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SAN FRANSCISCO - Evacuated residents of California's Santa Catalina Island began returning to their homes overnight after firefighters said they were gaining control over the blaze, which has consumed more than 1,619 hectares.
"We have 41 per cent containment," Capt. Andrew Olvera of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
"The weather is in our favor, with 40 per cent-plus relative humidity and low wind speeds so everything is looking pretty good," Olvera said.
The fire burned about 1,700 hectares on the resort island and destroyed one home and six nonresidential buildings, Olvera said.
No serious injuries were reported from the blaze, which remains under investigation. Contractors working at a radio station may have started the fire accidentally, Olvera said.
Dry weather and gusting winds spread the fire quickly, overwhelming Santa Catalina Island's small fire department, menacing the quaint beach town of Avalon and forcing about 3,200 people, mostly tourists, to evacuate by boat, Olvera said.
Hundreds of firefighters from the mainland were sent to combat the blaze. They were rushed to the island 22 miles off the coast of Los Angeles by helicopters, boats and military hovercraft.
The fire on Santa Catalina Island flared just as firefighters had gained control of a brush fire that raged for two days in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, blackening more than 800 acres of the landmark and forcing residents of a wealthy Hollywood Hills neighbourhood to flee.
Fire departments across Southern California are bracing for a potentially difficult wildfire season because of bone-dry weather this year.
- REUTERS
