New California wildfire erupts day after memorial

LOS ANGELES, Nov 7 (Reuters) A new California wildfire broke out near a community east of Los Angeles, one day after some 10,000 people attended a memorial service for firefighters killed fighting a massive arson fire.

The new fire, fanned by hot Santa Ana winds, erupted at about 7:30 am local time yesterday near the intersection of two major Southern California freeways about 60 miles (96 km) east of Los Angeles.

The flames quickly charred some 300 acres (121 hectares) threatened hundreds of homes and a golf course near the city of Rialto and burned a yard where wooden pallets were stored.

Firefighters used aircraft to scoop water from a pond on the golf course as smoke and ash drifted across a large swath of Southern California.

The fire was quickly contained by firefighters but the resurgent Santa Ana winds, which blow seasonally in the region, prompted firefighters to issue a red flag warning -- meaning high fire danger.

Stands of bone-dry trees and brush and the Santa Ana winds combine every fall for what authorities call Southern California's fire season, and this year has proven to be no exception.

On Sunday, thousands of firefighters lined roads and some 10,000 people flocked to an open air theater for an emotional farewell to the five firefighters who died trying to save a home in a remote area during the October fire.

Three of the five, all of whom worked for the U.S. Forest Service, died instantly and the others died later of massive burns received on the first day of a five-day blaze that destroyed 34 homes. It also charred an area nearly three times the size of Manhattan near Banning, about 90 miles (145 km) east of Los Angeles and not far from the desert resort of Palm Springs.

Authorities, who issued a 0,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case, charged a local man on Thursday with arson and five counts of murder. He could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.

Though the firefighters' deaths stunned Southern Californians, the blaze did not match the sheer destruction of wildfires that burned for days outside Los Angeles and San Diego in October of 2003, killing 24 people, destroying 3,000 homes and burning some 740,000 acres (300,000 hectares).

Reuters DH VP0545