About 40 firefighters battled the blaze near  Avenue I and 10th Street West, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

Television news footage showed firefighters atop aerial ladders blasting streams of water onto the flames. The roof of the structure had collapsed.

It was unclear how the firefighter was injured. No other injuries were reported.

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— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Photo: Firefighters battle the Lancaster blaze. Credit: KTLA-TV Channel 5

The mother of  a mentally ill homeless man who died after he was beaten by Fullerton police has reached a settlement with the city that will pay her $1 million.

The settlement agreement unanimously approved Tuesday by the Fullerton City Council resolves Cathy Thomas' legal claims against the city regarding the death of her son, Kelly Thomas, 37. He died in July 2011,  five days after his confrontation with Fullerton Police Department officers.

Thomas reached the settlement after voluntary mediation with her attorney, Brian Gurwitz, city officials said. 

VIDEO: Kelly Thomas beating

"Resolution of Ms. Thomas’ claim at this time allows her to begin the healing process and avoid what would likely be protracted, expensive and difficult civil litigation," Thomas and the city said in a joint statement. 

The settlement does not resolve a claim filed by Thomas' father, Ron Thomas, for damages. He has vigorously pushed for the firing of the six officers and to have them tried on criminal charges.

PHOTOS: Kelly Thomas dies after run-in with Fullerton police

A Superior Court judge last week found there was enough evidence for Officer Manuel Ramos to stand trial for second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter and Cpl. Jay Cicinelli to face a trial for involuntary manslaughter and excessive force.

The settlement comes on the heels of that preliminary hearing, during which a 33-minute video and audio recording of the incident was played. The recordings so horrified some in the gallery that they had to leave the courtroom.

The beating sparked outrage in the community and resulted in an effort to recall three council members in next month's election.

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-- Richard Winton

Photo: Fullerton police Cpl. Jay Cicinelli, left, and Officer Manuel Ramos. Credit: Orange County district attorney's office

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Leesa Lyon and her teenage daughter were walking to their apartment in the city's La Sierra neighborhood when the loose dogs attacked, according to the Riverside County Department of Animal Services.

The mother stood between her daughter as the animals bit her lower body. The daughter ran into the family car and called 911, the department said.

"This was a serious incident,"  Sgt. Jason Sanders said in a statement. "But the victim is very fortunate."

Lyon drove herself to a hospital and was treated.

The dogs, owned by a neighbor, were unlicensed and had no vaccinations, the department said. The animals were being held pending a hearing to determine whether they pose a danger to the public. 

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Photo: One of the dogs involved in the attack. Credit: Riverside County Department of Animal Services

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said on Tuesday that the corruption investigation of Assessor John Noguez has grown to include other individuals  and that he intends to seek grand jury indictments in the near future.

In his first public comments about the expanding criminal probe, Cooley also accused the union that represents assessor’s office employees of inappropriately interfering with the investigation by ordering members to refuse to cooperate without permission from Noguez’s office.

“They’re telling potential witnesses that, until they get permission from the No. 1 target, they can’t talk,” Cooley told The Times, waving a copy of the memo at a conference table in his office. He added that whoever issued the order will probably be the first person summoned to testify under oath in front of the grand jury.

The investigation, which began last year, has centered on tax breaks allegedly extended to Noguez campaign contributors and would-be contributors. Property tax bills are based on “assessed values,” which are determined by Noguez’s staff. A lower assessed value means a lower tax bill.

Noguez has denied any wrongdoing.

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--Jack Dolan and Ruben Vives

Photo: L.A. County Assessor John Noguez; Credit: Los Angeles Times

Santiago Carrasco, 52, and Rosa Carrasco, 54, were accused of traveling to Mexico in the summer of 2004 to obtain a phony death certificate stating that he died of a heart attack there, the Orange County district attorney's office said.

In September 2004, Rosa Carrasco began collecting death benefits on behalf of her husband, according to prosecutors. She was charged with receiving the money while the couple were living together in Santa Ana.

