The Associated Press
GORMAN, Calif. — Fire crews fought back a blaze spreading through hillside brush early Monday after it temporarily closed a major freeway and knocked out electricity to more than 4,000 homes along the northern edge of Los Angeles County.
The blaze had scorched more than 5 1/2 square miles, or 3,600 acres, and was less than a quarter contained, said Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Sam Padilla.
Winds up to 15 mph blew the flames in the direction of Frazier Park, a community of about 2,200 residents, but authorities said no homes were immediately threatened.
The blaze broke out Sunday and damaged a Southern California Edison substation and at least six power lines, company spokesman Jeremy Rawitch said. At one point, an estimated 4,450 homes around Gorman were without power. By Sunday night, power was restored to all but 75 customers, Rawitch said.
The fire also forced the partial closure of Interstate 5 for more than 3 hours. The cause was under investigation.
One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion, Padilla said.
A second wildfire northeast of San Jacinto in Riverside County burned nearly 300 acres of steep mountainous terrain and was 75 percent contained, said Captain Julie Hutchinson with the California Department of Forestry. It had been sparked by fireworks Saturday, Hutchinson said.
In Nevada, officials declared victory Sunday over a wildfire that came close to two upscale subdivisions in the Sierra foothills west of Reno. It was fully contained after blackening more than 10 square miles and threatening about 50 homes.
In Idaho, a pilot and three forest workers were killed when a helicopter crashed Sunday during a wildfire mission in the Payette National Forest. Fire crews in the area have been working to protect the cabin community of Yellow Pine from an 11-square-mile complex of fires.