Fire near downtown Los Angeles burns toolsheds

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Latest on wildfires in the West (all times local):

3 p.m.

A Los Angeles fire official says a blaze tearing through brush near downtown has burned several small structures, but not houses.

Capt. Daniel Curry says firefighters were getting a handle on the blaze that spread quickly Sunday near the Silver Lake neighborhood. He describes the structures as toolsheds built into terraced hillsides behind homes.

A Fire Department spokesman said earlier that one home had burned.

The fire broke out as a heat wave sizzles across the region. Firefighters were working in triple-digit temperatures in the densely populated hilly neighborhood near State Route 2.

Curry says firefighters were chasing embers that were igniting as they landed in dry brush near the freeway.

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2:25 p.m.

Los Angeles firefighters and water-dropping helicopters are battling a blaze that has burned one home and threatens several others as it tears through dry brush in a densely populated neighborhood.

A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott says firefighters are working aggressively in 100-degree temperatures to keep the flames from spreading to other homes in the Silver Lake area near downtown.

Scott says it’s not clear if the fire began in a house or in brush along State Route 2. The hilly area is near Interstate 5 and not far from Dodger Stadium.

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12:05 p.m.

Firefighters say they plan to vigilantly monitor a massive wildfire in central New Mexico amid hot and dry conditions.

Fire officials said Sunday that light winds could fan the blaze that erupted last week in the Manzano Mountains south of Albuquerque.

Higher humidity overnight allowed crews to strengthen lines around the fire and mop up. Firefighters are now keeping watch for any potential hot spots where flames could jump the line.

More than 950 personnel are working to combat the fire, and helicopters and air tankers are dropping retardant.

The roughly 28-square-mile wildfire has destroyed 24 homes and is still a threat to several rural, mountain communities.

It is 9 percent contained, and its cause is under investigation.

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