Firefighters contain California wildfire

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CALIFORNIA - Firefighters aided by brush clearance and fire-resistant roofs managed to contain a 1,100-acre brush fire that had closed in on dozens of upscale Southern California homes. <br> <br> The fire was potentially the most dangerous in a series of wildfires that burned more than 7,200 acres in the region since the weekend. <br> <br> The Orange County fire cloaked a summerlike spring afternoon in swirling clouds of smoke. Flames roiled along fence lines behind upscale homes as firefighters with hoses doused spot blazes and helicopters bombed smoking slopes with water.<br> <br> ``The fire came over the hill just ferociously,&#39;&#39; said Scott Ostlund, a Coto de Caza resident. He and his pregnant wife gathered belongings and were prepared to leave when a firefighter told them their house looked like it would not be burned. <br> <br> The fire was 100 percent contained by 11 p.m. as calm returned to many neighborhoods. A voluntary evacuation was urged for the northern end of Coto de Caza and the Wagon Wheel communities, but it was unclear how many people actually left. <br> <br> More than 100 firefighters were dispatched, Orange County Fire Authority spokesman Dave Romano said. The land around many of the homes had been stripped of debris for years so that it would not fuel flames. <br> <br> Also Monday, firefighters said a 4,977-acre blaze in Angeles National Forest near suburban Santa Clarita was 80 percent contained late Monday. The fire was 45 miles north of Los Angeles. <br> <br> A dry winter has left much of Southern California covered with prematurely dry brush, raising the risk of wildfires. <br> <br> Fire restrictions were imposed in Angeles National Forest on April 8, much earlier than usual. Officials said moisture content in brush and other vegetation at that time was already down to levels usually not seen until July.

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