YUCCA VALLEY, California (AP):
A 40,000-acre (16000-hectare) fire chewed through desert wilderness yesterday after destroying 100 homes and buildings and was on course to possibly merge with a blaze in the San Bernardino National Forest, where it could feed on vast stands of dead trees.
The huge Sawtooth fire edged northwest toward the forest, burning greasewood, Joshua trees, pinon pines and brush on the desert floor. Containment was just 20 per cent. Five miles away, the Millard fire had scorched 1,200 acres (480 hectares) in the forest and was 5 per cent surrounded.
Authorities said smoke from the blazes 100 miles (161 kilometres) east of Los Angeles was smelled in Las Vegas and Ogden, Utah.
State fire officials said that both fires could link up on the desert floor but they were at least 15 miles (24 kilometres) from any areas of dead trees.
Kevin Olson, deputy chief of operations in the headquarters of the California Department of Forestry, said it was possible "but not very likely at this time" that the fires would reach the timber stands.
Swaths of Southern California forests have been weakened by drought and killed by bark beetles. For several years, workers have been cutting down dead trees near communities and roads. Thousands of acres have been cleared but experts say it will take up to 20 years to remove all the deadwood.
However, Olson said there have been contingency plans for several years on how to fight fires and evacuate people in the beetle-infested areas.
The Sawtooth fire was ignited by lightning during the weekend and roared into an inferno Tuesday, racing through tiny high desert communities. Forty-two houses, 51,350 firefighters worked the blaze with the help of bulldozers, helicopters and air tankers. Nine firefighters and two civilians have been treated for minor burns or smoke inhalation.
Evacuation orders were lifted for Pioneertown and several other communities but residents of Burns Canyon and Rimrock were still unable to return home, said Mary Flynn, a CDF spokeswoman.
