LOS ANGELES: A rapidly spreading fire raging east of Los Angeles forced the evacuation of more than 82,000 people as the governor of California declared a state of emergency.

Despite the efforts of 1,250 firefighters with more on the way, none of the inferno was contained as of late on Tues­day, state firefighting agency Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said.

“We have very, very dry brush, thick fuel, it helps move it along very quickly,” she said. “It is very dangerous to the public and also to the firefighters.” Governor Jerry Brown declared the state of emergency for San Bernar­dino County, just 100 kilometres east of Los Angeles, where the blaze, which has been named the Blue Cut fire, was quickly growing.

It began around 10:30am on Tuesday and had already burned 18,000 acres, according to the multi-agency Inciweb information site. Around 34,500 homes were threatened.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2016