4 Boys Questioned About Lancaster Blaze : Brush fire: Sheriff’s officials say youngsters apparently were playing with matches or smoking near scene. About 1,000 acres have been blackened.

Four young boys were being questioned Wednesday about a fire that blackened 1,000 acres of brushland near Lancaster.

The boys, ages 7 to 10, are residents of the Walden Environmental Home for troubled youths, said Sheriff’s Deputy Marty Shearer. The youngsters apparently were playing with matches or smoking, he said.

No injuries were reported. The blaze, which had burned two homes, several outbuildings, seven vehicles and a few power poles, was reported near Avenue K and 90th Street West about 11:45 a.m., county Fire Inspector Brian Jordan said. By 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, as one of three water-dropping helicopter crews was released from duty and the flames were about 80% under control, the fire had swept across a nearly five-mile area.

The estimated 200 firefighters on the scene set backfires and dropped tens of thousands of gallons of water on the blaze.

A man KNBC identified as Bill Luke was visiting his daughter when he saw his house going up in flames. It was a smoldering ruin, but Luke kept his sense of humor.

“I’ve still got a barbecue,” he said.

According to some fire experts, Southern California has the most ground fuel of any place in the world.

Elsewhere in the state, 12 grass fires that blackened more than 1,500 acres in eastern Fresno County were expected to be contained by 8 a.m. today, a California Department of Forestry spokeswoman said.

People who evacuated six houses early Wednesday were allowed to go home.