California Suburban Wildfire Sparked by Power Tool

Los Angeles fire officials say a brush fire in California that that briefly threatened homes in a heavily populated suburban neighborhood was caused by sparks from a power tool that a homeowner was using to clear brush.

Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey says the blaze Monday in the San Fernando Valley community of Granada Hills was contained in about 90 minutes.

Ten threatened homes were briefly evacuated before crews using water-dropping aircraft surrounded the fire. About 40 acres of dry brush was scorched.

No homes or other structures were damaged.

Fire officials said the neighborhood had done an excellent job of clearing brush around homes and that helped keep the fire in check.

The fire department said a handful of responders sustained non-life-threatening injuries while battling the fire.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters California Wildfire