Some 700 firefighters were battling an out-of-control fire Thursday in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills north of Glendora, authorities said.
The Colby Fire is an active wildfire in the Angeles National Forest. The fire is believed to be intentionally set, and was ignited along the Colby Truck Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains in northern Los Angeles County, east of the city of Los Angeles. The fire started on January 16, 2014 and burned 1,700 acres, injured one person, and destroyed five homes as it was fanned by strong Santa Ana winds.
January fires are unusual in Southern California, but there are drought conditions and high winds, which led to a “red flag” fire danger situation.
The state of California is experiencing its worst drought in 100 years.
Three men were arrested as suspects in the fire that near Los Angeles that has burned over 1,700 acres.
The Colby Fire has burned 1700 acres and destroyed 5 homes
#ColbyFire flames at the 10pm hour. pic.twitter.com/5lK8kjjgz7
— LACoFD (@LACo_FD) January 17, 2014
Colby fire at 10:00 p.m. PT last night.
Southern California firefighters say the massive fire in the San Gabriel Mountains is 30 percent contained, and that it isn’t advancing due to calmer winds.
About 3700 people were evacuated from their homes.
RT @LASDHQ: Thank you Public & Media Keeping Roads Clear. BIG Fire trucks need space to save lives & homes #ColbyFire pic.twitter.com/ZGrerAEQZu
— LACoFD (@LACo_FD) January 17, 2014
10am,Fri: #ColbyFire Unified Command at Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area (Photo by C.Miller) pic.twitter.com/DHWrz4w9WF
— LA County Sheriff (@LASDHQ) January 17, 2014
View Colby Fire in a larger map
View Colby Fire in a larger map
Stay informed with news from The Cardinal’s Emergencies Behind the Scenes Facebook page — Facebook.com/CardinalEmergencies. Includes links to favorite public safety and emergency rescuers and product manufacturers and safety companies that have facebook pages. Submit your pictures or just stay up-to-date on with fire, rescue, EMS and police photo galleries. Please add your public safety photo to the wall album — go direct to the Arlington Cardinal Emergencies Behind the Scenes photos. For a list of all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages, go to Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …