hasn’t added those to the farm yet). The four years of love made the escape all the more devastating and worrisome, and the eventual reunion all the sweeter.

“He literally hit my chest and put his little head, neck, and, like, threw it on me. The guy [who returned Bert] was like, Oh, this is so weird, and I thought, This is just Bert, and Bert just wanted to be hugged. So I just rubbed like you rub your dog’s cheeks,” Joslyn said.

Now Bert and Ernie are back together again, hopefully for good this time. Joslyn has added some more safety measures to ensure there is no second great emu escape.

“I’m just very proud to be part of this pueblo community and have their help and support….like, I get choked up a little bit, you know, with my babies home, but I’m very appreciative to everybody,” Joslyn said.

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By KTNV Staff

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    LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — We’re learning more details surrounding a dog dumped near a dumpster and the man who police believe did it.

We first told you about this story in July when police discovered the dog near the 100 block of North 27th Street.

As the investigation continued, authorities released video to help identify those involved. Then, this past Friday, authorities announced the arrest of 33-year-old Darrion Lamar Garry in connection to this case.

Channel 13 obtained Garry’s arrest report and learned more about what he was doing leading up to the dog being found dead.

Garry told police he got the dog as a gift from his cousin after Garry was released from prison in October of 2024. Garry said he would leave the dog, named Louie, outside on the patio, checking on him when he got home from work or remembered, but admitted there was no set routine.

On July 9, Garry said he checked on Louie at nighttime, put water and food in his bowls he had inside his kennel and then went to sleep. When Garry woke up July 10, he said he brushed his teeth, washed his face and started playing video games for a couple of hours. He then made himself breakfast and got ready for work, where he had to be at around 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

It wasn’t until before leaving for work that Garry went to check on Louie outside and found the dog not moving. Garry said he tried to call his name to see if he would react, but that Louie had died by this point.

During his interview with police, Garry said he couldn’t call off work because he had already called out too many times, so he grabbed a white sheet and put it over the cage so the dog wasn’t exposed, then went to work.

When he got back from work, Garry called someone to help him get rid of the dog. The two men grabbed the cage and rolled it to the dumpster, where police found it on Friday, July 11.

During the necropsy on the dog, authorities found evidence further supporting that the dog had died from inadequate shade or cooling measures, leading to severe heat stroke.

On July 9 and July 10, high temperatures were around 108 and 109 degrees, and overnight temperatures only cooled to 93 degrees at the lowest.

During the interview with police, Garry said he had previously had Animal Control called on him after someone complained about him leaving Louie outside. Animal Control told him that he had to put a pool or something outside where the dog could cool himself down if Garry was going to keep Louie outside.

Garry admitted to completely taking responsibility for the dog. He said he was the only one who fed him and looked after him; he was the only one responsible for taking care of Louie, and realized he probably left it out for too long. He said the patio where the kennel was had shading but those days were hot

Garry was arrested on a charge of willful/malicious torture/maiming/killing of an animal.

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