Wildfires throughout California force thousands of evacuations

LOS ANGELES, June 22 (UPI) -- More than 1,000 firefighters are battling a massive complex of wildfires in the San Gabriel Mountains in California while authorities order evacuations throughout the state.

Fires less than two miles apart near the cities of Duarte and Azusa, referred to as the Reservoir and Fish fires, are now collectively regarded as the San Gabriel Complex fire. Firefighters are taking a unified approach to extinguishing it.

Authorities said the 4,900-acre blaze was 10 percent contained as of Wednesday morning.

The 4,900-acre blaze was regarded by authorities as 10 percent contained Wednesday morning. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department ordered the evacuation of 770 families from their homes, though no structures have been reported damaged.

The wildfires are among dozens across eight states in the western United States, provoked by drought conditions, dry brush land and triple-digit temperatures since the weekend. The Reservoir fire began Monday morning and is believed to have ignited after a vehicle left the road and plunged down a canyon, killing the driver and sparking the fire. The adjacent Fish fire began an hour later; the causes of both fires are under investigation.

Authorities warned residents of nearby communities like Bradbury and Monrovia to prepare to evacuate, and to expect some closed roads and others clogged with firefighting equipment and other evacuees.

Nearby San Gabriel Canyon was evacuated, and smoke from the fire was drifting inland toward Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where air quality reached levels regarded as unhealthy.

Another wildfire 100 miles away, east of San Diego and near the border with Mexico, has consumed 6,200 acres, and forced hundreds of evacuations. Called the Border Fire, it is threatening about 1,000 buildings, including homes, and more than 1,500 firefighters have been working to contain it since its start three days ago