Cooler temps, retardant aid crews fighting Calif. wildfire

Firefighters trying to protect homes in two rural hamlets north of Los Angeles caught a break overnight from cooler temperatures and rising humidity that slowed a 35-square-mile blaze that has forced nearly 3,000 people from their homes.

Nearly 2,200 firefighters, working through Sunday night, also managed to build a line around one edge on the northeastern front of the Powerhouse Fire that is feeding on old brush in an area that has not burned since 1929.

Fire officials said Monday that the wildfire in the Angeles National Forest, which has destroyed six homes, was 40% contained as of mid-morning, according to U.S. Forest Service spokesman Matt Correlli.

Officials say 30,000 acres have burned since the wildfire broke out on Thursday.

At least 3,000 people and 1,000 homes, however, remain under evacuation orders that are expected to last until late Monday or Tuesday in the communities of Lake Hughes and Lake Elizabeth, sheriff's Lt. David Coleman said.

Katrina Cimmarrusti, a recreational therapist who lives in Lake Elizabeth, said Sunday that sheriff's deputies knocked on her door at about 3 a.m., The Salinas Californian reported.

"This is your last chance. The fire is coming right at you," Cimmarrusti said the deputies told her.

The power already had gone out so Cimmarrusti grabbed a solar light from her yard and made her way through her house, gathering her four dogs, important documents and two cuckoo clocks her father had given her.

The fire "looked like lava when it came over the ridge," Cimmarrusti said as she munched on an Egg McMuffin under a tree at the evacuation center. "I've never seen anything this bad, ever."

The turnaround during the night came after a day of 25 mph winds, gusting to as high as 40 mph, created "havoc" for firefighters, Los Angeles County Deputy Chief David Richardson said.

Propelled by the strong winds, the fire jumped an aqueduct west of Lancaster, officials said.

Fire officials also credited the overnight progress to the use the water-dropping aircraft and the rare and risky night drops of fire retardant by three helicopters.

"We're putting everything that we have into this," said U.S. Forest Service incident commander Norm Walker.

Contributing: William M. Welch; Associated Press