Posted on 09/29/2005 8:19:10 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES - A wind-whipped brush fire quickly tripled in size early Thursday to more than 9,300 acres, destroying at least one home and prompting evacuations as a ridge of flames was visible for miles.
The blaze burned to the edge of a number of multimillion-dollar homes that abut rural, picturesque hillsides in the San Fernando Valley. Homes in several communities in Los Angeles and Ventura counties were evacuated, but officials did not release an exact number.
"Our house is still OK, but oh, God, it's not a good feeling," said Phil Goldenberg, 53, who was at an evacuation shelter at Canoga Park High School with his wife and son.
Late Wednesday night, bright red flames 10 to 15 feet high stretched several miles across much of the western edge of the valley.
"It's pretty hard to deal with when it's dry brush and dry fuel. There's not a lot you can do to stop it," said Paul Shakstad of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Fire officials confirmed that one home had been destroyed, although two structures that appeared to be homes could be seen burning in a news broadcast.
Past wildfires fanned by Santa Ana winds have roared south to Malibu, the celebrity-packed community about 10 miles away, and that's one of the biggest fears firefighters have with this blaze, Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Mark Savage said.
Authorities planned an all-out assault against the fire at daybreak using water dropping helicopters and tanker planes, he said. No evacuations were reported at Malibu.
More than 700 firefighters were on the scene, fire spokesman Ron Haralson said earlier. One firefighter was struck on the head by a 40-pound boulder and was taken to a hospital, officials said.
The fire was only 5 percent contained early Thursday, authorities said.
A blaze in Riverside County, meanwhile, spread over 1,330 acres between the cities of Redlands and Moreno Valley, about 70 miles east of Los Angeles. That fire destroyed three chicken coops at a ranch believed to have housed 70,000 to 90,000 chickens.
So far this year, wildfires have charred 8.16 million acres nationwide, compared with 7.74 million acres at the same time last year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
___
On the Net:
National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov
Thanks BG.
We may smell some of the smoke from SoCal here in the bay
Area after looking at ome of the satellite maps.
I got to go plumbing,, not mine , my ma-in-laws,, (well her washer's hose and faucet anyway) :)
BBL.
BTTT
I did get my answer .. but thanks for that map .. that is very interesting.
Bunch of them work here. Thought we were going to have to have a company slumber party last night. Some took as long as three hours to get home.
It was a good one, though. Villerosa shows up in Moorpark, deep in red county country, next to the Reagan library, and he might feel... well... unwelcomed.
Mayor Villaracista didnt have any facts last night....
He is an expert in East LA...not white LA.
Heh.
I sorta wish I would've seen that press conference. Sort of.
Are the fires out in TX and LA? Can we get our guys back now?
Wood Ranch school now being evacuated according to my son's bus driver.
Here are the areas under mandatory evacuations because of the fire: Northeast Oak Park, Agoura Hills, Woolsey Canyon trailer park, and Bell and Box Canyon. For residents north of the 101 Freeway, east of Kanan and west of Chesebro.
An evacuation center has been set up at the Thousand Oaks Community Center. That center is located at the corner of Dover and Hendrix in Thousand Oaks.
In Ventura County, there is also an evacuation center at the northeast end of Oak Park. That's between Deerhill and Blackborne Roads, and Alexander court.
LOCATION OF EVACUATIONS CENTERS
Thousand Oaks Community Center
2525 Moorpark Rd
Thousand Oaks
Canoga Park Senior High School 6850 Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Canoga Park
Rancho Santa Susana Community Park
5005 East Los Angeles Ave. Simi Valley
Mason Rec. Center
10400 Mason Ave.
Chatsworth
For Large Animals:
Pierce College
6201 Winnetka Ave.
Woodland Hills.
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Las Virgenes School District
Oak Park School District
Viewpoint School in Calabasas
LAUSD:
Chatsworth Park Elementary
Justice Elementary
Pomelo Drive Elementary
Simi Valley:
Katherine Elementary
Knolls Elementary
Montessori School of Agoura
Chatsworth Hills Academy
Chime Charter Middle School, Chatsworth
Comin' over the hills to the south. You can see it pouring over the mountain.
The original Blithering idiot.
Bush is acting like Bull Connor on your aid package.
Bookmark
Bush hates California white people. I don't want to see dime of federal monies spent rebuilding these burnt out areas. What kind of idiots would rebuild in a tinderbox. These people must all be sinners to be suffering God's wrath so, after all, he is sending fires to purge them from the land. /end of parody statements
Get it RIGHT next time!
;)
Hey ZGuy,
How's Simi doing now? I have a dozen relatives that live there.
If it burned the 100+ miles from Chatsworth to Santa Maria, that would be really bad news. I figure SM is at least a day or two from mandatory evacuations
So far as I recall, the Los Angeles firemen in LA and TX are mostly search and rescue folks who are usually out of town for some disaster or another, as well as command staff for swiftwater rescue. Neither group would make much difference fighting fires.
Did our contract end for the super scooper or are they being held in reserve for some other fire?
CA: Wildfire Devours 17,000 Acres Near L.A. .. burns along outskirts of Los Angeles
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1493760/posts?page=1
If you could freepmail me their addresses I could tell you exactly what their situation is. In general, the only structures in danger now are those at the extreme south edges of town. Wood Ranch Elementary school has now been evacuated. If they live in Wood Ranch they may have a bit of an adventure on their hands. If they live anywhere else they shouldn't be in any danger. They're just like the rest of us -- watching the flames and smoke hour by hour. The freeways are all open right now, but that is always subject to change.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.