BREAKING NEWS

Two LA-area wildfires threaten to merge after forcing evacuations

LOS ANGELES - Two rapidly growing wildfires burning a few miles apart through drought-parched foothills northeast of Los Angeles prompted the evacuation of nearly 800 homes on Tuesday, as a heat wave continued to bake much of the U.S. Southwest for a third straight day.
Abnormally high temperatures climbing into the high 90s and triple digits across much of the region helped stoke wildfires from the coastal hills outside Santa Barbara to desert brush near the Mexican border, and several other Western states.
Fires also were menacing populated areas in New Mexico, Arizona and along the Colorado-Wyoming border.
The greatest immediate threat was posed by a pair of fires that erupted near each other on Monday near the Angeles National Forest and doubled in size overnight as they roared unchecked through foothills and canyons above the communities of Azusa and Duarte northeast of Los Angeles.