Prosecutors said the Carrascos were collecting the benefits up until their arrest Aug. 1, 2011.

Each was sentenced to two years in custody and two years of mandatory supervision after they are released, the district attorney's office said. The couple was also ordered to pay more than $413,000 in restitution.

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Photo: Santiago and Rosa Carrasco. Credit: Orange County district attorney's office

Anthony Burgess, 30, of San Diego, was sentenced Tuesday to four years and three months in federal prison after pleading guilty to the nine bank robberies that the FBI called the Well-Dressed Bandit series because of the robber's taste in clothes.

Under a plea agreement accepted by federal Judge Michael Anello, Burgess will pay $48,024 in restitution to the banks.

Burgess was arrested after an off-duty police officer saw him leaving the scene of the ninth robbery in a late-model Mercedes.

--Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Well-Dressed Bandit on surveillance camera. Credit: FBI

Authorities say Diego Alejandro Figueroa, 22, of Buena Park, and Aurelio Ramos-Navarette, another accused gang member, crashed a vehicle through a fence and plunged into a drainage canal at the end of a high-speed pursuit last week.

Ramos-Navarette ran from the truck and hid in a connecting tunnel within the drainage canal. Shortly afterward, he shot at officers, and they returned fire and killed him, police said.

Figueroa is charged with one felony count of attempted murder on a police officer, one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, one felony count of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation, one felony count of shooting an inhabited dwelling from a vehicle, one felony count of evading a police officer while driving recklessly, one felony count of possession of a firearm, and one felony count of active participation in a criminal street gang.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 80 years to life in state prison. The defendant is being held on $2-million bail and is subject to a no-bail probation violation hold.

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-- Richard Winton

Gann, who is 63, has led the school to major successes in fundraising and faculty expansion. But she also faced controversy in recent months as a result of disclosures that an admissions official at the prestigious liberal arts school had hyped the SAT scores and other data of incoming freshmen for years.

Gann’s retirement was under discussion about a year ago and was not hastened by the scandal, according to campus spokesman Max Benavidez. Gann, who declined a request for an interview, said in a campus letter that her timing was in part connected to the expected conclusion of a multi-year fundraising campaign, which has garnered $525 million toward a $600-million goal by next summer.

“Leadership changes are healthy for all organizations, and they provide an opportunity for the community to come together to reflect seriously and intelligently upon its future. The leadership change will also come at a time when the college is well positioned to attract an exceptional new president," Gann said in a letter to the campus.

Before coming to Claremont McKenna, Gann was the law school dean at Duke University, and she will become a legal studies professor at Claremont McKenna after leaving the presidency.

In April, the 1,320-student college released an investigative report by the O'Melveny & Myers law firm that found that the campus’ former vice president for admission and financial aid, Richard Vos, acted alone in exaggerating aggregate freshmen SAT scores and other statistics. Vos reportedly said he had acted in reaction to pressure he felt from Gann for a more selective student body. The probe found that Gann had not done anything improper.

The exaggerations turned out to be so small that the college did not lose its ranking as the nation’s ninth best liberal arts college in U.S. News & World Report’s listings.

--Larry Gordon

Investigators believe that Shazer Fernando Limas, 31, is responsible for the death of his girlfriend and their 1-year-old and 3-month-old children. He was arrested May 3 after leading police on a high-speed chase for more than an hour and was later charged with three counts of special circumstances murder, which make him eligible for the death penalty.

His girlfriend's body was located in the L.A. County morgue April 25 after being found in a gutter in La Puente. Prosecutors believe that Limas stabbed his girlfriend and the children in their upscale apartment in Orange on April 14.

Police originally scoured the Brea landfill for the children's bodies, but began searching an Irvine landfill  Tuesday morning after investigators learned that trash from Limas' apartment complex is funneled to both locations, said Sgt. Dan Adams with the Orange Police Department.

He said it was likely that cadaver dogs will continue the search until Friday, but cautioned that it will be difficult.

"The trash from a month ago could be 20 feet deep," he said.

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 --Nicole Santa Cruz