Wildfires

Winds fan several small fires - California - USA

Firefighters have worked through the night battling a Southern California wildfire that forced 260 residents and hospital patients to evacuate at a military base.

The fire broke out at the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton yesterday amid hot, dry and windy conditions. By early this morning, it had scorched 1,500 acres and was 15 percent contained.

Officials say the blaze prompted the evacuation of 230 residents from a housing unit near Lake O'Neil and caused minor damage to four buildings. Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton wasn't threatened by the fire, but a power outage prompted officials to evacuate about 30 patients to other hospitals.

The dry and windy conditions fueled several other small fires across Southern California yesterday, including one that caused a key freeway junction north of Los Angeles to shut down. Traffic in the Newhall Pass came to a standstill when a 15-acre broke out on a hillside north of the junction of Interstate 5 and State Route 14. Freeways were closed in all directions for about 90 minutes