HARD TO HIDE: While fellow firemen battled...

HARD TO HIDE: While fellow firemen battled firestorms, a Mendocino County fire chief was fighting charges he stole an L.A. County fire engine. A San Fernando jury acquitted Chief Pat Colleary--a deputy director of the California Firefighters Assn.--after 35 minutes of deliberations (B5), some jurors suggesting he sue his accusers. . . . Still unanswered: Who did get away with that firetruck?

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BAGGY PLAID SKIRTS: As the Burbank school board heard the school superintendent urge expelling students for wearing baggy, gang-style clothing, a Burbank High School student representative suggested mandatory uniforms instead (B9). Otherwise, said Shannon Lundquist, gang members will simply pick new symbols. . . . The superintendent figures a ban would reinforce parents trying to police children’s dangerous duds.

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STARTING OVER: It’s frustrating, exhausting and depressing. But it is possible to come back from a disaster, say those who lived through them. . . One key to bouncing back: Go slow. Rushing may blot out unpleasant memories but create problems later on. For tips on coming back from disaster, and preparing yourself if it strikes, see The Recovery, a special report on the Southland firestorm (B1). . . . Experts and victims of other disasters offer advice on taxes, insurance and even how to replant burned hillsides.

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NO PLACE TO GO BUT UP: It may not be much, but Littlerock’s old, by Antelope Valley standards. And so the little community of 10,000 or 12,000 (boundaries are unclear) throws a 100th birthday party today and Sunday at Everett Martin County Park. Formerly Alpine Springs and Tierra Bonita, it became Littlerock (origin unclear) when a post office opened there in 1893. . . . The first pioneer (name unknown) showed up in the mid-1860s, but was killed by a grizzly in 1886 and his cabin taken over by outlaws.