WildfiresWildfires in west, southwest forcing hundreds from their homes

Published 3 June 2013

The arrival of summer has typically been accompanied by an increase in the number and intensity of wild fires in the U.S. southwest, and this year is no exception.

The arrival of summer has typically been accompanied by an increase in the number and intensity of wild fires in the U.S. southwest, and this year is no exception.

A wildfire north of Los Angeles forced the evacuation of twenty-five homes late last week as scattered flames continued to burn the area.

USA Todayreports that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies issued an evacuation order for homes around the San Fracncisquito Canyon Road. The 1,400 acre fire was about 15 percent contained and 500 firefighters continued to make progress throughout the weekend, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Nathan Judy said.

“Right now the fire’s not doing a whole lot. It’s just making small runs here and there” Judy told USA Today. “There’s no large fire front.”

A separate fire in Santa Fe, New Mexico, also forced about 150 homes to be evacuated and closed state highway 63 as fire crews fought the 500-acre blaze.

New Mexico officials believed a downed power line started the fire on private land on Thursday and about 200 firefighters were sent out to fight the fire along with two helicopters and an air tanker. No injuries have been reported.

A second fire in Los Angeles started near a power station, causing utility lines to burn out of control Thursday evening, but the fire was slowed as the temperature dropped later that night. According to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), the fire picked up on Saturday night and has burned through 20,000 acres of land and destroyed at least four structures throughout the weekend.

Almost 1,000 fire personnel are fighting the blaze, most of them from the U.S. Forest Service and LAFD. The fire threatened homes and high-powered electricity power lines.  

Water-dropping helicopters were used to make drops on Saturday night.

Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention, said the fire was entirely within the national forest and that state fire officials were providing assistance and had sent air tankers to the scene. “We’ve been sending air tankers all evening,” Berlant told USA Today.

An evacuation center for animals was also set up in the area and the county fire department used twitter to inform people that search and rescue helicopters were looking for hikers in the area.