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| A helicopter drops water over a wildfire on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013, in Cabazon, Calif. About 1,500 people have fled and three are injured as a wildfire in the Southern California mountains quickly spreads. Several small communities have evacuated. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) |
BANNING, Calif. (AP) — A thousand firefighters battled a growing wildfire in the inland mountains of Southern California early Thursday, trying to save small communities where some home have been lost and an estimated 1,500 residents were forced to flee.
Flames roiled along foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains in Banning Pass 90 miles east of Los Angeles. The fire moved eastward, pushed by a steady wind from the west, said Julie Hutchinson, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The fire was estimated at 6,000 acres — or more than 9 square miles — late Wednesday, but Hutchinson said the size was expected to increase when an aircraft returned from a morning mapping flight.
Two firefighters and a civilian were injured. Hutchinson had no details but said the civilian's injuries were "significant."
Fire officials estimated 15 structures burned, but could not say how many were homes. TV news helicopters and photos from the scene showed several houses in flames.