Wildfire scorches more than 20,000 acres in Southern California
The Apple fire in Riverside County, California, is still burning out of control, with fire authorities saying on Sunday that it is zero percent contained.
So far, the blaze has scorched more than 20,000 acres. It was first reported on Friday evening in Cherry Valley, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, and is sweeping through rugged terrain and steep hillsides.
The Apple fire has created a "very large pyrocumulus cloud" that looks like a mushroom, Lisa Cox, fire information officer for the San Bernardino National Forest, told the Los Angeles Times. "And what happens is when those really thick fuels start ripping and burning in those canyons, it creates this incredible power. The fire actually — it doesn't even matter what the wind's doing at that point — it just creates its own weather."
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Nearly 8,000 people have been evacuated, and there are more than 1,300 firefighters on the scene. The Apple fire is California's first major wildfire this year.
