California Fire Threatens 12,000 Homes North of LA
By Chris Dolmetsch and Ryan Flinn
Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- A wildfire north of Los Angeles threatened more than 12,000 homes and forced the evacuation of more than 4,300 people as hot, dry weather aggravated flames that have already destroyed at least 53 buildings.
A forecast shift in the wind’s direction to southeast from northwest may worsen the blaze, the U.S. National Forest Service said on its Web site today.
“That fire is growing by the moment,” Del Walters, director of the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said in a televised press conference today. “It’s gonna be hot for the next few days. We’ve got some weather coming in, which also contributes, with erratic winds.”
The 121,762-acre Station Fire, the largest of eight burning across the state, has grown from 20,000 acres two days ago, according to the Forest Service.
It was about 5 percent contained as of 4 p.m. Los Angeles time and the Forest Service doesn’t expect it to be under control until Sept. 8. The cause is under investigation.
Flames as high as 80 feet (24 meters) devoured dense, dry vegetation on steep hillsides, some of which haven’t been burned in a fire in four decades.
Phone Towers Threatened
The blaze moved toward suburban homes and Mount Wilson, home of a 105-year-old space observatory and dozens of mobile phone, radio and television transmission towers about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Smoke was visible throughout the city.
Firefighters returned to the Mount Wilson Observatory this morning after withdrawing yesterday and air tankers were flying over the mountain today, said Hal McAlister, the observatory’s Atlanta-based director.
“There is some light rain developing in places in the Los Angeles basin, and there is a possibility for some thunderstorm activity that could lead to dry lightning,” McAlister wrote on the center’s Web site. “The humidity is up and the temperature is a bit lower, so, all in all, things are looking more promising than they have in the last few days.”
American Tower Corp., the second-largest U.S. operator of mobile-phone towers, said the wildfire threatens seven of its sites and could knock out local television to homes that rely on antennas.
Power Loss Possible
“The fires are closely approaching these sites and there’s a threat that the power grids could go out,” said Michael Powell, director of investor relations for the Boston-based company. “If that happens we have back up generators, but only for a period of time.”
Two firefighters were killed after their truck fell off a road on Mount Gleason on Aug. 31, and at least three people have been injured, including residents of Big Tujunga Canyon who were hospitalized for burns after they ignored evacuation orders, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office said in a statement.
A state of emergency has been declared in Los Angeles, Mariposa, Monterey, Placer and San Bernardino counties because of blazes. To assist people who lose documents in the fire, Schwarzenegger yesterday signed an executive order waiving fees for services such as birth certificates and driver licenses.
“We are doing everything that we can in order to help and to save lives, to save property, to save your memories,” Schwarzenegger said in a press conference broadcast live on television today.
Evacuations
The residents of 4,300 homes that have been evacuated because of the fire may not be able to return until after the weekend, which ends with the Labor Day holiday in the U.S., the Forest Service said.
Almost 5,900 firefighters, aided by dozens of bulldozers, helicopters and planes, are battling blazes burning across more than 130,000 acres throughout California, according to the Web site of the state’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
A total of 5,457 fires have burned more than 122,025 acres in areas of California with state and local firefighting responsibility this year, compared with 4,231 blazes and 353,203 acres at this time last year, Schwarzenegger’s office said in a statement yesterday. About 70 homes have been destroyed.
Parts of Acton, a city of some 2,400 people about 47 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, have been evacuated, along with sections of Altadena, Glendale, La Crescenta and La Canada Flintridge. Authorities have set up at least five evacuation centers, along with animal shelters.
Sections of the 650,000-acre Angeles National Forest have been closed, including the Big Tujunga and Arroyo Seco canyons, until the fire is fully contained.
Electricity Cut
The blaze knocked out two high-voltage transmission lines and cut power to hundreds of homes. Two 230-kilovolt transmission lines tripped offline this morning because of the Station Fire, most likely as smoke and particulate matter caused a short, said Gregg Fishman, a spokesman for the California Independent System Operator, which operates the state’s electrical grid.
Edison International’s Southern California Edison, the state’s largest electric utility, said 220 customers were without power in the Monrovia area as a result of the fire.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at [email protected]; Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at [email protected].
Last Updated: September 1, 2009 20:27 EDT
