Los Angeles - Aided by lighter winds Monday, firefighters in
southern California were gaining the upper hand on three wildfires
that have devastated the region. They were hopeful of containing the
blazes by mid-week.
The fires have destroyed hundreds of homes since Thursday,
including 500 mobile homes in Sylmar, east of Los Angeles. More than
100 homes in the luxurious celebrity enclave of Montecito, northwest
of Los Angeles, also went up in flames.
According to figures released Monday by Cal Fire and the National
Inter-agency Fire Centre, the Triangle Complex fire had burnt 11,600
hectares and 60 structures, and was 40 per cent contained. The Sayre
fire had burnt 4,400 hectares and 611 structures and was also 40 per
cent contained. The Tea Fire had burnt 800 hectares and 210
structures and was 95 per cent contained.
In total, more than 6,500 firefighters were trying to contain the
blazes and well over 30,000 people were ordered to evacuate.
'Although the reports appear to look more favourable today, this
is still a very dangerous situation and a lot of people are
impacted,' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Monday.
Fire officials said they had not yet determined the cause of any
of the fires but had ruled out natural causes in the case of
Montecito's Tea Fire. The fires were fanned by seasonal Santa Ana
winds that gust in from the eastern desert, blowing warm dry air at
speeds exceeding 110 kilometres per hour, transferring burning embers
from tree to tree and house to house.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of
emergency in three counties and called for tougher standards for
mobile home construction after the extent of the destruction at the
mobile home park became clear, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The latest round of fires exacerbated what had already been a
disastrous wildfire year for California, where more than 624,000
hectares had burnt before the latest wildfires, compared to 608,000
hectares last year.
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