Calif. wildfire nearly contained by weary crews
Source: Reuters
By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES, Oct 30 (Reuters) - A California wildfire that blackened an area nearly three times the size of Manhattan, killed four firefighters and critically burned a fifth should be fully contained by nightfall, authorities said on Monday. The fire in the rolling hills near the resort community of Palm Springs was 90 percent contained as of Monday morning after scorching more than 60 square miles (160 sq km) and destroying 34 homes and 20 other buildings. Investigators believe it was started by an arsonist who remains at large despite a $500,000 reward. Weary firefighters had expected the blaze to burn out of control for several more days, but caught a break when hot winds largely died and temperatures cooled. "There still are some hot spots on southeast edge of the fire on San Bernardino National Forest but so far what we have here is that the weather has become more favorable for firefighters," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Patrick Chandler said. Chandler said some exhausted crews had been sent home, leaving about 2,400 firefighters on the lines, and that residents of evacuated communities were being allowed to return. Some 700 residents had fled from the fire. A mountain road that has been closed for much of the past week, Highway 243, would also be reopened, he said. Cost of the firefighting effort was put at $8.3 million. The four firefighters died after leaving their engine to protect endangered homes on a ridge when flames raced up a hill and overtook them. The fifth firefighter, 23-year-old Pablo Cerda, remained hospitalized in critical condition at a Arrowhead Regional Medical Center burn unit, with burns over most of his body. A multiagency task force was investigating the fire, which was apparently set early on Thursday morning. Authorities say they will bring murder charges against the so far unknown arsonist. Investigators say they have collected hundreds of tips, including some from nearby residents who reported seeing two young men leave the area where the fire started shortly after it broke out early on Thursday morning. Though the firefighters' deaths stunned Southern Californians, the blaze has not matched the sheer destruction of wildfires in the state in October 2003. Those fires burned for days outside Los Angeles and near San Diego, killing 24 people, destroying more than 3,000 homes and burning some 740,000 acres (300,000 hectares).
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