Wildfires that have burned dozens of mountain homes near Los Angeles slowed on Thursday with cooler temperatures but authorities warned the blazes still threatened suburbs.
Driven by triple-digit heat, gusting winds and tinder-dry vegetation, the three fires burned at speeds firefighters have never witnessed, scorching over 110,000 acres — an area twice the size of Seattle.
The Bridge Fire, California’s largest current wildfire, swept through communities in the San Gabriel Mountains less than 40 miles (65 km) northeast of central Los Angeles, where people priced out of the city have built homes.
The 51,000-acre blaze destroyed over 40 houses and cabins in Mount Baldy and Wrightwood as well as damaging lifts at the Mountain High ski area, authorities said.
Fire growth eased as the high for Los Angeles fell to 81F, a cooling trend expected to last through the weekend.
“We’re really expecting to make some great progress on this fire today due to the coastal marine influence, the lowering of temperatures,” said Lisa Cox, a spokesperson for the response team, referring to a process that raises moisture levels.In San Bernardino, 50 miles east of Los Angeles, Justin Wayne Halstenberg, a 34-year-old delivery driver, was charged with arson and great bodily injury on Thursday for allegedly starting the Line Fire, which has scorched 37,000 acres of mountains overlooking the city of 220,000.
Halstenberg was being held at a local jail and was not immediately available for comment. No attorney was listed for him.
The Line Fire destroyed a home in Running Springs and injured a firefighter and two civilians. Some 5,490 homes were evacuated due to the blaze and two men were arrested for suspected intent to loot.
