Wind Whips Fires In Southern California

1 Killed In San Diego, Houses Burned In Malibu As Santa Ana Winds Drive More Than 6 Fires

(CBS/AP)  More than a half-dozen wildfires driven by powerful Santa Ana winds spread across Southern California on Sunday, killing one person near San Diego and destroying several homes and a church in celebrity-laden Malibu.

No details were immediately available about the death in San Diego County, but four firefighters and four other people were injured and taken to hospitals, said Roxanne Provaznik, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry.

The fire was among at least eight blazes stretching from north of Los Angeles to San Diego, as hot weather and strong winds marked the height of the traditional wildfire season.

The fire responsible for the death and eight injuries burned about 2,500 acres near a highway. A second charred about 3,000 acres in northern San Diego County and was threatening homes near Witch Creek, Provaznik said.

In Malibu, firefighters are battling a blaze so fast, it doubled in size in an hour, so voracious it's consuming everything in its path - tinder-dry mountainsides, million dollar houses, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker.

About 500 firefighters worked to protect about 200 Malibu homes in several upscale communities nestled in the hills, officials said.

As erratic as it is dangerous, this Malibu fire is a wily foe. Traveling on wind-borne embers, it's hop-scotching from hill to house, from here to there on its march to the sea, forcing the closure of famed Pacific Coast Highway, adds Whitaker. Firefighters are besieged.

The blaze, which started in Malibu Canyon, had charred at least 1,000 acres and destroyed a church and several homes, one of them a landmark castle.

TV footage showed several buildings in flames in the area, including clusters of beach-side homes.

"This fire is zero percent contained, which means we're at the mercy of the wind," acting Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich said.

In all, three homes and two commercial buildings had been confirmed lost throughout the Malibu area, Freeman said. Nine more homes were damaged, he said.

The fire is expected to burn for another two to three days, he said. Until the blaze is extinguished, "there will literally be thousands of homes that will be threatened at one time or another," he said.

Fire crews early Sunday found downed power lines, which may have started the fire, Capt. Mike Brown said.

Late Sunday morning, palm trees bent in half and embers were carried through the air as winds gusted to 60 to 65 mph. Thick smoke obscured the sun.

Susan Nuttall sat in her black Mercedes in a cul-de-sac just off the Pacific Coast Highway, saying she had fled her condo just below Pepperdine University.

"We're all scared to death, and we have nowhere to go," said Nuttall, 51, still wearing a bathrobe and holding her Chihuahua.

Flames consumed the landmark Castle Kashan, a stately fortress-like home with turrets and arched windows, as about a dozen residents watched from across a street. Chunks of brick fell from the exterior of the burning building overlooking the coast.

Erratic wind gusts hampered efforts to drop water from aircraft and pushed flames toward HRL Laboratories, a research and engineering facility jointly owned by Boeing Co. and General Motors Corp. about a mile north of Pepperdine. One outbuilding caught fire, Boeing spokeswoman Diana Ball said.

Flames engulfed Malibu Presbyterian Church, which had been evacuated, said youth pastor Eric Smith. "That's the really good news, that everyone's out and safe," Smith said.

Faculty and staff at the 830-acre Pepperdine campus had been urged to evacuate in the morning and students were instructed to gather in the school's cafeteria and basketball arena.

But by early afternoon, the campus was "secure," Freeman said. Flames were no longer visible in the hills around the school and power to the campus had been restored, Pepperdine spokesman Jerry Derloshon said.

About 200 homes had been evacuated in the communities of Malibu Colony, Puerco Canyon, Monte Nido and Sweetwater Canyon, Brown said.

To the north, fire officials were focused on protecting Piru, a Ventura County town of 1,200 people across a small lake from the blaze. A condor preserve was also potentially threatened.

"There could be homes threatened by the end of the day Sunday if the fire continues to push to the south and southwest," U.S. Forest Service spokesman Stanton Florea told KNX radio.

Wildfires had been widely expected in Southern California during the weekend as the Santa Ana winds made their arrival from the desert.

