California officials say an enormous Southern California wildfire that has required thousands to evacuate was caused by diesel soot.
“They’re almost like a small marble, sometimes larger, and when they land on dry vegetation, they’re extremely hot,” Cal Fire spokesman Fernando Herrera said in a Monday interview with NBC News. “They can ignite any type of fuel.”
The community of Cherry Valley, which sits in Riverside County, has been hit hard by the blaze. It has put hundreds of homes at risk and burned more than 26,000 acres.
Officials have yet to identify the vehicle responsible for the blaze, but they described the expelled soot as being the result of a “vehicle malfunction.”
The fire has been 15% contained. The Forest Service said that the fire could be contained by Aug. 17.
