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A total of 4,270 wildfires have blackened more than 183,000 acres in California so far in 2016
Updated : Aug 31, 2016, 09:53 AM IST
A "human-caused" brush fire flared quickly out of control and prompted the evacuation of some 700 people on Tuesday from a mobile home park and nearby community in Southern California's Riverside County, state fire officials said.
The blaze erupted shortly before 12:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT) and charred about 700 acres of drought-parched vegetation within five hours as flames roared through canyons and foothills in the Cherry Valley area, about 120 km east of Los Angeles. No injuries were reported but the blaze destroyed one outbuilding, according to April Newman, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
#BogartFire from CAL FIRE Air Attack 310. Credit: CAL FIRE pic.twitter.com/UgF2z3Tskk
— CAL FIRE Riverside (@CALFIRERRU) August 30, 2016
Another photo from the #BogartFire thanks to Volunteer Photographer Ed Sherman. pic.twitter.com/tUhHPnbzjV
— CAL FIRE Riverside (@CALFIRERRU) August 30, 2016
Sheriff's deputies immediately issued mandatory evacuation orders for the Highland Springs Village Mobile Home Park and dwellings in the nearby Banning Bench community to the northeast. Newman said an estimated 700 residents, from about 200 homes in all, were displaced.
Investigators determined the fire to be of unspecified human origin and asked for anyone with information about "juvenile activity" near the entrance to a park where the blaze began to contact an arson hotline, Cal Fire said on its website. Authorities declined to give further information.
Pray for us guys, we're not sure if we're going to have a home when the fire is contained. #BogartFire pic.twitter.com/80fUbRBHxE
— Mother Earth (@teraangelina) August 30, 2016
By late afternoon, winds were blowing the flames mostly away from populated areas "but we have them under evacuation because we have a ton of equipment coming in, and this is our access point to that fire," Cal Fire spokeswoman Liz Brown said. More than 320 firefighters were initially assigned to the blaze, dubbed the Bogart Fire, and crews had managed to carve containment lines around 5% of its perimeter by 5.30 p.m. (2230 GMT), Cal Fire reported.
The firefighting force had grown to 410 personnel by then, backed by five helicopters and nine airplane tankers equipped to drop water and fire-retardant chemicals on the blaze.
Firefighters on scene of the #BogartFire. Photo thanks to Volunteer Photographer Ed Sherman. pic.twitter.com/0MTf6zh6mb
— CAL FIRE Riverside (@CALFIRERRU) August 31, 2016
#BogartFire Photo. Credit : Tod Sudmeier @EPN564 pic.twitter.com/iGybnEZi94
— CAL FIRE Riverside (@CALFIRERRU) August 31, 2016
Brown said temperatures that had reached into the low-triple-digits earlier in the day had subsided somewhat but humidity remained low and winds were relatively light, at (8-16 kmh miles per hour ).
Cal Fire reported about 12,000 firefighters battling about 10 other large fires across the state on Tuesday, most of which were largely contained or burning in remote areas. A total of 4,270 wildfires large and small have blackened more than 183,000 acres statewide so far in 2016, 30,000 acres more than at the same time in 2015.
The #cherryvalley #BogartFire burns behind an evacuated mobile home park @MyDesert pic.twitter.com/hiFeBjlUgx
— Colin Atagi (@TDSColinAtagi) August 30, 2016
Part of the 700+ acres destroyed by the #CherryValley #BogartFire @MyDesert pic.twitter.com/cqNd0TSHem
— Colin Atagi (@TDSColinAtagi) August 31, 2016