TEHACHAPI, Calif. (AP) -- Wildfire season began in Southern California with two blazes separated by 150 miles, authorities said.
A wind-driven wildfire in Kern County burned across hundreds of acres near the mountain town of Tehachapi, but there were no reports of injuries and no structures were immediately threatened.
The fire, which was burning in brush about a mile east of Highway 58, had blackened approximately 450 acres by early Friday, county fire officials reported. It was 25 percent contained, with full containment expected sometime Friday.
At one point the blaze, named the Lehigh Fire, threatened some homes in the community of Sand Canyon. That threat had passed by Thursday evening, but firefighters worried that the blaze could be troublesome if winds in the area picked up.
The cause of the fire, which was reported shortly before 4:30 p.m., was under investigation.
Meanwhile, a second fire broke out some 150 miles away, near the Riverside County town of Cabazon, shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday.
The blaze, which had blackened about 300 acres by early Friday, was burning in grass and brush on very steep slopes, said Patrick Chandler, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Riverside County fire departments.
The fire was being pushed toward the southeast by 20 to 30 mph winds, Chandler said. No structures were threatened but one firefighter had suffered a sprained ankle battling the blaze.
About 265 firefighters were on the lines near the Morongo Indian reservation, Chandler said.
There was no estimated time of containment.
