LOS ANGELES, Apr. 12, 2007 - Fires erupted in the hills above Los Angeles, damaging or destroying several homes, and in high desert brush Thursday as dangerous north winds swept dry Southern California, knocking out power to thousands and triggering a fatal highway pileup in a blinding sandstorm. About 150 firefighters and water-dropping helicopters battled a 15-acre blaze in grass in the hilly Beverly Glen area above the city of Beverly Hills, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers. With windspeeds upward of 50 mph, fires erupted on the roofs of homes and several were damaged or destroyed but...