Malibu, home to about 13,000 people, including many celebrities, stretches along 27 miles of Pacific coastline. Last January, a wildfire driven by Santa Ana winds destroyed the home of actress Suzanne Somers and three other multimillion-dollar residences.

The community also is home to about 25 rehabilitation facilities, including Promises Residential Treatment Center, whose guests have included Britney Spears, Ben Affleck, Charlie Sheen, Diana Ross and Matthew Perry.

[sgtrds]

No matter how bad the fires get, if there is anyone from the White House watching, be sure of one thing. Don''t let that lying POS Bush come out here for one of his phony photo ops, pretending he gives a dam*n when everyone knows he could care less beyond how it makes his image look. We don''t want him, we hate him and he is not welcome here!!

[tnt1954]

you''re so right nancy naive. i used to work
at pepperdine university malibu, ca in the mailroom.
i earned a whopping 385 dollars a month.
after taxes i could afford to get to work and
back. in my ford courier, i paid a 200 dollar
a month loan off of. you see bill banowsky the
president is really bill clinton. it was part
of the union plan to foil the confederacy. see
all those people up there then back when it opened
when i started there were from alabama, hump, alabama,
and it was job to go undercover there. they
foiled our plan and furthered the confederacy.
i was almost killed many times by the courtemanche
gang down by rambla pacifica for interfering in
their pirate plans. the brotherhood of the
coast is no joke. and so, i finally was fired,
just for the halibut after many adventures in
1973. and did another investigation on protection
rackets in the security guard business. what
a rip off those guys were. finally reinforcements
arrived from washington, d.c. and we''re a little
bit better off than we were back in 1972.
j.edgar hoover died at the end of that year.
and then came abortion. all those pepperdine
kids up there get stoned and act like playboy
bunnies and penthouse pets. nancy burns
gave me the inside story. had a such great
date with her over the weekend to santa barbara
and back. she married a rich persian prince. take care nancy.
you have a nice group of boutiques.

[rmsdm4]

This happens every year. Give us real news.

[l8c6]

shouldn''''t all you limp wrists leave the gym long enough to put out the fire?


Posted by danlies

What are you saying? Arnold is a girlie man? How dare you? Didn''t you see what a tough man he was at the movie theater?

Hey, america became a hoe house when money is what it increasingly took to get the presidency. Arnold has been trying his best.

[l8c6]

I didn''t realized castles burned so well. Oh wait, this is america where everything is a Hollywood prop good for one generation or less. No worries. Yes, that''s the latest breaking news. Some "castle" in California is on fire.

[l8c6]

snidegrass

Is the crumbling neo con ideology and exposed perversion of evangelical christian hypocrisy causing a rattle in the windmills of your mind?

[tnt1954]

the lassie knoll theory of jfk''s assasination.
that it was the british, because jfk was irish.
that the british are behind this current wave
of unrest throughout the world, known as the
britknee theorem. based on opium trade to
chinese by british east india company. and boxer
rebellion. even empress of china''s daughter
become horrible addict, have to go to asylum
all her life. the cold heart of the british
upon a little isle, no food, its too dank, dark
and in despair, reaching out for food, and to
touch someone, and put the touch on them.
sonny crockett reloads. in miami lice.
or is it miami dice. or miami thrice. or miami
vice. or miami mice. is ed meese still alive
the ghost of ronald reagan wants to know? all
hallows eve approaches. medium? or medium rare.
a seance tonite? w/crystal balls. bunco? or banco.
baccarat was the game in casino royale, not poker.
you creeps messed it up again. silvio dantes
is a natural nine.

