Southern California Wildfire Only Smoldering
Published: May 2, 2014, 2:35 PM EDT weather.com
People cover their faces from smoke blowing from the wind driven Etiwanda fire burning near homes on April 30, 2014 in Rancho Cucamonga, California. (Jonathan Alcorn/Getty Images)
The fire is only smoldering now, with no active flame, after burning through at least 1,627 acres of brush. No homes have burned in the area east of Los Angeles, and there are no mandatory evacuations.
Winds in the area below the San Bernardino National Forest were around 15 mph Thursday night, with 25-mph gusts — a far cry from the 70-mph gusts a day earlier.
The Etiwanda fire had started in the San Bernardino Mountains near Rancho Cucamonga Wednesday morning, and Santa Ana winds fed the fire and pushed smoke into nearby neighborhoods.
About 1,600 homes were evacuated Wednesday, but families were allowed to return home for the night. Officials did urge people in some northern neighborhoods of Rancho Cucamonga to leave voluntarily if they felt threatened, said Chon Bribiescas, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.
(WATCH: Fire Danger Threat Skyrockets in California)
Weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman said winds should continue to ease Friday, but the forecast for the drought-ridden state doesn't show much relief.
"Unfortunately, there is no rain in the forecast," Erdman explained. "May kicks off California's dry season. From May through September, downtown L.A. only picks up a total of 0.64 inches of rain, on average."
(MORE: Rancho Cucamonga, California, Forecast)
The winds also fanned a handful of small brush fires around Southern California on Wednesday that were quickly doused without damage.
At one point, utilities reported about 8,000 people had lost power because of wind-related problems such as downed power lines.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report
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