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California Firefighters Battle Ongoing Blaze

Firefighters in California have been battling a blaze that has, as of press time, burned 24,943 acres since its start over the Labor Day holiday.
Firefighters are reportedly trying to keep the flames from crossing Interstate 5, which means occasionally closing the highway - one of the state`s busiest. The fire in the Los Padres National Forest and the adjacent Angeles National Forest is being pushed by winds in all sorts of directions.

A spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, Ed Linquist, says the fire, which has blackened nearly 39 square miles of brushland, was 25 percent contained as of September 13. While certain sections of Interstate 5 were closed on Tuesday, two northbound and two southbound lanes were reopened early on Wednesday, according to state and federal officials.

Kathy Good, also of the U.S. Forest Service, told reporters that the fire`s flames jumped over a fireline next to the highway as winds pushed the blaze via floating embers. Authorities were then forced to close a stretch of the interstate for a second time since the fire started, following the worsening of the fire`s intensity. when flames and smoke worsened on Tuesday. So far, no injuries have been reported, and no major structures have been destroyed either.