Firefighters Battle Surging Calif. Fires

Thousands Flee as L.A. Blaze Moves North; 1 Firefighter Injured, 3 Burn Victims Airlifted to Hospitals

(CBS/AP)  Updated 4:55 p.m. Eastern

A growing wildfire in the mountains above Los Angeles surged north Sunday, forcing more evacuations and threatening some 12,000 homes.

Residents of the small town of Acton were ordered to evacuate as the 4-day-old blaze headed into the Antelope Valley. The fire spread in all directions, leaving three people burned, destroying at least three homes and forcing thousands to flee.

"The leading edge, the one they're really focused on, is that northern edge. It's moving pretty fast up in that direction," said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Randi Jorgenson. "But the fire's growing in all directions. All fronts are going to be areas of concern today."

For the third straight day, humidity was very low and temperatures were expected in the high 90s. Some 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze.

Mandatory evacuations were in effect for several communities.

Check KCBS' local coverage of the California wildfires

More than 55 square miles of the western edge of the Angeles National Forest was scorched. The blaze was only 5 percent contained. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

At a news conference at the fire command post, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised firefighters for successfully protecting subdivisions in the foothills. The governor urged residents to get out when told to evacuate.

"There were people that did not listen, and there were three people that got burned and got critically injured because they did not listen," Schwarzenegger said.

The injuries occurred Saturday in the evacuation areas - two in the Big Tujunga Canyon area and one off Highway 2 near Mount Wilson, Jorgenson said. They were airlifted to local hospitals. Jorgenson had no further details on their injuries.

The flames moved swiftly along the slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains despite mild winds blowing predominantly in the other direction. The fire traveled 6 to 8 miles overnight and burned as actively during the night as it does during the day, according to Capt. Mike Dietrich, the incident commander for the Forest Service. Dietrich said he had never seen a fire grow so quickly without powerful Santa Ana winds to push it.

The fire line extended about 19 miles east to west.

At least three homes deep in the Angeles National Forest were confirmed as destroyed, but firefighters were likely to find others, Dietrich said.

Rob Driscoll and his wife, Beth Halaas, said they lost their house in Big Tujunga Canyon, where fire officials said homes were lost or damaged. By Sunday morning they were desperate for more information and came to the command post to get answers.

"Our neighbors sent us photos of all the other houses that are lost," Halaas said, her voice breaking as her young son nestled his sunburned face in her arms. "We've heard as many as 30 houses burned."

Fire officials assured them that their damage assessment teams were working hard to survey the damage.

Driscoll said 15 of his neighbors who live on private property within the forest were still waiting for word on their homes.

At least four evacuation centers were set up at schools and community centers in the area.

The fire, which broke out Wednesday afternoon, was the largest and most dangerous of several burning around southern and central California and in Yosemite National Park.

A massive plume of smoke could be seen for miles and bits of ash descended on cars as far away as downtown Los Angeles. The regional air quality agency issued a smoke advisory, warning all residents who live near the wildfire to remain indoors and avoid strenuous activity. Officials said air quality in the foothill communities around La Canada Flintridge was unhealthy, bordering on hazardous. People with heart or lung conditions, including asthma, were asked to consider leaving the area.

A major goal was to keep the fire from spreading up Mount Wilson, where many of the region's broadcast and communications antennas and the historic Mount Wilson Observatory are located, officials said. Flames were within 2 miles of the towers Sunday, fire officials said.

A second fire in the Angeles National Forest was burning several miles to the east in a canyon above the city of Azusa. The 3.4-square-mile blaze, which started Tuesday afternoon, was 95 percent contained Sunday. No homes were threatened, and full containment was expected by Monday.

[cindicindi17]

Who cares??? The Burkles (Joe and Ron) own most of the property and can well afford to rebuild it with the money they save from not paying ovetime, a decent wage, sick pay (even when they send you home sick) and provide NO right NO health insurance. Let it burna nd let the Burkles pay for the damage and rebuidling. My only concern is the animals trapped at the various ranches and im praying they are safe and sound.

