Passage: "Because of the strong winds, the fire spread north of Mina," the director of Saudi civil defense, General Mohammed ibn Ali al-Sahili, told the official SPA news agency. The fire, sparked by a gas bottle used for cooking, began at 11:45 a.m. (0845 GMT) Tuesday about five kilometers (three miles) north of Mecca, the home of Islam's holiest shrines, witnesses said.
sparked