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WORLD> America
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Wildfires force frantic evacuations near LA; 2 die
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-14 10:06 Mobile home park resident Glenn Bell said he and another park resident broke a padlock on an emergency exit gate to escape at daybreak. "If we hadn't broke open that gate, there would be people dead up there," he said.
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center moved five of its most fragile patients to other hospitals. Spokeswoman Carla Nino said the four newborns and the fifth patient were on ventilators and were the most difficult to transport. Some other patients were discharged but the hospital decided it was not necessary to evacuate about 180 others. The dry and warm Santa Ana winds typically blow between October and February. As they whistle through Southern California canyons and valleys, they accelerate, drying out vegetation and hastening the spread of any fires that erupt. "This is what we feared the most," Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mark Savage said. "The winds that were expected, they have arrived." The South Coast Air Quality Management District advised Monday that air quality may be unhealthful due to the fires and urged people to avoid outdoor activities.The Red Cross said about 500 people registered at an evacuation center at San Fernando High School. Agency spokesman Nick Samaniego said some evacuees had seen news footage of their homes burning. "You can imagine, it's a devastating situation," he said. "A lot of people on pins and needles waiting to hear news about their communities." Most schools in the area were closed Monday. In northern California, a blaze charred more than half of San Francisco Bay's largest island but spared scores of historical structures, including an immigration station that was the first stop for millions of immigrants, mostly from China, in the early 1900s. The Angel Island wildfire was about 75 percent contained. |
