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Calif. wildfire heads north, threatens thousands
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-31 08:09 LOS ANGELES: Wildfire threatened 12,000 suburban homes and rained ash on cars as far away as downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, spreading in all directions in hot, dry conditions. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged those in the fire's path to listen to authorities and get out. Firefighters trained their attention on the blaze's fast-moving northern front as more evacuations were ordered in the Los Angeles suburbs. While thousands have fled, two people who tried to ride out the firestorm in a backyard hot tub were critically burned. The pair in Big Tujunga Canyon, on the southwestern edge of the fire, "completely underestimated the fire" and the hot tub provided "no protection whatsoever," Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Sunday.
The two individuals made their way to firefighters and were airlifted out by a sheriff's rescue helicopter. They received adequate notification to evacuate from deputies but decided to stay, Whitmore said. One of the two was treated and released and the other remained hospitalized in stable condition. A third person was burned Saturday in an evacuation area along Highway 2 near Mount Wilson, officials said. Details of that injury were not immediately known. "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 at a news conference at the fire command post. The blaze was only about 5 percent contained and had scorched 55 square miles in the Angeles National Forest. Mandatory evacuations were in effect for neighborhoods in Glendale, Pasadena and other cities and towns north of Los Angeles. Officials said air quality in parts of the foothills bordered on hazardous. At least three homes deep in the Angeles National Forest were confirmed destroyed, but firefighters were likely to find others, Dietrich said. Firefighters hoped to keep the blaze from spreading up Mount Wilson, where many of the region's broadcast and communications antennas and a historic observatory are located. Flames were within two miles of the towers Sunday, fire officials said. 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 also in effect for neighborhoods in Altadena and for the communities of Acton, La Crescenta and Big Tujunga Canyon. The fire traveled six to eight miles overnight, burning as actively during the night as it did during the day, said Forest Service Capt. Mike Dietrich. Dietrich said he had never seen a fire grow so quickly without powerful Santa Ana winds to push it.
At the fire command post, Schwarzenegger praised firefighters for successfully protecting subdivisions in the foothills. Rob Driscoll and his wife, Beth Halaas, said they lost their house in Big Tujunga Canyon. By Sunday morning they were desperate for more information and came to the command post to get answers. |
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