Massive Southern California wildfire now halfway contained
LOS ANGELES — Firefighters took advantage of calm winds in Southern California to reach 50 per cent containment of a massive wildfire, officials said.
“We’ve had a very productive day,” said Deputy Chief Mark Brown of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protections. “The weather conditions were just right for us.”
Monday was the first of a two-day window of calm winds in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties where the so-called Thomas Fire has burned for two weeks.
The fire northwest of Los Angeles has now spread to about 423 square miles (1,095 square kilometres), making it the third biggest since accurate records were kept starting in 1932. The largest, the 2003 Cedar Fire in San Diego County, burned about 427 square miles.