Wildfire near Los Angeles almost contained
Wildfire near Los Angeles almost contained
26 November 2007
published by news.xinhuanet.com
Los Angeles, USA — The wildfire which has scorched 4,900 acres (about 1,984 hectares) of land in Malibu near Los Angeles was 90 percent contained on Monday, authorities said.
With the weather continuing to improve, full containment was expected later in the day, said a Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher.
“This has definitely been one of the worst fires we’ve had herein the Malibu area,” Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Gil Sanchez told the local television station KCAL9.
“This fire took so many homes so quickly due to the Santa Ana winds that blew in such a short period of time.”
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the burn area on Sunday and was briefed on the fire.
In addition, another 34 homes and 11 outbuildings were damaged, and about 27 outbuildings, 14 vehicles and one mobile home were also destroyed.
Damage might total near 100 million dollars as a result of the fire, which began early Saturday at an isolated, dead-end mountain road notorious for late night parties that feature bonfires and dangerous activity, fire officials said.
Investigators say the fire was started by “human activity,” but have not determined whether it was deliberately set.
As many as 14,000 residents were ordered to evacuate Saturday.
The fire came four weeks after downed power lines in Malibu Canyon caused another fire that scorched 4,500 acres (about 1,822 hectares) and a dozen buildings.
