Unattended cooking fire blamed for brush fire east of Los Angeles

Send a link to a friend  Share

[April 20, 2015]  (Reuters) - California fire officials said late Sunday that an unattended cooking fire sparked the brush fire that temporarily forced the evacuation of more than 200 homes east of Los Angeles and left a heavy layer of haze over the region.

Fire crews were reporting progress battling the blaze, named the "Highway Fire," which had grown to about 1,020 acres and was 35 percent contained one day after it erupted, according to an update posted on the Riverside County Fire Department website.

Smoke from the blaze was affecting a wide span of communities about an hour's drive east of Los Angeles, from Anaheim in the south to Chino Hills and parts of San Bernardino County, said Captain Liz Brown of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (CalFire).

More than 200 homes were evacuated on Saturday as the blaze quickly expanded in size. By Sunday those residents were allowed to return home, she said.

Fire department officials determined the blaze was the result of an unattended outdoor cooking fire that spread rapidly in the region's drought-stricken vegetation.

The fire-friendly conditions are typically seen later in the summer and fall, Brown said.

"We’re seeing bigger fires early on," she said.

She compared conditions to heavy smog. Cooler temperatures forecast could help efforts to contain the fire, which was first reported in trees late on Saturday, she said.

No injuries have been reported. Nearly 700 firefighters and crew were involved in battling the blaze, Brown said.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere and Letitia Stein; Editing by Jane Merriman, Frances Kerry, Eric Walsh and Simon Cameron-Moore)

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

Back to top