Los Angeles News

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― Firefighters managed to fully contain the 235-acre blaze licking at ocean-view estates in Rancho Palos Verdes Saturday, while another wildfire raged through a dry forest over the foothill suburbs. 

Thick smoke was making it difficult for water-dropping aircraft to fly close enough to the raging Station Fire, which has already scorched 7,000 acres in the San Gabriel Mountains and knocked out power to more than 160 homes, fire officials said.

A mandatory evacuation notice was ordered early Saturday for 150 homes near the fire above La Canada Flintridge in the Angeles National Forest. It is five percent contained. Those areas affected include Angeles Crest Highway north of Starlight Crest, Green Ridge area as well as Forest Green and the Bay Tree areas.

Hours later, power had gone out to at least 164 houses situated near the La Canada Country Club and the City of La Canada Flintridge said that Southern California Edison crews couldn't enter the area because of the risk. 

Residents nervously watched aircraft drop loads of water and retardant on nearby blazing slopes.

Four blazes burning in the region prompted Gov. Schwarzenegger to issue a state of emergency for Los Angeles County.

As many as 1,500 people had been ordered to leave the wealthy seaside community of Rancho Palos Verdes overnight, while residents of about 873 homes were ordered to leave La Cañada Flintridge.

The dramatic success of an overnight air and ground battle against a swift-moving blaze on the Palos Verdes Peninsula was tempered by the threat from an out-of-control fire on the opposite side of Los Angeles in the steep San Gabriel Mountains above the city of La Cañada Flintridge.

A lack of wind let the helicopters operate in the canyons, Los Angeles County fire Inspector Steve Zermeno said.

"When the wind starts blowing through there, it picks up a lot of speed," he said. "Any gust of wind can blow them off course or cause them to lose control."

The fire in Angeles National Forest was among the most dangerous in a siege of wildfires charring thousands of acres of brush from Southern California north to the central coast region and east to the Sierra Nevada. Triple-digit heat and very low humidity made many areas ripe for burning.

The Station fire began to kick up late Thursday afternoon, a day after it began in the Angeles National Forest, and flames moved slowly down the slopes of the San Gabriels.

By noon Saturday, the Station fire spread to 7,000 acres and was five percent contained. Approximately 750 firefighters were battling this one blaze. One firefighter was reported injured

The fire jumped a highway overnight and moved near homes, said Jennifer Sanchez, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.

Because of the fire's rapid growth, officials have decided to order the closure of Big Tujunga and Arroyo Seco Canyons until the fire is fully contained. (People with special-use permits are exempt.)

Zermeno said the fire was being fought mainly from the air because the terrain was too steep for firefighters to reach it easily.

Still air meant the fire was growing slowly rather than being pushed, but "we'll see if nature is still on our side" as time goes on, Zermeno said.

The fire above La Cañada Flintridge was moving eastward and residents of adjacent Altadena were likely to see flames, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Stanton Florea. A major goal was to keep the fire from spreading up Mount Wilson, where many of the region's broadcast and communications antennas and the historic Mount Wilson Observatory are located, Florea said.

"We've had some success but unfortunately not enough to say we have any containment," Florea said.

The Rancho Palos Verdes fire erupted late Thursday and damaged at least one outbuilding, but crews managed to fully contain the blaze by 1 p.m. Saturday, Capt. Mike Brown said.

The wealthy communities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula south of Los Angeles are in an area known for horse trails, spectacular Pacific Ocean views, pricey real estate and exclusive golf clubs, including the Trump National Golf Club owned by Donald Trump.

Evacuation orders for the area were lifted, but some streets remained closed.

The National Weather Service predicted a third day of red flag conditions of extreme fire danger for many of California's central and southern mountain ranges because of because of low humidity and triple-digit heat that sapped moisture from grass and brush.

To the east, another fire in the San Gabriel Mountains was 85 percent contained as of noon Saturday after burning across more than 2,200 acres.

More than 1,600 firefighters working in 102-degree heat, aided by bulldozers and a fleet of water- and fire retardant-dropping aircraft, battled the blaze above the city of Azusa.

The fire, believed caused by human action, began Tuesday near a dam and reservoir in San Gabriel Canyon. By Saturday, 2,200 acres had been scorched, but the Morris Fire was at 85 percent containment.

To the east, in the San Bernardino National Forest in Riverside County, another fire had blackened about 2,200 acres by Friday afternoon and prompted authorities to issue a voluntary evacuation of homes in Valle Vista, an area near Hemet, said Forest Service fire spokeswoman Anabele Cornejo. Those orders were lifted 8 a.m. Saturday.

The Cottonwood Fire, burning on both sides of the 74 freeway, was 10 percent contained as of Saturday morning. Officials say 300 personnel are fighting this blaze.

Temperatures reached 108 degrees in the region hampering firefighter efforts.
 
No containment date has been set. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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