캘리포니아 산불: California's Silver Fire

Starting about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, August 7, 2013, a wind-whipped wildfire named the Silver Fire started near a back-country road about 90 miles (145 km) outside Los Angeles in Riverside County, and within hours had blackened more than 5,000 acres. Nearly 1,500 firefighters are now battling the blaze, gaining some ground and declaring the fire 25 percent contained -- but only after several people were burned and dozens of homes were lost. Although the fire continues to advance, hopes for containment are high as favorable weather conditions have been forecast for the weekend. 

A home burns as it is consumed by the Silver Fire near Banning, California, on August 7, 2013. The wildfire raged out of control in the high desert east of Los Angeles on Wednesday, injuring two firefighters and one civilian and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents of three small communities. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) 

2

A helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Cabazon, California, on August 8, 2013. About 1,500 people have fled and three were injured as a wildfire in the Southern California mountains quickly spread. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) 

A firefighter battles a wildfire in Cabazon, California, on August 8, 2013. A growing wildfire chewed through a rugged Southern California mountain range on Thursday, damaging buildings, threatening as many as 600 homes and forcing some 1,500 people to flee.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) 

Fire spreads up the north side of the San Jacinto Mountains near wind turbines at the Silver Fire, near Banning, California, on August 8, 2013. Firefighters gained ground against a wind-whipped California wildfire that has destroyed 15 buildings, injured at least five people and forced the evacuation of 500 homes in several small communities east of Los Angeles. (Reuters/David McNew) 

Smoke from the Silver Fire rises over electric wind turbines near the community of Cabazon, on August 8, 2013.(Reuters/David McNew) 

Fire spreads up the north side of the San Jacinto Mountains, near wind turbines at the Silver Fire, near Banning, on August 8, 2013.(Reuters/David McNew) 

Fire spreads across the San Jacinto Mountains east of Banning, California, on August 8, 2013. (Reuters/David McNew) 

Smoke from the Silver Fire rises above the San Jacinto Mountains behind one of the Cabazon Dinosaurs, a roadside attraction also known as Claude Bell's Dinosaurs, in Cabazon, on August 8, 2013. (Reuters/David McNew) 

A DC-10 firefighting jet drops fire retardant on the Silver Fire near Banning, on August 7, 2013. (Reuters/David McNew) 

Wind turbines in the distance, beyond hills blackened by the Silver Fire near Banning, on August 8, 2013. (Reuters/David McNew) 

11

Firefighters return to the scene of an overnight fire to ensure embers are put out on a hillside south of Banning, on August 8, 2013.(Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images) 

Jessica Wagner hoses down her property as the Silver Fire moves into the foothills above her home on Ida Avenue in Cabazon, on August 8, 2013. (Reuters/Jason Redmond) 

The Silver Fire spreads in the early morning hours near Banning, on August 8, 2013. (Reuters/David McNew) 

Firefighters spray water near a burning house in the Twin Pines Road area near Banning, on August 7, 2013. (Reuters/David McNew) 

The Silver Fire burns near homes in the community of Cabazon in the early morning hours near Banning, on August 8, 2013.(Reuters/David McNew) 

Shawn Kaye, a television news photographer, put down his camera and picked up a garden hose to help save a house from the garage that was fully consumed in the Silver Fire near Banning, on August 7, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) 

A car burns as it is consumed by the Silver Fire near Banning, on August 7, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) 

A firefighter battles flames at a home consumed by the Silver Fire near Banning, on August 7, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) 

The Silver Fire burns near electric energy wind generators in the community of Cabazon in the early morning hours near Banning,on August 8, 2013. (Reuters/David McNew) 

Wind-blown embers fly from an ancient oak tree that burned in the Silver Fire near Banning, on August 7, 2013.(Reuters/David McNew) 

The Silver Fire lights up the night near Banning, on August 7, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) 

A smouldering mountainside, seen under the stars after being burned by the Silver Fire near Banning, California, on August 7, 2013.(Reuters/David McNew)