Southern Calif. blaze approaches homes
National forest resident in old feud faces charges
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — Firefighters worked Friday to keep a growing Southern California forest fire that is feeding on dry brush and trees from reaching foothill neighborhoods a day after flames roared to new ferocity and came within yards of homes.
Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Orange and Riverside counties as the fire carved its way along ridges in the Cleveland National Forest.
Some hillsides were allowed to burn under the watchful eyes of firefighters as a way to reduce fuel and make it harder for flames to jump roadways into communities if winds pick up again.
Hundreds more firefighters joined the battle, bringing the total to 1,200. The Holy Fire has chewed through 28 square miles of dense chaparral and is only partially contained.
It’s one of nearly 20 blazes across the state.
Cleveland National Forest officials tweeted that the flames outside
Los Angeles were growing as fast as crews can build lines to contain them.
Some 20,000 people were forced to evacuate.
The fire was deliberately set. A resident of the small community of Holy Jim Canyon in the national forest has been charged with arson and other crimes and appeared in a jailhouse courtroom Friday.
Forrest Clark, 51, made several outbursts, claiming his life was being threatened. A court commissioner postponed his arraignment until Aug. 17 and ordered bail to remain at $1 million.
Michael Milligan, chief of the Holy Jim Volunteer Fire Department, said Clark had a decade-long feud with neighbors and had sent him threatening emails last week, including one that said, “This place will burn.”
Officials also gained more control over two other major Northern California wildfires, including the largest in recorded state history.