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September 3, 2009

California Firefighters Save Observatory as Wildfire Continues to Burn
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Officials say firefighting force atop Mount Wilson managed to keep
flames from reaching observatory and critical communication towers 
Fire burns close to blackened hills in the Angeles National Forest on
the outskirts of Los Angeles, California, 02 Sep 2009Firefighters in the
U.S. western state of California have successfully pushed back a
wildfire threatening a historic observatory north of Los Angeles.
Officials said Thursday a firefighting force atop Mount Wilson managed
to keep the flames from reaching the observatory and critical
communication towers on the mountain. The wildfire near Los Angeles has
burned nearly 57,000 hectares of land, making it the largest wildfire in
Los Angeles county's history. By Thursday, safety officials had lifted
all evacuation orders for residential areas, allowing people to return
to their homes. Officials say the fire, which has burned for more than a
week, is now 28 percent contained. Investigators are continuing to
investigate the cause of the fire. Deputy incident commander Carlton
Joseph said Wednesday investigators believe the fire was caused by
humans. Carlton said!
  investigators are still trying to determine if the blaze was started
on purpose or by accident. The fire destroyed more than 60 homes in the
area, forced thousands of people to evacuate, and led to the death of
two firefighters. The men died Sunday when their truck rolled off a step
embankment. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited
firefighters at a Los Angeles base camp Wednesday. The governor said of
the eight wildfires currently burning across the state of California,
three have been contained. Earlier this week, fire commander Mike
Dietrich said it could take another two weeks to contain the fire.  Some
information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Bloomberg.


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