Arizona / West

S. California wildfires mostly contained; small blaze starts

CORONA, Calif. - Wildfires that blackened thousands of acres across Southern California and destroyed 28 homes this week were mostly contained Friday, but one new small fire broke out. In Riverside County, a 30-acre blaze in the Whitewater Canyon area, about 10 miles northwest of Palm Springs, grew to 75 acres but was fully contained Friday night, said California Department of Forestry Capt. Fernando Herrera. No structures were damaged. Elsewhere in Riverside County, the nearly 16,500-acre Cerrito Fire near Corona and the 8,900-acre Eagle Fire South of Temecula were fully contained. Fourteen homes were destroyed in each of those blazes, along with about three dozen other structures. "We're almost done, we're wrapping up," said Forestry Department spokeswoman Becky Luther. "(Fire personnel) will concentrate on anything within the burn area and make sure all hot spots are out, and then we can call it controlled." In San Diego County, the 2,050-acre India Fire on the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton remained contained. Firefighters made headway on a Santa Barbara County blaze in Los Padres National Forest. The 1,127-acre Cachuma Fire was 80 percent surrounded, with full containment expected by this morning.