Douglas Daily Dispatch

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In southern California the fire demons danced on a score of hills around the Los Angeles area Monday night and filled the air with smoke yesterday. The worst of the fire was between Santa Paula and Ojai, where an east wind blew up a "wild" fire that started when a power line broke and ignited grass and brush.

The heat caused an oil tank on Sulphur mountain to explode. This started a wall of fire down the mountainside toward the Ventura oil field with a fury that threatened that vast center of oil production.

It was uncertain at a late hour whether it could be subjugated sufficiently to avert that danger.

Other fires, covering a total of 30,000 acres, roared over the southland and met defiance at the hands of more than 600 men. Eight fire fighters had been injured or burned late yesterday.

In northern and central California minor blazes continued to harass the countryside, notably around Ukiah and Modesto.

Some of the western fires were asserted by forestry officials to be of human origin. The first arrest for starting a forest fire was made Tuesday. M. J. Ryan, a surveyor for the Los Angeles city bureau of water and power, was taken into custody on a charge of smoking in a closed area. It was alleged that 2,000 acres was burned over by a blaze he started.

Barring unexpected unfavorable developments officials expected all western fires now burning to be in hand by Wednesday night. Meanwhile, the hope for rain was widespread and fervent. It has been the driest year in a decade and the fires have covered a larger area this year than in any previous season for as long a time, although very little of the big standing timber has been damaged.