Firefighters have gained an upper hand on a wildfire burning since the weekend in northeastern Los Angeles, authorities said on Tuesday.
The fire was 57 percent contained as of Tuesday, and about 700 of the 1,000 evacuated residents have been allowed back into their homes, officials said.
Authorities expect to have full containment of the 218-hectare blaze by Friday, said Barbara Croonquist of the Angeles National Forest.
Firefighters planned to take advantage of cooler temperatures and increased humidity to tame the wildfire.
"It will be a much better day for the firefighters," National Weather Service Meteorologist Andrew Rorke said. "Things will shift from an offshore flow to a more typical onshore flow, lowering temperatures by about 15 degrees."
An increase of humidity to about 20 percent will also improve conditions for containing the blaze, he added.
Rorke noted that marine area clouds were expected to roll in Wednesday along with increased humidity, cooling temperatures considerably for the remainder of the week.
Early Monday, fiery debris threatened some homes along the western perimeter of the fire, that were "nearly scorched," said Robert Brady, fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
Croonquist said Tuesday morning that the fire, which started along a popular trail and creek in Santa Anita Canyon Saturday, was 57 percent contained, and the number of scorched acres had not increased.
About 1,000 people in 400 homes in the canyon were evacuated over the weekend as the fire scorched vegetation that had not burned in 30 years.
Late Monday, mandatory evacuation orders were lifted for residents living in the area. By Tuesday morning, about 300 people were still evacuated from their homes, Croonquist said.
More than 1,000 personnel from city, county, state and federal fire agencies were battling the blaze, Croonquist said. Four firefighters have suffered heat fatigue and other injuries considered minor. One outbuilding was damaged.
It was unclear how the fire started, but stricken area is popular with picnickers and weekend hikers.
Source:Xinhua
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