Posted on 09/29/2005 1:36:47 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES - A wind-whipped wildfire grew rapidly along the city's northwestern edge Thursday, threatening hundreds of homes and forcing evacuations as firefighters worked under hot, dry conditions.
Winds that had spread flames a day earlier were calmer, but the fire turned out to be far larger than originally thought. Firefighters increased their estimates of the wildfire's size to around 17,000 acres after daylight surveys, more than double the early morning figure of 7,000 acres, said Fire Capt. Carlos Calvillo.
More than 1,000 firefighters worked against the tricky combination of dry brush, low humidity and temperatures in the high 90s along the line that divides Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
"We are not going to stop this fire until we get a break in the weather," Fire Capt. Mark Savage said.
Shelters were opened in both counties, and many residents responded quickly to evacuation orders.
"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.
The blaze destroyed a home and a detached garage and was threatening numerous other canyon homes in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, officials said.
A building at a lab that designed rocket engines during the Cold War was also destroyed. Firefighters said they didn't know what was inside the structure.
One firefighter was struck on the head by a 40-pound boulder and was taken to a hospital, officials said.
Firefighters feared the blaze would spread to Malibu, the celebrity-packed community about 10 miles away, as other fires fanned by Santa Ana winds have in the past.
Firefighters did not know what started the blaze Wednesday.
A blaze in Riverside County, meanwhile, spread over 1,160 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 house 70,000 to 90,000 chickens.
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.
___
On the Net:
Fire center: http://www.nifc.gov
A helicopter drops fire retardant on hillsides Thursday morning, Sept. 29, 2005, in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles. Wind-driven brush fires are ringing huge areas of Southern California. Thousands of acres across four counties have been scorched. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Bush's fault for diverting rain from California to the Halliburton hurricane machine. /sarcasm
Been raining ash here in Thousand Oaks since lastnight. Smoke has let up a little but it is still bad.
I had ash raining on my property last fire season. The dogs still come in from their walks covered in gray. It's awful. And that's after this past winter of rain.
http://www.kcal.com/
KCAL 9
Click on Live Webcast: Fire Watch Coverage
top center of page under FiRe Watch image
wow, that looks like judgement day and days to come on this planet.
looks like judgement day
which begs the question..
Where is the Gubinator?
God doesn't like Hollywood...
wishful thinking, too far away. Lived in the Woodland Hills area for a few years some 20 years ago, have friends who have left the Chatworth/Aguroa Hills area due to fires Onely one home destroyed as of 2:30PM,PST
alot of actors live in the San Fernando Valley canyons. Calabasas has that Retired Actors home. It's pretty hot in Orange County, bet it's even hotter.
Aside from the little joke dragon...that is one helluva scary photo.
I'm not sure where the original photo is from, but from the looks of it it's a recent SoCal fire.
John Gibson on Fox's Big Story, had a woman on who had to evacuate her home. She was describing the fire and said that the air drops of fire retardant are being almost exclusiuvely used in the Bell Canyon area where there are homes that cost 10 million and up, and that the area she lives in is being ignored from the air.
I know this is a serious subject, but I have to say it:
LOL! Trogdor! I see the burniator is certainly busy today!
Now back to the seriousness of fighting a serious urban interface wildfire.
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.
Maybe because the most intense flames today were in Bell Canyon, and they didn't want the fire to spread? I saw (on TV) red fire retardant dropped in Simi Valley, but most of the TV coverage today was Bell Canyon because it looked most dramatic.
Lots of people had to evacuate as a safety precaution, but the flames weren't necessarily about to consume those houses. Maybe the perspective is harder to see for someone who must be evacuated.
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.