Mild winds aid firefighters in Southern Calif. blaze that threatened resort town

Mild winds aid firefighters in Calif. blaze

WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. — Mild winds are helping firefighters get a handle on a blaze that has burned to the edges of a popular resort town in Southern California’s San Bernardino National Forest.

U.S. Forest Service spokesman Bill Sapp said Monday that containment of the fire that has burned some 7,500 acres near Wrightwood is likely to have increased from the 20 percent reported the previous night.

Wind gusts had reached 50 mph since the fire broke out Saturday in the San Gabriel Mountain community of Lytle Creek, but were down to 19 mph early Monday.

Wrightwood remains under a mandatory evacuation order, with 4,000 to 6,000 residents ordered to leave their homes. The fire had destroyed three homes in remote canyons.