Firefighters Gaining on Area Wildfires

Firefighters appeared to be gaining the upper hand Monday against wildfires in western Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.

In Sierra Madre, a fire broke out at 1:56 p.m. Monday afternoon and backed “right up to homes” in some areas, said Inspector Roland Sprewell of the L.A. County Fire Department.

A stolen car that apparently had been set on fire intentionally ignited the blaze just north of Arno Drive and Santa Anita Avenue, said Gail Wright, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service. Helicopters dumped several hundred gallons of water on the fire throughout the day, and no homes were damaged.

The fire consumed 40 acres, Wright said. It was fully contained Monday night.

In San Bernardino County, officials said a fire that had blackened more than 500 acres between Calimesa and Yucaipa was about 50% contained.

The blaze started about 1:45 p.m. Sunday on the outskirts of Yucaipa and advanced rapidly south across the Riverside County line, briefly threatening some homes in Cherry Valley and prompting the voluntary evacuation of about 150 residents.

About 650 firefighters and seven water-dropping planes checked the spread of the flames Monday morning. No homes were lost, but one garage was damaged.

Three California Department of Forestry firefighters from Tuolumne County were injured Sunday when their truck skidded off Interstate 15 in San Bernardino while responding to the fire.

The Department of Forestry said a second blaze in the foothills of Banning was about 90% contained Monday night after scorching about 250 acres of brush in Mias Canyon.

About 100 firefighters were deployed in the rugged hills near the Morongo Indian Reservation to make sure evening breezes through the Banning Pass did not cause any flare-ups.

The 62,000-acre fire that started two weeks ago near Julian in San Diego County was 95% contained, with full containment predicted by this morning.