200 homes evacuated in California wild fire
Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES, March 11 (Reuters) - Residents of about 200 southern California homes were ordered to evacuate on Sunday as a brush fire whipped by hot gusting winds burned 500 acres near a hillside community, firefighters said. Fire officials said two homes had burned in the fast moving blaze in the Orange and Anaheim Hills neighborhoods of Orange County, south of Los Angeles. Fire officials went door to door or used megaphones to order residents out of their homes as helicopters and airplanes dropped fire retardant and water onto the fire. The blaze started early on Sunday morning and spread quickly, pushed by winds gusting up to 35 mph (55 kph) in hot weather. Orange County Fire Captain Steve Miller said it may have been sparked by an abandoned car in the area high in the Anaheim Hills. Much of southern California was under a red flag fire warning over the weekend as hot winds drove temperatures up to around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 C)inland after a winter of exceptionally low rainfall.
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