Wildfire Doubles in Size Near L.A.

California Wildfires Blaze Threatens Thousands of Homes Communications Complex; Two Firefighters Dead..

by CBS/AP

Published: Mon, August 31, 2009 - 12:49 pm CST Last Updated: Mon, August 31, 2009 - 12:52 pm CST

(CBS/AP)

A massive fire in the Los Angeles area nearly doubled in size overnight, threatening 12,000 homes Monday in a 20-mile-long swath of flame and smoke and surging toward a mountaintop broadcasting complex and historic observatory.

At least 6,600 homes were under mandatory evacuation orders and more than 2,500 firefighters were battling the flames. On the blaze's northwestern front, two firefighters were killed Sunday when their truck drove off the side of a road.

With eight fires burning throughout the state, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for four counties.

Schwarzenegger said Monday in Los Angeles that residents should heed evacuation orders near several large fires in Placer, Monterey, Los Angeles and Mariposa counties.

Check KCBS' local coverage of the California wildfires

The fire had burned at least 18 homes and was moving north, south and east through the rugged foothills northeast of Los Angeles. Despite the lack of wind, it surged without letup by running through steep granite canyons and feeding on brush that had not burned for 40 years, fire officials said.

"It's burning everywhere," U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Dianne Cahir said. "When it gets into canyons that haven't burned in numerous years, it takes off. If you have any insight into the good Lord upstairs, put in a request."

The fire had burned 134 square miles of brush and trees by early Monday and was just 5 per cent contained.

Along with about 12,000 homes, communications and astronomy centres atop Mount Wilson, were threatened by fire.

CBS News correspondent Hattie Kauffman Mount Wilson houses transmitters for 22 television stations along with many radio stations and cell phone providers.

More than 20 helicopters and air tankers were preparing to dump water and retardant over the flames. Two Canadian Super Scoopers, giant craft that can pull thousands of gallons of water from lakes and reservoirs, were expected to join the fight later in the day.

Television stations said if the antennas burn, broadcast signals would be affected but satellite and cable transmissions would not be.

Two giant telescopes and several multimillion-dollar university programs are housed in the century-old Mount Wilson Observatory. The complex of buildings is both a historic landmark and a thriving modern centre for astronomy.

The victims were fire Capt. Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County, and firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 35, of Palmdale. Hall was a 26-year veteran, and Quinones had been a county firefighter for eight years.

"Our hearts are heavy as we are tragically reminded of the sacrifices our firefighters and their families make daily to keep us safe," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a Sunday statement.

The sheer length of the fire meant that it threatened homes ranging from scattered ranches to multimillion-dollar estates in luxury enclaves.

Mandatory evacuations were in effect for neighbourhoods in Glendale, Pasadena and other smoke-choked cities and towns north of Los Angeles.

In La Crescenta, where the San Gabriel Mountains descend steeply to suburban neighbourhoods, streets were nearly deserted Monday morning as smoke rose up some flanks of the towering peaks.

The fire generally appeared to be well up the mountains, but a pall of white haze burned eyes and throats, and some flames could be seen.

Schools were closed and police cars guarded some streets in the city's upper reaches so that only firefighters could get through.

An animal sanctuary called the Roar Foundation Shambala Preserve was in the mandatory evacuation zone, but fire officials decided removing the animals would be "a logistical nightmare," said Chris Gallucci, vice-president of operations.

The fire was the largest of many burning up and down California after days of high temperatures and low humidity. The National Weather Service said a red flag warning for extreme fire conditions remained in effect for the mountains of Central and Southern California.

Another 2,000 homes were threatened in San Bernardino County and a mandatory evacuation was under way in Oak Glen, an unincorporated scenic community of apple orchards near Yucaipa and about 90 miles (145 kilometres) east of downtown Los Angeles.

"We know what's coming this afternoon, just the sheer heat and the low humidity," Bill Peters, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in San Bernardino County, told KTLA-TV.

Some of the brush and trees had not burned for a century, he said.

The blaze was in rolling terrain and steeper foothills.

"The fire makes its own path," Peters said. "It just flows with the terrain. It'll run very quickly uphill and because of the dynamics and the decadent vegetation being so dry, it will drive itself downhill, where normally you need a wind to do that."

Northeast of Sacramento, a fire destroyed 60 structures. The fire had wiped out an entire cul-de-sac, leaving only smouldering ruins, a handful of chimneys and burnt cars.

Hot, dry and windy conditions also helped fan a monthlong wildfire in rural Utah, where residents in the town of New Harmony were told to leave their homes as the blaze flared up over the weekend.

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