GLENDALE FIRE CONTAINED; FIREFIGHTERS REMAIN ON DUTY, CONTINUE TO DOUSE HOT SPOTS.

Byline: Donna Huffaker Staff Writer

Firefighters worked around the clock Thursday monitoring hot spots in the wake of a wind-driven fire that blazed through the hills of La Canada Flintridge and Glendale.

Firefighters had fully contained the brush fire that threatened hillside homes and had it 90 percent controlled, said Mark Whaling, public information officer for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Containing a fire means the firefighters have effectively surrounded it. Controlling it means they've doused it completely, he said.

Fanned Tuesday night and Wednesday by strong Santa Ana winds, the fire torched 524 acres, less than officials first estimated, said Chris Gray, assistant fire chief for Glendale.

``The firefighters did a marvelous job containing the fire and limiting the spread to houses. They also worked very hard at staying fresh and alert it's a very dangerous environment,'' Gray said.

Officials on Thursday had not determined a cause.

The blaze started just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at Starland and Sugarloaf drives in La Canada Flintridge. From there, 50 mph winds spread flames southwest into Glendale and charred 25 acres within minutes. Thirty minutes later the flames torched another 100 acres, officials said.

No homes were damaged and only one minor injury was reported, Whaling said. A firefighter working among a crew whose duties were to topple brush into dirt hurt his foot.

Damage was estimated at $600,000, said Gray, noting the fire burned a reservoir and a water pump as well as destroying a $250,000 building at the Glendale Police shooting range. The blaze reduced the building to a smoldering shell and consumed some $80,000 in materials, including ammunition and targets. Heat from the brush fire ignited an unknown portion of the 24,000 rounds of ammunition stored in the building.

Scores of firefighters from Glendale and Los Angeles continued to roam the hills and watched for any embers that could ignite unburned areas, Whaling said. Officials wandered through the hillside neighborhoods and kept a close eye on areas where the fire had encroached.

Firefighters had rotated through three or four shift changes by Thursday, Gray said. Firefighters typically work a 24-hour shift, but when their duties are as exhausting as fighting flames and cutting brush, the shifts are cut back to 12 hours.

Just to stay safe, Gray said, a water-dropping helicopter will continue to be assigned to the area and firefighters will remain in isolated ``hot spot'' areas.

``We don't want any possibilities of this starting again,'' Gray said.

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Photo

Photo: A firefighter looks for hot spots Thursday along the 2 Freeway in Glendale, where the fire was fully contained but not yet fully extinguished.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer