Firefighters focus efforts on controlling blazes

Tuesday, Sept. 7, 1999 | 10:12 a.m.

While firefighters in California's largest blaze concentrated on mop up over the holiday weekend, new fires were reported in Oregon and Washington.

In California, a total of more than 155,000 acres burned. The largest wildfire, called the Willow fire, started Aug. 28 near the Lake Arrowhead resort and burned 63,486 acres.

About 1,000 firefighters on Monday continued to mop up the blaze, said Sandy Nieman, a spokeswoman at the fire's command center. It was contained Saturday night and expected to be controlled by Friday.

The wildfire destroyed 19 structures, including several homes, and burned 52 vehicles. The fire was believed to be the largest in San Bernardino National Forest in 80 years. It has cost $10 million to suppress the fire, Nieman said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

In Northern California, the multiple Mount Hough fires that began Aug. 22 with a lightning strike have burned nearly 24,000 acres. The three major fires near Highway 70 were about 10 percent contained Monday, said Court Bennett, a spokesman with the U.S. Forest Service.

Wildfires also were burning in Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

A 2,500-acre blaze that began Sunday along the Columbia River gorge in Washington forced the evacuation of more than 10 homes. Firefighters brought the fire under control Monday despite 30 mph winds, said Rob Harper, a spokesman for the state Department of Emergency Management.

"They did get the wind, but the fortunate thing was (the firefighters) got a lot of work done that prevented the fire from rekindling," Harper said. The cause was under investigation.

A fire in central Oregon burned nearly 2,600 acres and threatened at least one home on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. The wind-whipped blaze, which began Sunday, spread quickly through mixed grass and timber land.

"It is definitely human caused," said fire management officer Gary Cooke. "We haven't had any lightning here for a while."

Firefighters in Nevada meanwhile were fighting several stubborn blazes that have burned 82,010 acres.

Crews had the largest fire in the state, the High Complex fires, more than 96 percent contained. The fires in the Shasta-Trinity area have burned 38,000 acres and cost $14.5 million to fight.