APNewsBreak: Feds did not clear brush in L.A. wildfire area that could have slowed huge blaze

APNewsBreak: Burn efforts draw scrutiny in fire

LOS ANGELES — The Associated Press has learned that the federal government did not carry through on efforts to burn away decades of brush on nearly 2,000 parched acres in the forest where the raging wildfire on the edge of Los Angeles broke out.

Months before the huge wildfire raging on the edge of Los Angeles broke out, federal authorities obtained permits to burn away decades of highly flammable brush on nearly 2,000 acres of the forest. But the AP has obtained records showing that fewer than 200 acres had been cleared by the time the fire erupted.

The Forest Service says it did remove some brush by hand and that tricky weather patterns made it tough to do all the planned burns.