Weather aids crews fighting Southern California mountain town as winds whip up Arizona blaze

Weather aids defense of Calif. mountain town

WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. — Thousands of homes in California’s San Gabriel Mountains remained threatened Tuesday by a 7,128-acre wildfire, but cool, calm weather was aiding fire crews, authorities said.

The blaze northeast of Los Angeles was 32 percent contained after burning more than 11 square miles of brush and timber near canyon ridges. The fire destroyed a home, two camp buildings and two outbuildings, said Carol Underhill, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Forest Service.

The fire was only creeping and smoldering, Underhill said, although about 2,000 homes and 4,000 to 6,000 people remained under mandatory evacuation orders.

Most of the homes were in Wrightwood. However, crews had pretty much managed to surround the town with firebreaks and were confident the flames would not move that way, Underhill said.

Most of the 19 miles of fireline left to build were on ridges near steep canyons, she said.

Winds gusting to 50 mph pushed the flames over the weekend but on Tuesday they were only at 5 to 10 mph with a few gusts to 15 mph, Underhill said.

“The weather’s definitely cooperating,” she said.

Highs were expected to be in the 60s to low 70s through the week and humidity could reach 40 percent, said Stan Wasowski, a National Weather Service forecaster in San Diego.

A low-pressure area over the region was keeping things cool, he said.

Nearly 2,000 firefighters and 20 aircraft were at work, concentrating on the northern and southern edges of the fire. Three firefighters were treated for minor injuries, Underhill said.