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Wind lull helps quell deadly Calif. wildfire
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 28 - 10 - 2006


A lull in hot, dry
winds that had fueled a deadly southern California wildfire
gave firefighters a break on Saturday, but they warned
residents to remain wary of the deadly, unpredictable blaze, Reuters reported.
The arson fire near Palm Springs has killed four
firefighters and injured six and consumed 39,900 acres (16,150
hectares). Fire crews have managed to contain 40 percent of it
in the rugged and brush-choked terrain, despite seasonal Santa
Ana winds that gusted to 45 miles per hour (72 kph).
By morning, the huge plume of dark brown smoke over the
mountains had diminished significantly, winds had calmed and
firefighters were strengthening their containment lines.
One of the injured men remained on life support with burns
over 90 percent of his body. The reward for information about
the arsonists who caused the blaze had risen to $500,000.
Fire crews who had spent the night battling the inferno
near where the firefighters died said the area was desolated,
but some homes had been saved.
"As we were driving through the area, it was pretty much a
moonscape. We encountered a lot of structures that had been
lost and some good saves," said Jason Hosea from the City of
Long Beach fire department, who had just been relieved after a
night on the fire lines.
"We knew what the situation was prior to being deployed.
All of our crews had an extra sense that it was dangerous."
California Department of Forestry spokesman Joel Vela said
Saturday was a pivotal day. "We are trying to take advantage of
the lull in the weather to improve all containment lines and
make contingency plans," he said at the fire command center in
Beaumont.
Firefighters said the key to some houses' survival was
whether their owners had cleared brush.
"Unfortunately, the firefighters that died were in an area
completely surrounded by brush that hadn't been cleared from
the home," said Moe Sinsley, a Long Beach battalion chief, who
also had just left the fire lines.
Vela said firefighters worried that the shift in the winds
could intensify a different part of the fire and send it
running in a different direction. The fire's western flank is
about a mile from the small city of San Jacinto.
"That's why we are very, very skeptical and we are being
very, very cautious," he said.
Vela said some of the 700 residents who fled 30-foot
(9-metre) walls of flame on Thursday would be escorted home to
survey damage, but likely would not be allowed to stay.
At least 10 houses had been destroyed.
The blaze has yet to wreak the destruction wildfires in
October 2003, which burned for days outside Los Angeles and
near San Diego, killing 24 people, destroying more than 3,000
homes and burning some 740,000 acres (300,000 hectares).


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