Wildfires burned across 3,700 acres of land in southern California on Monday, burning mobile homes and industrial buildings and forcing the evacuation of eight patients from a nearby hospital. The blaze was located about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It began Sunday and was calmed overnight, but flared up again on Monday when strong winds moved in. At a medical facility, eight patients on ventilators, including six newborns were evacuated as a precaution and about 180 other patients left. Flames jumped the Foothill Freeway, forcing its closure along a three-mile stretch in northern Los Angeles. Fire Inspector Ron Haralson told the Associated Press that the blaze had reached a mobile home park and an industrial area, but could not say how many structures had burned. Officials said the fire has burned 3,712 acres and was about 5 percent contained by Monday morning. One home was destroyed Sunday but no serious injuries were reported. Over the weekend, about 1,200 people were evacuated. They remained out of their homes on Monday. A “fire weather watch” was declared through Tuesday for all of Southern California except the deserts, AP reported.
