“We’re really expecting to make some great progress on this fire today due to the coastal marine influence, the lowering of temperatures,” said Lisa Cox, a spokesperson for the response team, referring to a process that raises moisture levels.
In San Bernardino, 50 miles east of Los Angeles, Justin Wayne Halstenberg, a 34-year-old delivery driver, was charged with arson and great bodily injury on Thursday for allegedly starting the Line Fire, which has scorched 37,000 acres of mountains overlooking the city of 220,000.
Halstenberg was being held at a local jail and was not immediately available for comment. No attorney was listed for him.
The Line Fire destroyed a home in Running Springs and injured a firefighter and two civilians. Some 5,490 homes were evacuated due to the blaze and two men were arrested for suspected intent to loot.
Southeast of Los Angeles, the Airport Fire has destroyed homes in the Elsinore Mountains and injured at least 10 people.
The 23,000-acre blaze is believed to have been caused by a spark from machinery moving boulders to block access to the wilderness area.
