Hundreds of people in southern California fled a rapidly widening wildfire as firefighters battled to contain the blaze Friday, dpa reported. The flames near Camarillo Springs, some 75 kilometers west of Los Angeles, had damaged 15 houses and threatened 2,000 more, the Ventura County Fire Department said Thursday. Residents were being given evacuation orders. Almost 1,000 firefighters were able to control only 10 per cent of the fire, which had spread over 3,200 hectares by 0300 GMT, the fire department said on its website. Ninety minutes later, the fire had reached the Pacific Coast Highway. Residents of the Sycamore Canyon area were advised to leave their homes. Rescue workers evacuated a group of 150 campers, 120 of them children, from a camp in another canyon further down the coast, the Los Angeles Times reported online. The fifth-graders and their escorts had been unable to leave because roads were blocked. The US National Weather Service warned of an "extreme" fire danger in the region for Friday. A red-flag warning was issued because of high winds, hot temperatures and very low humidity.
