SAN BERNARDINO (AP) – A fast-moving wildfire that swept into a Southern California hillside community destroyed five homes and damaged three others, authorities said on Tuesday.
The flames erupted on Monday afternoon and chased residents from the neighbourhood in San Bernardino, about 97 kilometres (km) east of Los Angeles,
One firefighter was treated for a minor injury but there were no reports of injuries to residents, said spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Fire Department Eric Sherwin.
“How quickly this fire hit this community,” Sherwin said, “the fact that we have no civilians injured is truly a miracle.”
The fire was reported at 2.40pm on Monday and stopped progressing about three hours later after scorching 22 hectares. Containment was holding at 75 per cent, Sherwin said. All evacuations were lifted late on Tuesday morning.
Investigators were working to determine the cause of the fire, which erupted amid very dry and hot conditions that have made swaths of California quick to burn this summer.
In Northern California, firefighters battled the reawakened Park Fire, a massive blaze that re-exploded on Monday after several days of slumber and grew by as much as 53km2, mostly in about 12 hours.
