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DIAMOND BAR, California – With the ferocious Santa Ana winds dying down, firefighters Monday made gains on three raging wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands of residents to flee.
Wind gusts had peaked to 115 kilometres an hour at the height of the fires over the weekend, but by Monday morning they weakened to about 30 km/h, the National Weather Service said.
"It's wonderful news," Angela Garbiso, a spokeswoman with Orange County Fire Authority, said Monday. "When it calms down, it obviously makes it easier for us to handle this massive undertaking."
The fires, which have burned since Thursday night from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles and counties to the east, have burned more than 145 square kilometres.
In Orange and Riverside counties, the fires chewed through nearly 10,000 hectares and were pushing toward Diamond Bar in Los Angeles county. A major aerial attack on Sunday raised containment to 19 per cent.
Meanwhile, a 4,000-hectare fire that hit hard in the Sylmar area of northern Los Angeles on Saturday had moved into the Placerita Canyon area of the rugged San Gabriel Mountains and was burning vigorously, but well outside the city. It was 40 per cent contained.
The Santa Barbara-area fire that swept through upscale Montecito has burned 785 hectares and was 80 per cent contained.
The cause of all the fires were under investigation, although officials said the Santa Barbara-area fire was "human caused," said Doug Lannon, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