[jaitravel]

Thanks to all the firefighters who are risking their lives these days. You do an amazing job, which would probably be made easier if residents were allowed to water the hills around their homes BEFORE it all starts.
It is so sad for all thise people and animals who are now in danger.

[jaitravel]

I live in a condo complex near the Hollywood Bowl. this is a high fire area. We are not allowed to turn the sprinklers on the hills which surround our 192 units except twice a week during certain hours. We are surrounded by crispy dry hills which come right down to our complex. We have don ebrush clearance. We have contacted Le Bonge & our Governor about a waiver to water during fire danger. No response from either. This is such a danger & we get no response & the fine is a million dollars! We need to protect our homes. Don't the city & state officials get it that a fire in this area would cost them more that the water we would use to protect our hills? There are numerous fires around LA with triple digit temps & we are in serious danger here! The coucilman or governer can't be bothered to respond and give us a waiver to water. I am disgusted with both of them!

[gramto8]

The problem with you turning on your water to water the hills is that water comes from other states. You are already taking more than they can afford and taking more will endanger them to the point of having absolutely NO water. Watering your hillside is not as important as someone else having water to drink.

[ubrew12]

Is there an alternative to watering the hills? Like plowing them and covering with wood chips or something? I'm not being funny, I can appreciate the bind you are in. Certainly, if the risk is high in the nearterm (like there are fires nearby), you should be able to wet down those hills, which would help keep the fire from spreading.

[mljohns00]

These fires are proof that THERE ARE NO "TERRORISTS" in the U.S. All of the money we are spending on anti-terrorism is wasted. If there were any terrorists right now, they'd have bought a bunch of gas cans pre-purchased, waiting for a time like this. When conditions ae obviously prime, they'd start tossing the cans at prime spots across the state.

Remember last year when the fires near San Diego were very close to burning all the way to the ocean? Or five years ago, when there were multiple fires across several states? Officals said that if there was "one more fire, and we won't be able to fight it". A couple of people with a couple of pickup trucks could likely burn down the whole state of California, killing many and destroying whole towns and probably wouldn't even get caught.

[lloydbest1]

"To the north, in the state's coastal midsection, a 9.4-square-mile fire threatening Pinnacles National Monument kept 100 homes under evacuation orders near the Monterey County town of Soledad. The blaze, 60 percent contained, was started by agricultural fireworks used to scare animals away from crops. The fire destroyed one home."

The Pinnacles are just east of Soledad. My wife and I have visited and hiked the trails there numerous times. This is lovely and largely unsettled country and if I could handle the liquid chalk that passes for water in these parts and the slim-to-none job prospects in this region I would move in a New York minute.

The monument is actually an old volcanic plug that was torn in half by the San Andreas fault about 20-odd million years ago. Rainfall averages just over 16 inches per year, about on par with Los Angeles. Though dry, the area is well vegetated with Valley Oak, Interior and Coast Live Oaks dominating the flats and the banks along Chalone Creek. There are some Sycamores and California Buckeye, likely to be leafless by now. Dominating the slopes and the ridge tops are Grey Pine (sometimes called Digger Pine, who knows why), shrub oaks, Silktassels, common Manzanita, Chemise and the Toyon. Starting about early-mid October, the bird watchers among you visiting may be able to catch a glimpse of the huge and endangered California Condor, a scavenger bird whose wingspan can reach 10 feet. Several nest in the park.

Particularly worrisome is the oil content of the pines and some of the shrubs. If fire gets a hold here, pretty much the entire park, less the rock formations themselves will go up like a shingle factory.
Not helping the situation is the heat. Nearby Hollister and King City both spotted temperatures in the 106 to 108 range yesterday and there is every reason to believe the same will occur today. The micro-climate around the pinnacles generally produces daytime maxima of two to five degrees higher yet.

