Sierra Madre Blaze Rages On

A California wildfire that has sparked mass evacuations kept burning up Sierra Madre today, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials said the blaze was 23% contained, compared to 30% last night, and four of 580 firefighters have suffered minor injuries—but there are no fatalities so far. The fire now consumes 500 acres and has edged "downhill toward the homes in Sierra Madre," an Angeles Forest Spokesman said.

"It's very steep, inaccessible terrain, and it's very heavy brush," said a Fire Chief, explaining the difficulties of the Sierra Madre blaze. "Very difficult and arduous labor for these crews. You can't get bulldozers into the majority of where these fingers of fire run." (More California wildfires stories.)