Three suspects have been detained and charged for recklessly starting a fire in Southern California's San Gabriel Mountains that has burned two homes and evacuated almost 2,000 people from surrounding areas, according to the Associated Press.
Glendora Police Chief Tim Staab said the three suspects are men in their 20s: Robert Aguirre, 21, of Los Angeles; Jonathan Carl Jarrell, 23, of Irwindale; and Clifford Eugene Henry, Jr., 22, of Glendora, the AP reported. The men were detained around Colby Trail where authorities believe the fire originated from.
The fire spread through almost three miles of dry bush and caused smokes of clouds to cover the Los Angeles skyline all the way down the coast, the AP reported.
A smoke advisory was issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District that warned residents to avoid going outside in areas heavily affected by the billowing clouds of smoke, according to the AP.
One resident was reported to have suffered minor burn injuries after embers from the fire blew in to Santa Ana, the city right below the wilderness area, according to Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby, the AP reported.
Almost 2,000 residents in Glendora and Azusa, a nearby city, were told to evacuate earlier in the day, but many stayed behind and tried to use their garden hose to wet the dry areas around their homes until firefighters told them to "not waste any more time with the water. Time to go," the AP reported.
"Because of our preparations, we were able to save hundreds, if not thousands, of homes this morning," Osby said, the AP reported.
The area where the fire began is known for being dry and authorities say temperatures in the forest is into the 80s and more than 1,700 acres of the Angeles National Forest had already been burned by mid-morning, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Nathan Judy told the AP.
