"LOS ANGELES - Barely five weeks after the last bout of heavy rain and snow in California's historically wet winter, firefighters on Friday battled the state's first large wildfire of the year in rugged foothills east of Los Angeles.
The Nob fire has scorched some 200 acres of brush and grass in the San Bernardino National Forest since erupting on Wednesday, with 25% of the blaze's perimeter contained by Thursday night, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The blaze posed no immediate threat to populated areas as it burned steep terrain deep in the forest, agency spokesperson Lyn Sieliet said. Its cause was under investigation.
The fire was small compared with monster conflagrations that have become more frequent and intense in recent years, charring hundreds of thousands of acres, devastating whole communities and forcing mass evacuations."
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