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Los Angeles Colby Fire 95 Percent Contained, Fire Suspects Expected In Federal Court

By Cassie Boss
Published on: 07:47 PST, Jan 21, 2014

Los Angeles fire officials announced Tuesday that the Colby fire is now 95 percent contained. Officials say that they expect the fire to be fully contained by Wednesday according to the Los Angeles Times.

Reports state that the fire has burned nearly 1,952 acres since it broke out Thursday morning. Authorities said that the fire broke out as a result of an illegal campfire near Colby Trail and Glendora Mountain Road. Fueled by strong winds and low humidity, the fire spread quickly. The Steep terrain along with the difficult weather conditions made fighting the fire challenging for firefighters.

“At one point, more than 1,000 firefighting personnel had been assigned to the blaze. That number was fewer than 300 as of Tuesday.”

According to Fox News, the fire destroyed six homes and 10 outbuildings. Some 3,700 residents of Glendora and Azusa had to evacuate at the fire’s peak. An earlier report by The Inquisitr stated that the residents of Los Angeles were under an air-quality alert as a result of the Colby fire.

“Los Angeles County public health officials issued the warning on Friday, as crews continue to battle the fire which has displaced about 2,000 residents who have been ordered to evacuate.”

The campfire that sparked the Colby fire blaze in Los Angeles was allegedly started by three individuals. According to CBS Los Angeles, Jonathan Jarrell, 23, of Irwindale, 22-year-old Clifford Henry Jr. of Glendora and 21-year-old transient Steven Aguirre, allegedly started the campfire. After starting the fire, sparks were reportedly picked up by the wind and due to the dry condition of the area, the fire sparked and quickly grew out of control.

Henry, Aguirre, and Jarrell were all arrested and booked on the same day on the “suspicion” of recklessly starting a fire. Local law enforcement said that the boys all claimed it was an accident and that they were all very “apologetic” for the situation. Reports state that Henry and Aguirre were being held on $500,000 bail while Jarrell was being detained on $20,000 bail.

Check out some of the image from the Los Angeles Colby fire below:

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