Calif. fire is burning toxic site

LOS ANGELES - Fire officials were dispatching a hazardous-materials team to deal with a store of highly toxic pesticides that have caught fire in a huge Southern California wildfire.

Capt. Scott Dettorre said the pesticides were stored at the Laguna Farms property near the 5,000-student California State University Channel Islands campus.

Dettorre said nearby residents were being warned to stay out of the smoke.

The blaze erupted during morning rush hour along U.S. 101 in the Camarillo area, about 50 miles west of Los Angeles. It quickly charred more than 10 square miles because of winds that have also pushed other damaging blazes across the region.

Flames moved down slopes toward subdivisions. Some 6,500 acres were charred, with no containment. A cluster of RVs in a parking lot was destroyed as flames moved close to a mobile-home park.

Air tankers were grounded for a time in the afternoon because of the winds, which gusted to 50 m.p.h.