[tnt1954]

indians dont'' drink, they have the gene that
causes alcoholism. under the flag of AA and
sober nations they fight there way out of
sicilian noncents. with their winery and finery.
land needed to grow food not wine. look north
to the wine country. as celebrities whine.
cause there is no wine. they tire of the vinyard.
and fighting fires. indians mostly do all the
firefighting. white man too clean for that.
white man nephite, not lamanite. old story
of americas, nephites all slain in book of mormon
for absolute wickedness in the sight of the Lord
God. by lamanites, who were of dark red hue.
recommend chew red man tobacco. or have a cigarette
break. chieves have heap big pow-wow. white
man think he own universe. he sadly mistaken.
most of universe is very dark. no white light
at all. how sad. sniffles. i just go to
santanas'' mexican restauraunt for dea. i say
i get sick. need to get well. they pass inspection
perfectly. now winds calm down. ancient tale
of jesus christ stilling the waves upon the
sea of galilee. we have good chuckle. i buy
a chichimanga and lemonade. it have sugar.
real men drink lemonade without sugar.
i have to eat lemons for water once. yum yum. no sugar. life is a raw lemon. you won''t get an orange
at toyota of lemon.

[patriotic9]

I wish all the people in Malibu all the best, specially my beloved celebrities like Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, etc.

[Krazcarl]

You mistook me for someone who cared as long as there is no loss of life,

[tnt1954]

schwartzy rushes to the scene of the inferno.
calls charleton heston to ''do something''.
he takes a leak, fire is put out.
meanwhile chumash indians doing rain dance get
credit for causing freak snow storm which
suddenly swoops in putting the entire into
global freezing. and captain freeze? but
a witch doctor in africa watching on his global
tv set is the one who gets the real credit.
throws the bones, does special incantation to stop
the conflagration. in reward. michael jackson
awards him the ''neverland'' medal. santa anas and
the alamo. poor davy crockett, and jim bowie.
well colonel travis, it doesn''t look too good.
but things are looking up though, prices especially.
wait''ll they get the bill for this fire. maybe
the fire depts. should go on strike like the
writers guild? and all those overpriced ''actors''.
let people fight their own battles and fires.
the prime directive, non-intervention. must
be their karma? natural law party thinks it is.
let''s see the maharishi meditate his way outta
this one.

[danlies]

Fancy fire trucks, best news coverage vehicles, cal rocks. (so say the geneticly pre-dispositioned.)

[sgtrds]

I see your hair is burnin
Hills are filled with fire
If they say I never loved you
You know they are a liar

[danlies]

shouldn''t all you limp wrists leave the gym long enough to put out the fire?

[tnt1954]

why art linkletter''s daughter was pushed out
the window to her death. she did not jump out.
because her dad made People Are Funny. and the
People who he made fun of, did not think it
was funny at all. he made fun of people in the
himalayas, the hunzas, there was no one he
did not make fun of. and he thought he was so cute
and really a barrel of laughs. silence will
have the last laugh. many people felt art linkletter
was very unfunny. especially bolsheivks. and
then art became beet red. blushed as he flushed.
cooperation not competition. or do you want
fire company three to put out more fires than
other companies, you lard headed lords of losers.
april fool. all fools day coming soon. all souls
day. only a fool believes in god? the bible
says only a fool doesn''t. so take your pick.
and there goes the indian casinos up in flames.
as chief morning star of the apache nation, i
am not responsible for the behavior of my People.
they have overruled me. be careful, stay with
smokey the bear. better smoke the peace pipe
and love that tobacco. bye robbie reiner.
into the ash heap? i advise you to start smoking
again. cause my People are hopping mad.
back to your own country of origin. good luck.

[tnt1954]

great movie by moving movie producers-back from
the future. an agent returns from the future
with Big News, but nobody believes him.
they think he''s crazy, they put him in camarillo
state hospital, but he turns it into channel
islands university, so they can all do ''channeling''.
chanel no. 5 is featured with the group
all or nothing. singing britney boosters and
rita rooters. at the end devika gurumani
a graduate of pepperland univeristy appears
being burned alive on a bunch of logs, in settee,
her husband has died, they suspect her as a black
widow, so she too must die on a large group
of logs. but her brother builds another taj
majal in her honor near where the old corral
saloon used to be in topanga canyon. where
i met danielle, and got to dance with her.
and then home alone to brave the night by myself.
and wonder how long till my own personal Big Sleep.
and would i awake in hell-fire? oh, i hoped
against it.