A US Forest Service spokeswoman said Thursday that a massive fire that has charred nearly 60,000 hectares in Southern California and destroyed dozens of homes north of Los Angeles was caused by arson.

Spokeswoman Rita Wears added that a homicide investigation has been initiated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department into the deaths of two firefighters as a result of the fire. The firefighters died Sunday in a vehicle crash while trying to escape fast-moving flames.

On Thursday, the fire that has been burning for more than a week was at 38 percent containment. Progress has been made, particularly on the west side of the fire, but the blaze was still producing hot spots, including one that forced the evacuation of 25 residents early Thursday, fire officials said.

At about 4 a.m., families in 11 homes were awakened and given three hours to leave their homes near the Dillon Divide community.

Since the fire began on August 26, residents have fled from 10,000 homes along the edge of the Angeles Forest. The majority of evacuees, however, were allowed back into their homes by Wednesday.

US Forest Service Fire Chief Mike Dietrich said, “We’re fighting for every foot of containment we can get on this fire.”

(via CNN)