Firefighters set controlled burns and removed brush with bulldozers through the night to strengthen their lines around a massive blaze north of Los Angeles,and residents who had fled cautiously returned to survey the damage. Its like,is this really our house? Is it really still here? T.J. Lynch said as he arrived at his home in the Tujunga neighborhood late Wednesday. Because we had made peace with the fact that wed never see our stuff again. It looks like nothing changed,but when the sun comes up tomorrow,I expect well see the hills blackened and gray, the screenwriter said. The blaze is one of the largest wildfires in Southern California history. Since the flames erupted beside a remote mountain highway on Aug. 26,the Station Fire has ravaged nearly 219 square miles,or 140,150 acres (56,718 hectares) of the Angeles National Forest. It destroyed 64 homes,killed two firefighters and forced thousands to evacuate. Another firefighter was injured late Wednesday and taken to a hospital by a medical helicopter,said John Huschke,a public information officer. He did not know the cause or the extent of the firefighters injuries. Fire containment increased from 22 to 28 percent Wednesday. Officials were pleased with the progress,but said they have much more work ahead as the forecast called for hot and dry weather in the next few days. Were changing the pace and treating this as a marathon, U.S. Forest Service incident commander Mike Dietrich said. If it were a 26-mile race,wed only be at mile six. U.S. Forest Service investigators gathered along a road in a blackened forest to hunt for clues Wednesday near where the fire started. They shook soil in a can and planted red,blue and yellow flags to mark evidence beneath a partially burned oak tree at the bottom of a ravine. Deputy incident commander Carlton Joseph said the fire was human-caused, meaning it could have been started by anything from a dropped cigarette to a spark from something like a lawn mower. Forest Service officials said there was no lightning in the area at the time and no power lines in the vicinity,but later backtracked on Josephs comments,saying they are looking at all possible causes. The only thing I can say is it is possibly human activity, Forest Service Commander Rita Wears said. The fire also cast a smoky haze over the Los Angeles area and gave the night sky an eerie glow. The smoke spread throughout the West,affecting air quality in Las Vegas and combining with soot from local fires to block mountain views in Denver.
