Firefighters work to contain Western brush blazes; one dies in the effort

Firefighters continued to battle flames that shifting winds pushed across thousands of acres of Western brushland Sunday, as they mourned one of their own killed while mopping up a Southern California blaze.

The body of Stephen Joseph Masto, 28, was found in steep terrain of the Los Padres National Forest north of Santa Barbara. Search crews found him Saturday after he didn't return to camp with the rest of his colleagues. The cause of death wasn't immediately known.

"He was just a great guy," said Michael Kotowski, a battalion chief with the Santa Barbara city fire department. "He had a lot of potential. This may have been his first wildfire."

Meanwhile, in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles, high, erratic winds caused the evacuation of two sparsely populated desert communities north of a 6,000-acre fire burning near the resort town of Lake Arrowhead, officials said.

Across the West, most fire officials expressed cautious hope of controlling the fires that had been raging in the heat for the last week. But, they too were leery of shifting winds.

"The best news is that we're very slowly getting containment around most of the fires," aid Alleah Haley, a fire information officer for the California Department of Forestry in Butte County. "The bad news is that we're expecting 20-30 mph winds. We're holding all our resources, hoping for the best and being prepared for the worst."

In all, a series of blazes in the Northern California county charred 32,879 acres and burned 14 outbuildings, two vehicles and a boat. Two major fires that burned nearly 1,800 acres were surrounded, and firefighters gained the upperhand on three others.

A fire in the Stanislaus National Forest was contained after burning 4,028 acres, but officials there kept about 1,000 firefighters on the scene to fight hot spots.

The fire had destroyed four outbuildings and forced the closure of Highway 120 into Yosemite National Park. The highway was reopened Sunday.

In Nevada, crews finished mopping up the largest fire, at 45,000 acres, north of Reno, but a blaze 80 miles southwest of Ely was only 10 percent contained after burning 10,000 acres.

In Washington State, smaller fires near the Columbia River and Major Creek neared full control by Sunday afternoon. The Major Creek fire destroyed one home.

The best news came from Oregon, where light rain lessened the threat of several small lightning-caused fires. A 1,500-acre grass fire on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in north-central Oregon was contained Saturday, with no injuries or structures threatened.

Several other smaller fires in the Southern California area closed some mountain highways but didn't cause any damage or injuries, officials said.

In Santa Barbara, meanwhile, those who worked at the city fire department with Masto struggled to come to terms with what seemed a baffling death.

Masto, a firefighter, was acting as a medic to help firefighters who were injured in the steep terrain while stomping out the 180-acre blaze.

When he didn't return to camp Friday night, a helicopter and night-vision equipment immediately began a search, said Michael Kotowski, a battalion chief.

Rescuers found Masto the next morning and saw no evidence that he fell or suffered burns. He had a canteen full of water and a working radio.

An autopsy was scheduled for Monday morning, Kotowski said.

Kotowski said his city department can send up to a dozen people to fight wildfires, if requested.

"Everyone loves to go. It's a great assignment, very exciting," he said. "In fact, it's such a popular assignment that we have a formal rotation. Steve was next up. You can decline to go, but he certainly didn't. He wanted to go."

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