Stuart Palley / EPA
A long exposure picture shows an Orange County Fire Authority Crew keeping watch in a residential area of Idyllwild, USA, 19 July 2013, as the Mountain Fire burns three km away. Some 6,000 residents of the mountain town of Idyllwild and the surrounding communities some 180 km east of Los Angeles were evacuated.
By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News
Aided by cooler temperatures, firefighters in Southern California over the weekend were making tremendous progress battling the so-called Mountain Fire that has burned homes and forced the evacuation of thousands.
By late Saturday, fire officials announced they had contained nearly 50 percent of the blaze that began Monday. High humidity and lower temperatures have helped crews more than double the containment area from Friday.
?The last 24 hours have been great for the crews on the ground, we?ve been able to make significant improvement along the fire?s edge,? Chris Gaulding, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, told NBC Los Angeles.
Fire officials have also been closely monitoring the threat of thunderstorms in the area that could have brought much needed rainfall to douse the flames.
The 42-square mile fire has burned 27, 245 acres. Mandatory evacuations were still in place for nearly 6,000 residents in Idyllwild and Fern Valley, with another 700 people were advised to evacuate.
Seven homes have been destroyed by the wildfire burning in the San Jacinto Mountains, along with more than a dozen other structures.
?I almost cried, because I saw the house here but everything else was just black,? Pablo Pimentel, whose home was spared by the fire,? told NBC Los Angeles.
While 5,600 homes remained threatened by the blaze, some communities on the fire?s eastern edge have reopened to residents.
Late Friday, California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency while filling in for vacationing Gov. Jerry Brown. Nearly 3,400 firefighters have been called in to battle the blaze, along with 30 aircrafts.
And on Sunday, more firefighters from around the state were on the way to help.
It has so far cost $12 million to battle the blaze, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Authorities have said the fire was human-caused, but they wouldn't say whether it was accidental or intentional, according to the Associated Press.
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This story was originally published on Sun Jul 21, 2013 12:14 PM EDT
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