In Setback, Azusa Wildfire Flares Again

A wildfire burning on woody mountainsides near Azusa flared up again Saturday, forcing authorities to push back their estimate of when it would be fully controlled to Tuesday night, said a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.

A second fire 50 miles away in the San Bernardino National Forest continued to burn out of control.

By late Saturday, the 5-day-old fire near Azuza had charred 3,400 acres of chaparral in remote and steep canyons of Angeles National Forest, destroying one home and two outbuildings and damaging a second home. No additional homes were threatened, Cahir said.

More than 1,000 firefighters worked in near 100-degree temperatures, digging firebreaks, dropping water from air tankers and helicopters, and lighting a perimeter of backfires around the blaze. So far, eight firefighters have suffered minor injuries, ranging from heat exhaustion to bee stings.

Because much of the terrain is too steep to traverse on foot, firefighters are igniting the backfires from helicopters. Authorities had hoped that the fire could be contained by 6 tonight.

“If the wind picks up and the fire starts making a run, hopefully we could hold that line,” said Forest Service spokeswoman Dianne Cahir. “Unless it jumps.”

Highway 39 remains closed to everyone but local residents and those with reservations to three local campgrounds, Cahir said. The East Fork area of San Gabriel Canyon is open and could be reached by taking Mt. Baldy Road to Glendora Ridge Road to East Fork Road.

Firefighters from the Los Angeles and Orange County fire departments, the Alhambra Fire Department, the U.S. Department of Forestry and five other government agencies were on the scene Saturday. They were aided by 15 aircraft, five bulldozers, 16 water tenders and 43 fire engines, said Cahir.

A rehabilitation team from the U.S. Forest Service is evaluating how best to prevent flooding and mudslides on slopes now denuded of erosion-controlling vegetation.

“It is a major watershed,” Cahir said. “If it rains too much, all that could come down.”

The blaze that started after 1 p.m. Tuesday apparently was sparked by a canyon resident using a weed trimmer to clear brush as a fire precaution. Firefighting costs are expected to reach $5 million.

Meanwhile, firefighters in San Bernardino continued to battle a brush fire that apparently was sparked by a man using illegal fireworks, police said. By Saturday night, the blaze had consumed 2,500 acres. No homes were threatened, and no injuries were reported.

A 27-year-old man was arrested for investigation of negligent intent to start a fire.