Strong winds stoked a wildfire burning for nearly two weeks in mountains northeast of Los Angeles, in the US state of California, prompting authorities to issue new evacuation orders for desert communities that lost some homes a day earlier. Meanwhile, officials were investigating the death of a firefighter on the lines of another Southern California wildfire that erupted earlier this month from a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used by a couple to reveal their baby’s gender. In northern Los Angeles County, firefighters focused on protecting homes Saturday as increasingly erratic winds pushed the Bobcat Fire toward foothill communities in the Antelope Valley after churning all the way across the San Gabriel Mountains. But, Los Angeles County park officials said the blaze destroyed the nature center at Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area, a geological wonder that attracts some 130,000 visitors per year. The death occurred Thursday in San Bernardino National Forest as crews battled the El Dorado Fire about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement.-AP

Source: The Standard September 19, 2020 22:41 UTC