Fire personal back away as a flame shoots towards them on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005, in the Chatsworth section of Los Angeles. The blaze, which began midafternoon, hopscotched the 118 Freeway and threatened homes in Box Canyon and a trailer park in another canyon where mandatory evacuations were in place. (AP Photo/Mike Meadows)
Have you seen a map anywhere that shows where the fire are ..?? I've looked every place I know and I can't seem to find any. I have friends and family north of Los Angeles, and I'm concerned where the fire is located.
at 5 pm yesterday, when they turned in their daily info, the fire was 500 acres.
That is an impressive fire.
FRom the LA Daily News
Valley fires continue to burn, spread
Staff and Wire Services
CHATSWORTH _ The wind-whipped Chatsworth Fire doubled in size overnight as it spread toward Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills, where schools are closed and some residents were ordered to evacuate.
Authorities estimated the fire had blackened anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 acres since it started about 2 p.m. Wednesday, near the Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway near Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth. Roughly 1,000 firefighters from agencies throughout Southern California were on the fire line, which stretched across the Los Angeles-Ventura County Line.
A building at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory in the Simi Hills was destroyed by fire, along with at least one home and a detached garage in the Box Canyon area, authorities said. Hundreds of others _ including many million-dollar homes _ were threatened.
The fire threatened canyon homes in Los Angeles, and flames crested a ridge and were creeping west toward a cluster of dwellings in a neighborhood near Thousand Oaks in Ventura County to the west, said Michele Faina, a fire inspector and spokeswoman for the Ventura County Fire Department.
Firefighters planned an all-out assault on the blaze at daybreak using water-dropping helicopters and tanker planes, said Los Angeles Fire Capt. Mark Savage. The biggest concern was that wind-fanned flames would leap over the Hollywood (101) Freeway and roar toward Malibu 10 miles to the south.
Firefighters expected a tough day Thursday, with low humidity, triple-digit temperatures and brisk winds, he said.
``We're going to have our hands full,'' Savage said. ``We need a break in the weather ... The weather today simply isn't good news for us.''
Residents in Bell, Box and Woolsey canyons in the West San Fernando Valley remained under mandatory evacuation orders. Residents in some neighborhoods in Oak Park, Agoura Hills and Thousand Oaks were awakened beginning at 1 a.m. and told to prepare to leave their homes.
Schools in the Las Virgenes and Oak Park Unified School districts were closed today, along with Viewpoint Schools in Calabasas. Chatsworth Park, Justice, and Pomelo Elementary schools and Chatsworth Hills Academy in the Chatsworth area also were closed.
Evacuation centers were set up at Canoga Park High School and Birmingham High in Van Nuys.
``Our house is still OK, but, oh God, it's not a good feeling,'' said Phil Goldenberg, 53, one of a couple dozen evacuees at the Canoga Park gymnasium. Goldenberg said they decided to leave their home in Bell Canyon as a precaution, realizing there is always the threat of fire in his wooded neighborhood.
Trisha Higgins and her 16-year-old son, Jake, fled their Thousand Oaks-area home at 2:30 a.m. after authorities drove up and down their street with lights flashing, ordering evacuations through loudspeakers. They also came to the school gym.
``There was a ridge of flames and everyone seemed to be leaving,'' Higgins said. ``We weren't sure where to go so we wound up here.''
The fires closed the Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway Wednesday afternoon, creating a traffic nightmare for commuters trying to make their way home. While the 118 Freeway was reopened overnight, several access ramps on it and the Ventura (101) Freeway were closed today, and motorists faced a tough morning drive.
Anyone have a live video link to SoCal TV station?
Breaking news: MSM, led by Whoraldo & Shep head for California fires, to dry out from their false hurricane coverage. Or, maybe after what appeared to be drug induced Katrina hysteria, just to dry out, period.
From what I understand, Karl Rove set these to draw attention away from the Tom DeLay scandal.
--gotta burn the brush off so you can have mudslides---
You can see the smoke plume from this satellite pic:
http://sat.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/1km/Oxnard/VIS1LAX.GIF
I expect the federal government will offer to rebuild the burned-out chicken coops.
stupid la mayor is now on the scene...this guy cant help but get media attention...last week he was on the runway to "monitor" the jet blue plane...this guy is camera hungry...
I really like FNC on politics, esp Britt, but when in comes to things geographic or physical sciences they are dense as an anvil. For example the info-babe with a whole new look and some dude (probably Hemmer) were STUNNED that it was dry in SoCal. Dopes. Dopes. Dopes.
Rain in California is very, very seasonal. East coast people think having seasons is about temperature. Anyone that knows anything about California KNOWS that it has seasons also. The dry season and the wet season. Dry season starts late March through early May. It is ALWAYS dry this time of year.
BTTT
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
Is FEMA on the scene? Have troops parachuted into the area. Are they coming out with the $2000 debit cards? Can we see the bodies?
Hundreds Evacuate As Calif. Fire Threatens
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050929/ap_on_re_us/socal_wildfires
LOS ANGELES - A wind-whipped 17,000-acre wildfire raced across hills and canyons along the city's northwestern edge Thursday, threatening homes and forcing hundreds of people to evacuate.
Some 3,000 firefighters aided by aircraft struggled to protect ridgetop houses along the Los Angeles-Ventura county line, a rugged, brushy landscape west of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. Officials said the blaze was 5 percent contained as it burned toward such communities as Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Calabasas and Agoura.
Numerous homes were evacuated in nine areas, and the Red Cross reported 500 people were staying at five of its shelters.
At least one home and five other structures were lost, but 2,000 buildings had been saved by firefighters, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.
"We are guardedly optimistic, if the weather cooperates, if the public cooperates," Yaroslavsky said. "This may end well for all of us, but weather is unpredictable in these parts and everyone needs to be on guard."
Temperatures were in the high 90s and conditions were dry. Some gusts were reported on the fire lines, but there was no reappearance of the strong winds from the interior that fanned a small brush fire into a conflagration on Wednesday.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Historically, some fires in the region have turned and burned through the Santa Monica Mountains to Malibu and the Pacific Ocean.
Authorities said residents took evacuation orders seriously in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"I wasn't going to get stupid about it. There was only one way out, and it was getting real hot," said Jeff Johns, 48.
About 45 evacuees gathered at Canoga Park High School in the San Fernando Valley, where the Red Cross had set up cots and provided meals.
"Our house is still OK, but, oh, God, it's not a good feeling," said Phil Goldenberg, 53, who was at the school's gym with his wife and son.
Another large wildfire in Southern California was 25 percent contained after burning 1,160 acres in Riverside County. No homes were threatened.
So far this year, wildfires have charred 8.16 million acres nationwide, compared with 7.74 million acres by the same time last year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
____
Associated Press Writer Paul Chavez contributed to this report.
They just reported again, after 2 1/2 days of fire, only one single home has been lost.
Great job!
