A 760-acre wildfire that authorities called "suspicious" was close to being stamped out Wednesday. Now officials worry about the stability of the hillsides.
A brush fire that started Saturday in Santa Anita Canyon is being referrred to as the Santa Anita Fire. The fire is still raging in the mountains above Sierra Madre and Arcadia. It has destroyed 400 acres, forced the evacuation of 1000 people, and forced Sierra Madre to close its schools. Officials say it could take 4-7 days to contain the fire.
Calmer winds helped firefighters battling the 538-acre Santa Anita Fire yesterday as crews focused on protecting homes and stopping a creeping western edge of flames that forced evacuations in neighboring Pasadena. Also see two accompanying articles on the front page.
Firefighters have gained the upper hand on the Santa Anita Fire yesterday after it had burned a total of 584 acres. Officials lifted mandatory evacuations throughout the area. A timeline of the fire is on page 11.
Hikers and scouts were briefly trapped by flames, and homeowners in Sierra Madre were given the option to evacuate, due to a brush fire which started in a wooded area about one mile north of Arno Drive in north Arcadia around 3pm yesterday. The fire has burned more than 100 acres.
A massive hillside wild fire of "suspicious" origin raged into its second day Tuesday, consuming about 750 acres and forcing at least 500 Arcadia residents from their homes.
With storms brewing in next week's forecast, Arcadia city officials scrambled Thursday to arrange a meeting with residents and survey homes vulnerable to mudslides from the charred slopes of the Angeles National Forest.