Fire Causing Smoky Air In Sacramento And Bay Area 90 Percent Contained
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — A fire that has been burning for more than a week about 100 miles north of San Francisco has destroyed nine homes and charred more than 39 square miles, one of 19 major fires burning in California.
Firefighters are gaining ground against the 25,118-acre Jerusalem fire, with 90 percent containment reported Monday.
Fire officials say over the weekend smoke from the fire drifted into the San Francisco Bay Area and especially east of the city, where it was trapped in valleys for several days, causing hazy skies and breathing difficulties for some.
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The fire is the second of two blazes that have charred land near dry Lower Lake. The first one, which was contained Friday after more than two weeks, destroyed 43 homes.
In Southern California, crews working through the night stopped the spread of two Los Angeles County fires that burned several structures, charred hundreds of acres of dry brush and led to the arson arrest of one person.
A brush fire sparked near a riverbed in Montebello, a suburb east of downtown Los Angeles, halted operations at an oil field and prompted the evacuation of a park. The fire, which grew to about 200 acres, is 20 percent contained Monday.
Montebello authorities say a 45-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson.
To the north, a wildfire that burned buildings at an abandoned rehabilitation center in rural Castaic has charred about 300 acres in Angeles National Forest. It is 10 percent contained.
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Meanwhile, a 2-and-a-half-square-mile fire in the forest above the suburbs of Glendora and Azusa is 60 percent contained.
Crews are looking ahead to a big cool-off Tuesday.
As a high-pressure system over Southern California weakens, clouds, fog and lower temperatures will take hold and continue for the rest of the week, with the coolest weather Thursday, forecasters said. Wind gusts could replace heat as a problem though.
Authorities are asking homeowners to check the health of their trees, which may be among the 12 million killed by the bark beetle in California. The beetle-killed trees provide fodder for wildfires.
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