Crews battle wildfires amid heat wave in California

LOS ANGELES — Firefighters struggled to contain three wildfires near Los Angeles on Saturday as forecasters warned that the risk of new fires was high temperatures expected to spike and humidity levels to drop across California.

A huge forest fire that prompted evacuations north of Los Angeles flared up around noon, sending up a cloud of smoke as it headed toward thick, dry brush in the Angeles National Forest. Although it was burning into forest land, evacuation orders remained in effect for the western Antelope Valley because erratic winds in the forecast could push the fire toward homes, fire spokesman Jake Miller said.

Fire crews managed to stop the fire’s movement down to the desert floor when it flared up Friday afternoon. In one dramatic moment, several firefighters ran to safety when a longhorn bull that was apparently escaping the blaze charged at them.

The Lake Fire was just 12% contained as of Saturday morning, and after threatening more than 5,400 homes, it had charred more than 59.5 square kilometres of brush and trees. Fire officials said 21 buildings had been destroyed, including at least five homes.

Firefighters were struggling in steep, rugged terrain amid scorching temperatures. The National Weather Service warned temperatures could hit 44 C in the Antelope Valley Saturday, and winds gusting 24-32 km/h) was expected later in the afternoon.

“In addition to that, we have a very unstable air mass over the Lake Fire that’s going to allow for a pyrocumulus (cloud) development later today so that will create extreme fire behaviour,” meteorologist Matt Mehle said.