"Wildfires force frantic evacuations near LA; 2 die" by Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Associated Press Writer | October 13, 2008
LOS ANGELES --Two huge wildfires driven by strong Santa Ana winds burned into neighborhoods near Los Angeles on Monday, forcing frantic evacuations on smoke- and traffic-choked highways, destroying homes and causing at least two deaths.
More than 1,000 firefighters and nine water-dropping aircraft battled the 4,700-acre Marek Fire at the northeast end of the San Fernando Valley, and the 5,000-acre Sesnon Fire at the west end. Winds blew up to 45 mph with gusts reaching 70 mph. Authorities confirmed more than three-dozen mobile homes burned at the Marek Fire and TV news helicopter crews counted about 10 homes destroyed by the Sesnon Fire.
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Both fires also consumed commercial sites. Firefighters were struggling with the resurgent, day-old Marek Fire when the new blaze erupted at midmorning a few miles to the west.
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"It is a blowtorch we can't get in front of," said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Frank Garrido.
Fire officials alerted other communities to the west in the Ventura County city of Simi Valley and south to Malibu, 20 miles away, as an ominous plume streamed over neighborhoods and far out to sea. Residents were not allowed to drive into one of Porter Ranch's gated communities because officials wanted to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. Instead they parked their cars, ran to their homes and carried out whatever they could carry in pillow cases, in their arms, sacks and suitcases. Some ran out clutching paintings.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman warned people not to stay home after evacuation orders had been given. "You may not be able to even outrun this fire," he said.
A man was killed in four-vehicle crash on the nearby 118 Freeway. California Highway Patrol Officer Leland Tang said traffic had stopped because firefighters were going by as fire neared the route. At some point, motorists stopped on the freeway because of the flames and CHP officers turned them around to use an on-ramp as an exit, said CHP Capt. J.D. Goodwin.
Earlier, a fatality was discovered at the Marek Fire, an area where neighborhoods abut rugged canyonlands below the mountainous Angeles National forest. The man appeared to have been a transient living in a makeshift shelter, officials said. About 1,200 people evacuated due to the Marek Fire, which was just 5 percent contained.
"We could have had an army there and it would not have stopped it," Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Mario Rueda said. "Wind is king here, it's dictating everything we are doing."
Mobile home park resident Glenn Bell said he and another park resident broke a padlock on an emergency exit gate to escape at daybreak. "If we hadn't broke open that gate, there would be people dead up there," he said.
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center moved five of its most fragile patients to other hospitals. Spokeswoman Carla Nino said the four newborns and the fifth patient were on ventilators and were the most difficult to transport. Some other patients were discharged but the hospital decided it was not necessary to evacuate about 180 others.
The dry and warm Santa Ana winds typically blow between October and February. As they whistle through Southern California canyons and valleys, they accelerate, drying out vegetation and hastening the spread of any fires that erupt. The South Coast Air Quality Management District advised Monday that air quality may be unhealthful due to the fires and urged people to avoid outdoor activities.
In San Diego County, a wildfire that began on an explosives training range at Camp Pendleton forced the evacuation of a military housing area and 100 nearby homes in Oceanside.
Firefighters also contained smaller blazes elsewhere in southern California. In northern California, a blaze charred more than half of Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, but spared historical structures on the island, including an immigration station that was the first stop for millions of immigrants, mostly from China, in the early 1900s. --more--"
LOS ANGELES - Flames whirled dangerously close to homes yesterday as gusty Santa Ana winds sent the largest of Southern California's wildfires flaring in hilly brushland on the northern edge of Los Angeles and along subdivisions to the west.
Firefighters hosed down houses as helicopters unleashed loads of water on hot spots of the more than 20-square-mile blaze charring slopes above the San Fernando Valley communities of Porter Ranch and Granada Hills. Flames then pushed west to the rolling grasslands of Ventura County and made runs toward Simi Valley neighborhoods of modern homes defended by a broad firebreak, helicopters, airplanes, and ground crews.
The fire is one of three major blazes that have burned more than 34 square miles of Southern California, destroyed dozens of homes, and forced thousands of people to evacuate this week. Fifteen homes and 47 outbuildings were destroyed in the Porter Ranch area, and another six homes were damaged, said Los Angeles County fire inspector Ron Haralson.
Ten miles away, there was major progress against Los Angeles' other big wildfire. A 7.5-square-mile blaze in the northeastern San Fernando Valley was 80 percent contained and some evacuees were allowed to go home. But people who lived in an area where 38 mobile homes were destroyed were not permitted to return.
Teresa Escamilla, 47, lay on a cot in a Red Cross shelter, thinking the worst. She believed she lost everything, including a shoebox containing five years of savings. "It feels like it's not real," the nursing assistant said in Spanish. "It's a nightmare."
On the north coast of San Diego County, a 3,600-acre fire at the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton was 60 percent contained. Evacuation orders were largely lifted for about 2,000 Marine Corps personnel and family members in military housing, as well as residents of about 1,500 homes in neighboring Oceanside. --more--"
