Arson caused California blaze, officials say

LAKE VIEW TERRACE, California (CNN) -- The Station fire, which has burned nearly 145,000 acres north of Los Angeles, was caused by arson, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Rita Wears said Thursday.

The investigation is now being treated as a homicide because of the deaths of two firefighters, Wears said.

Firefighters are close to containing half the fire, officials said. They are not quite at the 50 percent mark but are making progress, particularly on the west side of the fire, officials said.

The fire is still producing hot spots, including one on the southwest front. There, at least 15 families were awakened around 4 a.m. and given three hours to leave their homes in the Dillon Divide community.

The Station fire, which has been raging more than a week, has displaced thousands of anxious Southern Californians. It had burned 140,150 acres by Wednesday.

The fire has destroyed 62 homes, three commercial properties and 27 other buildings since it began August 26, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Joseph Carlton said Wednesday.

The state of California has spent about $21 million so far fighting the fire in the Angeles National Forest, according to Mike Dietrich, the Forest Service's incident commander.

"I've made it clear that even though we have a budget crunch, and we have an economic crisis and we just solved a $23 billion deficit, we will always have the money available to fight the fires because public safety is our No. 1 priority," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said at a news briefing Wednesday.

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Schwarzenegger said 21 firefighters had been injured battling the Station fire in addition to two who were killed earlier this week. They died Sunday in a vehicular crash trying to escape fast-moving flames.

Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency last week as a result of the Station fire.

from : cnn.com