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Monday, October 05, 2009 LOS ANGELES: Due to high winds and rising temperatures, several new wildfire flared up across Southern California, threatening households and public security, authorities said. Among the fires, the so-called Guiberson fire in Ventura County near Los Angeles is the biggest. It has prompted the closures of two elementary schools and a community college, said Mike Mohler, a spokesman for California Fire Department. The Guiberson fire is expected to grow to more than 10,000 acres (4,050 hectares) later Wednesday due to low humidity and strong winds, said Mohler. Firefighters are expecting temperatures around the 100-degree mark as they continue to beef up efforts to control the blaze, which is 10 percent contained, Kaufman said. About 600 firefighters are battling the blaze. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Ventura County Sheriff's Department officials have said it appeared to have been started by spontaneous combustion of manure from a ...

LOS ANGELES: Raging wildfires Monday gained ground around Los Angeles where they have claimed their first two fatalities and left three other people injured while threatening thousands of homes. Two firefighters died south of the town of Acton when their vehicle went off the road and rolled down a mountain slope, said Mike Bryant, a spokesman for the fire department. One of the fires, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) long, was burning largely out of control along a ridge in a populated area north of Los Angeles. It was under five percent contained, firefighters said. The US Forest Service said the blaze by midday had destroyed 14,000 hectares (35,200 acres) of land. And by late Sunday the fire in Angeles National Forest was approaching a historic solar observatory and television transmission towers on Mount Wilson, The Los Angeles Times reported citing county fire officials. Crews cleared brush around the structures, but fire officials had doubts about leaving personnel on the mountain ...