LOS ANGELES (US) – Firefighters struggled hard to bring a wildfire under control on the hillsides southeast of Los Angeles late on Thursday, some 24 hours after the blaze broke out. It was apparently triggered by a faulty generator.
The blaze forced almost 25,000 people to be evacuated. It was 10% contained but it still scorched some 6,400 acres. Of the 500 firefighters deployed to fight the flames, two were hospitalised with injuries, said Orange County Fire Authority.
It has been named Bond Fire after the street in Silverado Canyon where it started late on Wednesday evening.
“I got a text message from my neighbour saying, ‘Are you okay? Your street is on fire,'” said Giovanna Gibson, 60, a resident of Bond Street. She was at her office near John Wayne Airport at the time.
Southern California Edison shut down power to certain parts of the canyon when the Santa Ana winds gained momentum. That might have affected efforts by authorities to send evacuation warnings.
A number of homes and other buildings have been damaged in the blaze, said fire managers.
“We’re in December and we now have active wildfires still in our state,” California Governor Gavin Newsom told a news briefing. “These Santa Ana winds have been quite intense.”