nited Press International
More than 1,200 firefighters battled an enormous wildfire in the desert east of Los Angeles for a fifth day Thursday, but reported only 15 percent containment.
The fire has charred 37,000 acres, destroyed 42 houses, 55 other buildings and 91 vehicles around the high Mojave desert community of Yucca Valley 100 miles east of Los Angeles, authorities said.
At least eight firefighters and two civilians have suffered minor injuries, The Los Angeles Times reported. Wednesday, firefighters labored in 108-degree temperatures.
The fire, called the Sawtooth Complex fire, was started Sunday by a lightning strike.
Everything that can make a complex fire is lined up here, state fire official Karen Guillemin told the Times. You have the winds, the steep canyons and the low humidity.
Lightning strikes sparked four other fires in the nearby San Gorgonio Wilderness Wednesday, burning more than 2,000 acres, the report said.
http://www.woai.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=2CAA47C0-FB13-4D66-AA1A-783074077EB2
Incident: Saunders Wildland Fire
Released: 2006-07-12 18:26:00
SAUNDERS FIRE
NEWS RELEASE
(406) 254-9536
www.inciweb.org
SAUNDERS FIREFIGHTERS HELP WITH TWO NEW FIRES
Columbus, Mont., July 12, 2006, 3:45 p.m.—Firefighters from the Saunders fire near Columbus responded to two new fires in Carbon County.
One fire was reported to be on the 4C Ranch and the other near the Joliet cemetery.
The fires are under the jurisdiction of the Joliet fire department.
The Saunders fire sent a small helicopter and six engines and about 18 firefighters. The Columbus fire department sent five engines, a water tender, and nine firefighters.
http://inciweb.org/incident/news/article/277/526/