Fire is part of the natural succession, summers here are normally dry anyway. The report of 60 percent containment is certainly encouraging. But the additional stress of a dryer climate zone relentlessly shifting northward and the added heat that almost certainly will accompany this new "normal" will encourage a conflagration of biblical proportions if someone or something does set the spark off.

[ubrew12]

I buried a goldfish in Pinnacles Nat Monument. Don't ask...

[lloydbest1]

^^^^^Yeah, there are some things I am better off not knowing.

[Aldymac]

We get an average of 8 inches of rain per year, we are on the edge of the desert that leads up into the mountains, but they allow controlled burns early in the year. That allows a lot of the brush to be burned under control. Things will get worse now because they brought back Clintons roadless forests act, they won't be able to get equipment into areas when they have a fire now, you would think they want to burn the forests down.

[ubrew12]

Aldymac: I'm not sure what you are talking about. I've backpacked extensively in the Orestimba Wilderness Area north of Pinnacles: its criss-crossed with dirt roads, in fact, they are the primary backpacking trails in that wilderness. They typically run at the crest of ranges because then they double as fire barriers. The entire area, including Pinnacles has roads/fire barriers all over it.

[donnerwetter]

Do they ever learn? Sorry for those who are affected. Now, if the Natioanl Guard were home instead of Iraq and Afganistan, we could use teh Guarrd for what it is supposed to do, help our own people build a defense against wildfires. Did you hear me Pres. Obama??????

[pollroller1]

Those folks are losing everything. I am so sorry.

[yelobrikroad]

I agree. I am sorry too. Why doesn't Obama and Arnold buy about 30 more of those DC-10 firefighting planes rather than spending money on Afghan ammo! THAT would be stimulus for good 'ole California as well as the national good!

[goldiesblue2day4u]

Just last week I was finally able to visit my home town of Altadena after being gone for 30 years. The memories returned in floods of both happiness and sorrow of those days gone by. My childhood home on Concha, Farnsworth Park, the horse ranch & orchard we'd walk thru to Loma Alta. Of course it had changed...but not the mountain. I used to ride my Morgan horse in the fields and hills behind the huge black gates at the top of Lake Street some days, others down & and around JPL. Stopped by for a visit at Zorthians Ranch. (I hope help arrived to get the ranch cleared out safely!) Then on the phone yesterday I heard the shocking news...the fire. My prayers are with you, all of you, to keep your families safe, animals from harms way. The Firefighters are awesome & will do their very best. Would that I were there now I would help in any way possible, but I cannot. Your little town, all the neighborhoods close by are filled with wonderful people. Today you are now one family. Be together, plan together and prepare together. Know now that the hills will be bare for winter...remember Glendora & be ready for the fallout ahead of time. God Bless.

[grover23]

do you know what is going on at Zorthian Ranch? I have spent much time there and have friends there but I can't get in contact with anyone. No news on the net. The place is very special and I am concerned for everyone...

[ubrew12]

What used to be a seasonal summer high pressure zone forming off the CA coast and driving moisture north into Canada is now, thanks to global warming, becoming a permanent feature, leading to a record-breaking Western drought, and associated fires.

[rightbehind]

They need to use some of those stimulus dollars to build sprinkler systems to fight those fires we hear about every year.

[donnerwetter]

We need the stimulus money for bank bailouts and for Wall Street. Why would we use it to help Americans? It is the Governments money. At least that is how they think in DC. If it were not terrible sad, I could laugh at our Gov.

[User_00000000002945496845]

...beside, the wildfires are because of all the homosexuality in California, right?

[jaitravel]

Thank you - or at least let us water our hills during fire season!We have sprinkler systems on our hills around the hollywood bowl but can only water a feew hours on Mon & Thurs! Thanks Arnold & LeBonge.

[User_00000000002945496845]

Sadly, The Terminator-bater is right. You need to do controlled burns whenever the risk is low. Otherwise, you might as well plow, pave-over or agent-orange the entire area, or move.