Posted on 10/02/2002 10:08:10 AM PDT by concentric circles
SAN DIMAS -- The Williams Fire, which has charred 38,094 acres and 62 cabins in the Angeles National Forest, was 100 percent contained Tuesday, U.S. Forest Service officials said.
Meanwhile, the forest remains closed because the area is a fire hazard. Ten people were cited and released Tuesday near Mount Baldy Road for being in the forest without authorization.
On Tuesday, 598 firefighters - down from 3,000 last week - were still battling the fire. The fire camp set up at Santa Fe Dam in Irwindale was almost completely packed up by Tuesday night.
Firefighters struggled to bring the fire - which has raged in the hills from Azusa to Upland since Sept. 22 and cost $15.3 million to fight - to complete submission in rugged terrain deep in the forest north of Azusa and near Mount Baldy.
There, what's left of the fire is meeting thick, live vegetation that burns slowly.
As the fire slows to a crawl, owners of cabins destroyed as the blaze roared through San Dimas Canyon met with forest service officials at Foothill Vineyard Church in San Dimas to discuss a return to standing structures or the rebuilding of gutted ones.
Officials had few answers, since their efforts have been mainly focused on fighting the fire, said Marty Dumpis, a district ranger for the forest service.
It will be some time before residents can begin rebuilding … if they can rebuild at all, Dumpis said. The land has become unstable around many cabin lots and it will take at least six months for forest service officials to study the area to see if it meets certain standards for building, he said.
Mark Harmson, a spokesman for Rep. David Drier, R-Glendora, told the roughly 100 people at the meeting that a certain amount of damage had to be done by the fire to qualify the area for federal emergency funds.
Some donations for cabin owners were left at the meeting.
The San Dimas Civitan Club is taking donations of food and clothing for residents. For more information, call (909) 599-7741.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The origin of the fire at the base of a steep hillside along East Fork Road is buried by fallen rocks and debris as the denuded landscape begins to slide.
Anyone with information about the cause of the fire is asked to call (626) 574-5351.
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