Firefighters on top of wildfire in LA’s luxury Bel Air
Los Angeles, (MILLAT ONLINE):Firefighters in Los Angeles said Wednesday they were nearing full containment of a week-old fire caused by “an illegal cooking fire” at a homeless encampment.
The blaze, which is 90 percent under control, has scorched 422 acres (170 hectares) since it broke out in the early hours of December 6, destroying six homes in the upscale Bel Air area and damaging 12 others.
“We were not aware that there was this encampment there. If we were, we would have been encouraging them to move,” said city council member Paul Koretz.
“But what makes this even more tragic is the tragedy of homelessness, and the fact that we’ve got tens of thousands of people living on the streets and it means things like this will happen until we get more of a handle on the problem,” he added.
The “Skirball” fire burned in the same area as the devastating Bel Air Fire of 1961, which destroyed about 500 homes and led to various policy changes, including a prohibition on wood-shingle roofs.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said Tuesday it was caused by a cooking fire at an encampment in a brush area.