A raging fire is blazing through Southern California at a rate that firefighters are calling “almost unprecedented.”
And there’s no end in sight, they say.
“This fire, what we’ve seen in 72 hours, is almost unprecedented,” said Los Angeles County Fire Department Battalion Chief Dennis Cross. “We’d have to go back a long way to compare a fire to this. And, we’re not through with this thing yet.”
Since it began Friday, the out-of-control inferno has burned about 10,000 acres a day.
Most of the roughly 20,000 evacuees forced out by a wildfire were cleared to go home, but firefighters still have huge work ahead Tuesday in taming a massive wildfire northwest of Los Angeles.
A week of triple-digit temperatures awaited the 3,000 firefighters battling flames in rugged hills and canyons. Crews working through the night took advantage of cooler temperatures and lighter winds after a day when the fire grew only slightly to about 55 square miles (142.26 sq. kilometers).
Residents of two neighborhoods still under threat had to remain out of their homes, the U.S. Forest Service said.
Eighteen residences have been destroyed in the blaze that started Friday afternoon and quickly tore through drought-ravaged brush that hadn’t burned in decades.
Laurent Lacore was among those who evacuated on Saturday, the last of his family of four to leave as the fire bore down on his house.
“The flames were right behind our backyard,” he said.
Lacore was also among many who were told they could return on Sunday only to learn on arriving at the scene that new winds and new flames meant more days in a hard-to-find hotel room.
He returned Monday night delighted to find the house and everything around it had been saved, and could see a line of red fire retardant nearby where a helicopter had stopped the fire’s approach.
“Everything is fine,” he said. “Even all of the trees are there.”
Firefighters saved about 2,000 homes in the fire’s first three days, Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp said.
Some 300 miles to the northwest a blaze in the scenic Big Sur region of the Central Coast had destroyed 20 homes and threatened 1,650 others as it burned 25 square miles (64.75 sq. kilometers), though firefighters made gains Monday and had it 10 percent contained.
The two blazes sent smoke as far away as Nevada, where officials issued air pollution warnings.
In Santa Clarita, 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, the fire broke out Friday, spreading through rugged mountains before making its way into canyons with sprawling subdivisions.
At the fire’s peak, about 10 percent of Santa Clarita’s 200,000 residents had been ordered out of their homes, before most were allowed to return Monday night.
The fire exploded over the weekend like a “crazy storm,” said Kara Franklin, who said sand driven by heavy winds hit her in the face as she tried to get a horse and donkey into a trailer so she could tow the animals away. From a ridgetop, she saw flames engulf a neighborhood.
“The heat was so intense,” Franklin said Monday.
A house two doors from hers was engulfed, providing a buffer that helped save her house.
Three Forest Service firefighters lost their homes at a remote fire station in the San Gabriel Mountains, including two who were fighting the fire at the time.
Investigators on Monday were trying to determine the cause of death of a man whose body was found in a car in the fire zone Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Fire began Fri PM & felt ash & smoke Saturday AM.
Got better since Sunday AM.
Clear skies Sunday over my area in So CA.
Could see huge smoke billow over mtns leaving work last night PM.
Burned 22K acres to date.
Along Hwy 14, Santa Clarita area.
The Globalist won’t be happy until all our Food Producers, especially Organic, are all burned to the ground!
Do you suppose that after seeing all the devastation caused by fires in the California hills we will start seeing some of Obama’s muslim terrorists that are coming to America pick up on this and begin starting forest fires?
Shhhhh! Don’t give them any ideas.
You don’t need to give them ideas. The Environmentalist are doing the job for them. Did you notice that they said the UNDERBRUSH, well about 20 years ago the Environmentalist said they knew more about the Forest and the Forest Rangers and would not let them trim out the underbrush so now you have these huge fires that consume thousand of acres whereas before it was rare to see a terrible fire as we are having now.
Many thanks to all the Firefighters and Air support for your hard work and long hours fighting this and other fires throughout the State of California! You do a Great Job! Blessings, Bob
California needs to practice responsible forestry. In order to keep a forest healthy the brush and undergrowth needs to be removed regularly. The federal government does controlled burns in our area. The burns remove the fuel from the forest floor and also takes out many of the non-native trees since their bark isn’t able to withstand the fire.
It is also a good idea to have several fire breaks cut through the forest. These breaks provide a way to stop the fire if one starts.
If managed properly a forest will be healthy and provide a home for wildlife for generations to come.
