The new fire broke out at 2 PM on the north side of the coastal, mostly undeveloped Vandenberg Air Force Base is unrelated to the older, larger fire that's on the south side, base officials said.
The new blaze, which had grown to at least 100 acres, brought the evacuation of administrative buildings, but was not yet a threat to any of the housing or key facilities on the base.
A preliminary report says a downed powerline sparked it. Resources were being diverted from the earlier fire that broke out over the weekend in a remote canyon and forced the postponement of a satellite launch.
It was 70 per cent contained and had burned about 49 square kilometers of rugged land.
A firefighter died on Wednesday and another was hurt when the water truck they were in overturned on a highway outside the city of Lompoc, miles from the fire lines.
The two fires forced the cancellation of an exotic car show on the base planned for the coming weekend.
Vandenberg encompasses nearly 405 square kilometers along the Pacific Ocean.
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