A wildfire broke out in Southern California on Monday. It was started by gusty Santa Ana winds. The fire burned over a thousand hectares of land. Four thousand people were evacuated from Riverside County.
The fire broke out on Monday at 12:37 local time near the town of Aguanga located in California’s Riverside County. It was called the Highland Fire. The fire burned 1,010 hectares of land. Since the explosion, the element has doubled in size.
“I didn’t realize it was that bad until I went outside and I couldn’t breathe,” Carol Rogers, who fled her home in Aguang on Monday afternoon, told the Los Angeles Times.
The fire destroyed at least three buildings and damaged six others, CNN reported. Riverside County authorities issued an evacuation order for four thousand people.
The authorities opened one evacuation center for people and another for animals.
The devil’s wind ignites the fire
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) on Tuesday, the fire is 10 percent contained. Over 300 firefighters are fighting it. Firefighting planes are involved in extinguishing the fire. California authorities are investigating the cause of the fire.
– There was a lot of smoke in the sky. Initially, it was unclear whether there would be a mandatory evacuation or not. Law enforcement cars arrived with flashing lights and broadcast over a loudspeaker that everyone should evacuate, said Robert Duke, an 85-year-old resident of Riverside.
Wildfires in this region are a seasonal phenomenon that occurs when Santa Ana blows toward the ocean. Santa Ana is a dry, hot wind that blows across southern California, mainly in fall and early winter. It is also called the devil’s wind.
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CNN, Reuters, latimes.com
Main photo source: Reuters