Firefighters battled on Wednesday to gain control of two wildfires burning across drought-parched foothills northeast of Los Angeles, though authorities lifted some evacuation orders as crews created a buffer around previously threatened homes.
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Incident commander Mike Wakoski says stronger winds are coming Wednesday afternoon and evening, and they could push the flames. Some 300 fire personnel are on the scene of the fire, and according to the Los Angeles Times, residents in the Mountain Cove community have been ordered to evacuate.
“It is critical that during red flag warnings the public be extra vigilant outdoors to prevent sparking a new wildfire”, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said in a written statement, recommending that power equipment not be used after 10 a.m. or on hot, windy days.
Just 15 percent of the fires, which started a few miles apart early on Monday, have been contained, as the flames have been propelled by bone-dry chaparral and severe heat.
Firefighters are bringing in more help after a forest fire near the Colorado-Wyoming line exploded in size and forced campers to evacuate. But firefighters still must deal with rough terrain and vegetation that has not burned in decades, he said. It was reported late Sunday in a heavily forested area with no permanent residents. It was not clear how many people fled.
On top of the wildfires, about 9 million people in the Southwest and West are under heat alerts on Tuesday.
Resources were moving from that blaze to those in Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
Authorities said Wednesday that the blaze in the mountains south of Albuquerque is more than halfway contained.
Fire officials say crews constructed more fire lines along two sides of the blaze. The almost 28-square-mile blaze in the mountains south of Albuquerque is more than halfway contained after destroying at least two dozen homes. Helicopters also have dropped more than 2,100 gallons of water close to where there are structures.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Major wildfires in Southern California were kept at bay amid cooler, more humid weather, while blazes elsewhere in the West saw explosive growth and potential danger.
Near the U.S. -Mexico border southeast of San Diego a two-day-old, 12-square-mile wildfire took a large leap and forced the evacuation of about 600 homes and more than 1,500 people in the community of Lake Morena Village. Gov. Doug Ducey declared a state of emergency to free up state funds to help.
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According to Dave Zaniboni, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the fire has grown to 7,969 acres, adding that at least 70 percent of it has been contained as of the morning of June 21. Fog moved into the area scorched by a blaze that began more than a week ago, and most mandatory evacuations were called off.
