NewsOK member benefits

Calif. wildfire stays in forest, away from cities

Published: September 4, 2012 Comment on this article

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 3,600-acre fire in the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles is staying in the wilderness and away from foothill communities below.

photo - A fire engine pulls away as firefighters fight a wildfire in the Angeles National Forest north of Glendora, Calif. Monday, Sept. 3, 2012. A day after the wildfire broke out near a campground and forced the evacuation of thousands of campers and picnickers it had grown to more than 4,100 acres, or roughly 6 square miles, and was just five percent contained. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

A fire engine pulls away as firefighters fight a wildfire in the Angeles National Forest north of Glendora, Calif. Monday, Sept. 3, 2012. A day after the wildfire broke out near a campground and forced the evacuation of thousands of campers and picnickers it had grown to more than 4,100 acres, or roughly 6 square miles, and was just five percent contained. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

Multimedia

Photoview all 8 photos

Article Gallery: Calif. wildfire stays in forest, away from cities

The 3-day-old fire is only 15 percent contained Tuesday and authorities say it could take a week to fully surround, but firefighting progress is described as good.

Southern California is hot and dry, but the fire erupted before the arrival of the fall and winter Santa Ana winds, the seasonal gusts that often blast fires out of the mountains and into developed areas.