June 26, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 10, 1428

SAN FRANCISCO, June 25: Firefighters were on Monday battling to contain a raging forest fire near California's Lake Tahoe that destroyed as many as 220 homes and forced the evacuation of 1,000 people, officials said.

The blaze, which officials said was probably caused by humans, erupted on Sunday near the southern tip of Lake Tahoe, 304 kilometres northeast of San Francisco, US Forest Service spokesman Rex Norman said.

By early Monday the blaze had scorched around 2,400 acres but favourable weather conditions had left 560 firefighters tackling the flames cautiously optimistic of making inroads, Norman said.

“There is almost no wind and the humidity has dropped right off which has allowed fire crews to advance to the front edge of the fire and to start establishing containment lines,” Norman said.

“We feel a lot more positive about it than we did yesterday,” he added describing the fire as “roughly 20-per cent contained.” Between 185 and 220 homes had been destroyed Norman said, while around 1,000 people remained evacuated. Homes destroyed were mostly in residential areas, Norman added.

No injuries have been reported in the fire so far. Although it was too early to establish the precise cause of the inferno, Norman said the blaze was likely started by human activity.

“It's too early to give a definite answer. The cause is almost certainly human activity but the source is not yet known,” he said.—AFP