The FINANCIAL — According to RIA Novosti, two firefighters have died tackling fires to the north of Los Angeles, U.S. media said on August 31.
A vehicle carrying the two men rolled off a hillside on Sunday near Mount Gleason in the Angeles National Forest, where a severe blaze has been burning since Wednesday afternoon, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing local fire authorities.
The Los Angeles Times said the firemen were later identified as Arnaldo Quinones, 35, of Palmdale and Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County. The cause of the crash has not yet been announced.
The fire, which has scorched 66 square miles in the Angeles National Forest, is the largest and most dangerous of several fires burning around Southern and Central California and in Yosemite National Park, the newspaper said.
Los Angeles authorities urged those in the fire's path to leave their homes, but several people underestimated the threat and were critically burned, local firefighters said.
According to the newspaper, about 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze, which was expected to spread up Mount Wilson, where many of the region's broadcast and communications antennas and a historic observatory are located. Outbreaks were registered within 2 miles of the towers on Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle said.
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