California wildfire burns 1,200 acres northwest of Los Angeles, closes highway

Source: Yahoo news

(Reuters) - A wildfire northwest of Los Angeles burned about 1,200 acres of land, forced the closure of parts of a major highway and led to evacuations on Saturday, fire officials said.

More than 600 firefighters battled the blaze in the Solimar Beach area of Ventura County, and parts of U.S. Highway 101 had been closed, county fire department officials said at a news conference.

No injuries have been reported, fire officials said. No structures have been damaged by the fire, but nearby Union Pacific rail lines were closed for a period and the fire is a threat to oil, gas and power lines.

The highway, a major roadway in the region, may reopen in the afternoon, fire and police officials said.

"Even if we do open up the roadways, it's still not a contained fire," Ventura County Fire Department Chief Norm Plott told reporters. "It's a very dynamic fire. We're not quite out of the woods yet."

The fire is less than 10 percent contained and it will take at least three days to get it under control, fire officials said. The cause of the fire was still under investigation.

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