A wildfire sparked when a car accident brought down power lines near an upscale suburb of Los Angeles has been reduced to mostly embers and thousands of people driven from their homes have all been cleared to return.
A weekend that arrived with blazing heat went out with milder temperatures. That allowed firefighters to get 80% of the blaze near the prosperous and semi-rural neighborhoods of Calabasas contained by Sunday night and up from 30% at daybreak, AP reported.
“Firefighters hiked up steep canyons to get to the fire, whose growth stopped at just over 500 acres and used aircraft to make water drops along its edges,” Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp said.
“At the height of the fire, about 3,000 homes were threatened and about 5,000 residents were under evacuation orders. The fire destroyed one commercial building.”
To the southeast, a smoky wildfire burning in Riverside County was 65% contained Sunday. The blaze that broke out a day earlier along Interstate 15 in Temecula charred about 140 acres of dry brush.
To the north in Monterey County, a wildfire that has charred 3,500 acres of grass and brush in the Los Padres National Forest has prompted some evacuations and is threatening structures.
About 400 firefighters battled the blaze Sunday on land and by air with air tankers and helicopters. The fire started Saturday afternoon west of King City. It is 10% contained.
