More than 400 California firefighters were battling on Sunday to contain a final stretch of wildfire that had caused the partial closure of a major highway and forced evacuations northwest of Los Angeles, officials said.
The fire charred more than 1,200 acres between the coastal cities of Ventura and Carpentaria. Firefighters had dug containment lines around 70 percent of the blaze by early morning, Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Mike Lind Berry said.
"We have a handle on it but that handle can be very fragile if certain events occur," Berry said.
The main concerns facing firefighters were winds or wild embers starting flare-ups outside of the containment line.
At least one flare-up occurred on steep terrain overnight. Firefighters would work to monitor the blaze, expected to be less than an acre in size, through the day.
The fire started on Friday night near Ventura County, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Los Angeles, when high winds knocked down power lines in a dry hilly area. The fire grew rapidly from there, consuming about 250 acres an hour in its early stage, Berry said.
The flames triggered the closure of parts of U.S. Highway 101, though both northbound and southbound lanes of the major roadway had reopened to traffic by late afternoon on Saturday.
The Solimar Beach community, with 50 to 60 homes, and a nearby campsite were under a mandatory evacuation order, while a voluntary one had been issued for the Faria Beach community, where there are 30 to 40 homes, fire officials said. The evacuations were later lifted.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Alison Williams)
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