New wildfire erupts in Southern California
By Rebecca Cathcart and Solomon Moore Published: November 16, 2008
LOS ANGELES: Firefighters on Sunday picked through the devastation wrought by wildfires in two counties on Sunday while struggling to contain another monstrous fire that erupted suddenly in Orange County Saturday. The flames destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 10,000 people along the southern coast to evacuate.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday declared states of emergency in three counties — Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Barbara — as forecasters predicted that the Santa Ana winds that have fed the fires would die down by Sunday afternoon. The latest front for firefighters was in heavily populated Orange County, where fast-moving flames consumed dozens of homes in Anaheim Hills and other upscale neighborhoods and circled freeways, stranding fleeing motorists.
Firefighters were still trying to beat back ferocious wildfires in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara but were beginning to contain them. In the San Fernando Valley, there was fear that as workers sifted through the rubble of a trailer park that was quickly destroyed, an untold number of bodies might turn up.
Throughout the weekend, the raging fires closed major roads, including parts of Interstate 5, the state’s primary north-south artery, and the 91 and 57 Freeways. Interstate 5 was opened at dusk after being shut down for most of Saturday. Officials also warned residents in the affected areas that their electric power supplies would be threatened.
On Saturday, firefighters made progress against a destructive blaze, known as the Tea fire, that broke out Thursday night in Montecito, an enclave about 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles, when another fire erupted overnight Friday in the Sylmar area of the San Fernando Valley, north of central Los Angeles. That fire destroyed 65 houses and 500 mobile homes, and damaged 100 houses. It had burned 6,500 acres by Saturday afternoon. More than 10,000 people were evacuated from the area.
The third fire began in Corona, about 50 miles inland from Los Angeles, on Saturday afternoon, forcing evacuations in Corona, Yorba Linda and Anaheim.
The Corona blaze, named the Freeway Complex fire, had burned more than 2,000 acres and damaged 94 homes by Saturday night. Ten thousand residents fled the fire, which was being fought by hundreds of firefighters. Several aircraft dropped water and flame retardant throughout the day but stopped at nightfall.
Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion of the Orange County Fire Authority said that the fire was being driven by erratic winds and that it was still out of control Saturday night.
At least 20 people, including firefighters, have been injured in the fires. Santa Barbara officials reported one fatality, a 98-year-old man who died after he was evacuated Friday.
Schwarzenegger, who surveyed the damage in Montecito on Saturday, said that low humidity and high winds, which were forecasted last week, had helped firefighters to anticipate the seasonal blazes and position resources throughout the region.
But by Saturday evening resources were being stretched thin as blazes sprouted from the tall dry brush throughout Southern California. In addition to the three major fires, firefighters also dispatched ground crews and aircraft to a 10-acre fire in Rancho Palos Verdes and a smaller fire in the Brea area, both in Los Angeles County. There was also a small blaze near Escondido, about 30 miles northeast of San Diego, and another fire across the border in Mexico, according to state authorities.
Of the three major fires, firefighters appeared to be gaining the most control of the Montecito fire, which was about 60 percent contained Saturday night, said a spokesman for the Montecito Fire Department, Curtis Vincent. He said firefighters there had benefited from weaker winds on Friday night and Saturday. By nightfall fire officials had lifted an evacuation order for about 2,000 residents.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles said the Sylmar fire appeared to be the worst in years.
“We know we have lost dozens of structures,” Villaraigosa said, speaking loudly to be heard over the swirling wind. “It is certainly more than we have lost over the last decade.”
“These winds are treacherous,” Villaraigosa added. “People really need to understand that because of these winds this fire can be upon you in a moment’s notice.”
Emergency crew members got a demonstration of how dangerous the winds were when, in the middle of the night, a wall of flames surrounded the Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar. Media reports said hospital staff members had worked frantically to remove critically ill patients as smoke seeped into the ventilation systems and backup generators failed.
Firefighters battled the fury firsthand.
Captain Steve Ruda of the Los Angeles Fire Department said that what firefighters faced when they arrived at the Oakridge mobile home park was unbelievable.
“It was a firestorm,” Ruda said. “There were 50-foot-length flames streaking across the mobile home park. Fire hoses were melting into the cement and concrete. That’s how hot it was.”
The mobile home park was sealed off Saturday afternoon, and the smell of gas was strong as firefighters hosed down the debris. Police Chief William Bratton, who toured the site, said road closures made it difficult for firefighters to get to the Sylmar area.
“A significant number of officers were in the San Fernando Valley,” Bratton said. “When we started shutting down highways, fire fighters got gummed up along with everyone else.”
Residents of the mobile home park were gathered a block away Saturday evening hoping to get in to assess the damage.
One resident, Joseph Scottie D’Anna, 90, was waiting with his wife, Betty, 82, and his son.
“The problem is, I have no teeth,” said D’Anna, who shook as he spoke. “I didn’t even get my teeth.”
D’Anna said they did not want to leave.
“Then the fireman said you’ve got to get out,” she said, and gestured to the sweatshirt, leggings and slippers she wore. “We had one second, this is all we took.” They are staying at their son’s house.
Another resident, Oscar Flores, 60, said he and his wife, Espi, 55, evacuated their mobile home in the Oakridge park at 2:30 a.m. Flores said that he had seen his home later in the morning and that it had burned to the ground.
“Everything is ashes,” said Flores, who is retired.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported some power failures. Evacuation centers opened across the county as the fires became more intense.
Heidi Mendez, 32, and her two daughters, Jennifer, 14, and Teresa, 7, were among the evacuees at San Fernando High School. Mendez, who is pregnant, said she had left her home in Sylmar at 2 a.m. when she and her daughters saw the smoke on their street.
“The smoke was so bad, I had to cover my mouth with a wet towel when we left,” Mendez said in Spanish. “I didn’t want to breath it in and hurt my baby.”
But, she said, she had trouble getting any rest at the evacuation center.
“How can you sleep when you don’t know if you’ll have a home tomorrow?”
Randal Archibold, Ana Facio Contreras, Lilly Fowler and Anahad O’Connor contributed reporting.