Spring Break
Winds curb devastating California fires
Justin Pritchard- AP
Issue date: 11/17/08 Section: News
BREA, Calif. (AP) - Calmer wind aided crews battling wildfires Sunday that the Los Angeles mayor said created "devastation I've never seen," destroying hundreds of homes, forcing thousands of residents to flee and blanketing much of the region with choking smoke.
The blazes have blackened more than 34 square miles since Thursday in parts of Los Angeles County, Riverside and Orange counties to the east, and Santa Barbara County to the northwest. More than 800 homes and apartments have been destroyed.
No deaths have been reported, but police brought in trained dogs Sunday morning to search the rubble of a mobile home park where some 500 homes were destroyed. They were focusing on homes with cars still parked in front.
"To this point no human remains have been found," said Deputy Police Chief Michael Moore.
Even areas far from the flames were affected, as poor air quality forced many people to stay indoors. Organizers canceled a marathon in Pasadena in which 8,000 runners had planned to participate.
Sunday's easing of the fierce Santa Ana winds allowed firefighters to set backfires in efforts to block the main fires from advancing into hillside neighborhoods.
The most threatening blaze has charred more than 16 square miles of Orange and Riverside counties since erupting Saturday and shooting through subdivisions entwined with wilderness parklands. By midday Sunday, multimillion-dollar homes were being threatened in Diamond Bar in Los Angeles County as the fire pushed north.
Early Sunday, the wind pushed flames dangerously close to a church and adjacent mobile home park in the Olinda Village area north of Yorba Linda, but firefighters were able to beat it back, and only one mobile home was lost.
"What you see is a devastation I've never seen before," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, promising to do all he can to help residents. "We're going to rebuild, make no mistake about it."
Fire officials estimated that at the peak of the Sylmar fire, 10,000 people were told to leave. However, many evacuation orders were lifted Saturday night, Fire Department spokesman Ron Haralson said. Five looting arrests were reported.
The blazes have blackened more than 34 square miles since Thursday in parts of Los Angeles County, Riverside and Orange counties to the east, and Santa Barbara County to the northwest. More than 800 homes and apartments have been destroyed.
No deaths have been reported, but police brought in trained dogs Sunday morning to search the rubble of a mobile home park where some 500 homes were destroyed. They were focusing on homes with cars still parked in front.
"To this point no human remains have been found," said Deputy Police Chief Michael Moore.
Even areas far from the flames were affected, as poor air quality forced many people to stay indoors. Organizers canceled a marathon in Pasadena in which 8,000 runners had planned to participate.
Sunday's easing of the fierce Santa Ana winds allowed firefighters to set backfires in efforts to block the main fires from advancing into hillside neighborhoods.
The most threatening blaze has charred more than 16 square miles of Orange and Riverside counties since erupting Saturday and shooting through subdivisions entwined with wilderness parklands. By midday Sunday, multimillion-dollar homes were being threatened in Diamond Bar in Los Angeles County as the fire pushed north.
Early Sunday, the wind pushed flames dangerously close to a church and adjacent mobile home park in the Olinda Village area north of Yorba Linda, but firefighters were able to beat it back, and only one mobile home was lost.
"What you see is a devastation I've never seen before," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, promising to do all he can to help residents. "We're going to rebuild, make no mistake about it."
Fire officials estimated that at the peak of the Sylmar fire, 10,000 people were told to leave. However, many evacuation orders were lifted Saturday night, Fire Department spokesman Ron Haralson said. Five looting arrests were reported.
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