Agreed. Underbrush used to be picked up by poor people in Europe, on nobilitie’s property. No forest fires, free fuel for the poor people.
Residents need to be educated how to help as well. Seen film footage a few years ago when fire by San Diego was so strong the film crew had to flee after just a few seconds. Later film footage show had a SINGLE HOUSE on a street stayed untouched by the fire , while the ENTIRE REST OF HOUSES WERE BURN TO A CRISP.
The owners of the house in perfect condition were asked “What did you do ?” “We did what we were told we SHOULD DO…erect a small wall toward the trees lining our street, get rid of all underbrush, and use FIRE RESISTANT landscaping. We also did what we were told we should do to protect vents on our house – install a fireproof cover on them “…Result – house to move back to while all others who did not do what was suggested unfortunately wound up homeless.
We also saw during the Big Bear fires when firefighter suggested to all owners to HOSE THEIR HOMES that one owner did not bother, saying “I won’t bother, as I am paying for THEM to do it”. His house could not be saved, it was clear, as he did not keep a wet boundary. —Not as easy to do now, as California is in drought condition. But I remember it since, and when we have a high fire condition signs here in Colorado, I water in a very different ways, recycling with a bucket my sink and bath tub/shower water to soak around house.
My compassion to all involved, and do not be bashful about insisting on learning how to help with prevention.
That underbrush also prevents erosion. What I am saying is don’t get to carried away.
Thank you for stating it so well as to the solution of the problems in Fire Control.
The Environmentalist have taken over in California and the major forests.
The dumb-assed yuppies, build larger pipe-lines to send their shit into the ocean. When fecal bacteria shows up, all these asswipe want is larger and longer discharge pipes in the pacific. With proper treatment, the water should be returned to the mountains and foothills to recharge the the ground water system.
yea for the californians, they can float out (maybe surfboard) into the pacific which they just screw up their state.
One hopes when the ‘big one” comes, we can make these idiots a new nation un supported by everyone’s tax dollars!
Nice compassionate post Stephen, it’s rare to see someone so concerned about the wellbeing of his fellow man. My hat is off to you!
please be careful using the term fire resistant, it could mean Asbestos, which has proven to be deadly over the years (on going litigation expected for the next 10-20 years)
one patient who recovered from (asbestos related) Colon Cancer (had surgical removal) killed himself, his wife and mother in law…..he was such a sweet person that twenty years later-I met him once during the appointment-his death still haunts me.
This message is a bit off-topic but still related to this story. There are a large number of convicts working in firefighting crews in many of the western states. The firefighting crew is difficult to join and requires a real effort by the convict. He also has to have a fairly lengthy sentence to justify the training involved. I just thought a few of you Horn readers might want to know this. Hopefully these convict firefighters will use this as a stepping stone to an honest upright life when they are finally released.
Nice post, Arthur. I will keep the convicts in thought and prayers. (I pray daily for the firefighters to keep increasing their handle on the fire, to come home safely and unharmed, and for safety and salvation for the endangered homeowners.)
I’ve been though too many evacuations and feel for the people running from infernos. Most of California homeowners near wildlands and forests use fire resistant building materials and follow fire wise landscaping practices and know basics of what to do before fleeing. Just wanted to add to close all windows, shut fireplace flews, vents and openings into the home. This is to prevent fast moving fire which consumes a ton of oxygen and is constantly reaching for oxygen from literally reaching out a tentacle down the fireplace or through an opening to get to the oxygen inside. I’ve seen fire wise built houses that from outside looked unharmed but inside were destroyed cuz the fire sensed precious oxygen and reached for it. Fires need to consume a ton of oxygen which is why the big ones move so fast and prefer to race uphill and along ridges. It was sad those hikers headed uphill. They might have had a chance if they’d sought low ground. Fire won’t go low if it can go high or stay high. It wants oxygen. You can literally feel the oxygen being sucked out of the air as a big one approaches. Friend of mine who narrowly escaped The Harmony Grove was abruptly awoken from a snooze in his hammock cuz he couldn’t get a breath. It wasn’t smoke. That was visible in the distance and hadn’t reached yet. It was a huge fast moving fire sucking oxygen out of the air miles ahead of it. Barely stuffed his cat in his backpack and grabbed his guitar in time to escape. Anyway, the bigger wildfires get, the faster they move searching for fast food and air …houses are low quality fuel so they will pass up tightly closed fire wise houses surrounded by fire wise defensible space especially when there’s richer fuel to reach for.