O.J. Simpson's former lawyer is defending himself against allegations he botched the former football star's armed-robbery trial.

Miami attorney Yale Galanter testified Friday that Simpson actually knew his buddies had guns when they went to a Las Vegas hotel room to reclaim some sports memorabilia.

Galanter took the stand at an often combative weeklong hearing on Simpson's claim that he was so badly represented by his lawyer that his 2008 conviction should be thrown out.

Galanter denied giving Simpson the go-ahead to retrieve the photos and footballs he believed had been stolen from him. He denied keeping Simpson in the dark about plea bargain offers that carried only a few years in prison. He said his client agreed all along with the decision not to put him on the stand.

FRAZIER PARK, Calif. (AP) - Firefighters in Southern California say a brush fire that briefly threatened an elementary school in a rural community has grown to 250 acres as it churns through thicker brush.

The fire started in Castaic (kas-TAY'-ihk) around 1:30 p.m. Friday. Firefighters in the air and on the ground were able to douse the flames closest to Northlake Hills Elementary School.

Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Scott Miller says the school had a great defensible space around it, so it was easy to protect.

Miller says the fire is still quite a distance from 19 homes on Elk Ridge Road and Vista Point Place. He says residents have been asked to voluntarily leave their homes as a precaution.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - One of Alaska's most restless volcanoes has shot an ash cloud 15,000 feet into the air in an ongoing eruption that has drawn attention from a nearby community but isn't expected to threaten air traffic.

An air traffic controller in the region says small planes have flown around the plume from Pavlof Volcano. Ash would have to rise tens of thousands of feet to threaten larger planes.

The eruption began Monday, and a photograph shows lava spraying out.

Air traffic controller John Maxwell says residents in the small community of Cold Bay, about 40 miles from Pavlof, are concerned that ash could damage their power generators. But he says wind has blown the ash away from the area.

Pavlof is 625 miles southwest of Anchorage in the Aleutian arc.