US & World News

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Strong Santa Ana winds sent two wildfires surging into neighborhoods ringing the San Fernando Valley on Monday, killing a homeless man, destroying homes and triggering frantic evacuations. Another person died in a freeway crash as fire brought traffic to a halt.

In a full-throttle start to the fall fire season, more than 1,000 firefighters and a fleet of water- and retardant-dropping aircraft battled the 4,726-acre Marek Fire at the northeast end of the valley and the 5,000-acre Sesnon Fire in the Porter Ranch area at the west end. Combined, more than 15 square miles were charred.

Another 1,500 acres burned at Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,100 homes at the Marine base and nearby Oceanside.

Firefighters had little to no containment of any of the fires by 9:15 p.m.

Authorities confirmed more than three-dozen mobile homes burned at the Marek Fire, and 19 structures—some of them homes—were either damaged or destroyed by the Sesnon Fire. Commercial sites burned in both fires.

Firefighters were struggling with the resurgent, day-old Marek Fire when a new blaze erupted at midmorning a few miles to the west on Oat Mountain above Porter Ranch and quickly grew as winds blew from the northeast at 35 mph to 45 mph with gusts to 70 mph, spitting embers among homes.

"It is a blowtorch we can't get in front of," said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Frank Garrido.

Fire officials alerted other communities to the west in the Ventura County city of Simi Valley and south to Malibu, 20 miles away, as an ominous plume streamed over neighborhoods and far out to sea. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Winds dropped in the evening but were predicted to roar back to life after 11 p.m., with speeds over 60 mph, officials said.

"This fire has the real potential of moving from where it is now ... as far as Pacific Coast (Highway)," said Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman.

Residents downwind were warned to remain alert into the night.

"It can go from here to the ocean in a matter of two to three hours," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

Residents were not allowed to drive into one of Porter Ranch's gated communities because officials wanted to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. Instead they parked their cars, ran to their homes and carried out whatever they could carry in pillow cases, in their arms, sacks and suitcases. Some ran out clutching paintings.

Freeman warned people not to stay home after evacuation orders had been given.

"In some situations you may not be able to even outrun this fire," Freeman said.

A man was killed in a fiery rear-end collision on the nearby 118 Freeway. California Highway Patrol Officer Leland Tang said traffic stopped because firefighters were going by as fire neared the route. Four vehicles were involved. At some point, motorists stopped on the freeway because of the flames and CHP officers turned them around to use an on-ramp as an exit, said CHP Capt. J.D. Goodwin.

Earlier, a fatality was discovered at the Marek Fire, an area where neighborhoods abut rugged canyonlands below the mountainous Angeles National forest. The victim was a man who appeared to be a transient living with a dog in a makeshift shelter, officials said. Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa said it would take some time to identify the victim.

An estimated 1,200 people were evacuated due to the Marek Fire, which was just 5 percent contained. Authorities said they were not sure how many people were evacauted in the Sesnon Fire.

Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mark Savage said 37 or 38 mobile homes were destroyed by that blaze early Monday. Various industrial sites also burned.

"We could have had an army there and it would not have stopped it," Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Mario Rueda said. "Wind is king here, it's dictating everything we are doing."

Glenn Bell described a chaotic scene at daybreak as hundreds of people tried to escape the Blue Star Mobile Home Park on the edge of the San Gabriel Mountains. He said he and another park resident broke a padlock on an emergency exit gate at the back of the park.

"It was a death trap," said Bell, 50. "If we hadn't broke open that gate, there would be people dead up there."

As he fled with his wife, Jean, and their dog, Clyde, Bell said he looked back to see his home going up in flames.

"We lost 25 years worth of marriage in there," Bell told a reporter at the evacuation center.

As the couple and their dog fled, Bell said, they could hear explosions coming from a nearby industrial yard where scores of diesel rig trucks are stored.

Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, the hospital closest to the Marek Fire, was evacuating five of its most fragile patients to other hospitals. Spokeswoman Carla Nino said those patients, including four newborns, were all on ventilators and were the most difficult to transport. Some other patients were discharged but the hospital decided it was not necessary to evacuate about 180 others.

The dry and warm Santa Ana winds typically blow into Southern California between October and February, priming vegetation for fires by slashing moisture levels.

The Santa Anas originate in the Great Basin. High pressure pushes cool, dry desert air through the Southern California mountains, compressing and heating the air as it descends. As the Santa Anas whistle through canyons and valleys, they pick up speed and can spread fires across parched regions.

Last October, fires fanned by Santa Anas destroyed 2,196 homes and burned a combined 800 square miles in Southern California.

The Marek Fire began early Sunday during the first significant Santa Ana of the season, and about 1,000 firefighters from city, county, state and federal agencies were deployed. The cause was under investigation.
"This is what we feared the most," said Savage. "The winds that were expected, they have arrived."

The blaze died down overnight and containment was estimated as high as 20 percent, but authorities warned it remained a sleeping giant. Fierce winds returned before dawn and sent it raging again.

Flames jumped the Foothill Freeway, which was closed in both directions for about a three-mile stretch in northern Los Angeles between the 118 Freeway and Interstate 5 amid the morning rush hour, officials said.

"That was quite a jump, that's an eight-lane fire break," said fire spokesman Inspector Paul Hartwell.

The eastbound side of the 118 was also closed.

Red Cross spokeswoman Red Godfrey said 500 people registered at
an evacuation center at San Fernando High School and about 80 to 100 were staying there. The Red Cross also opened a second evacuation center at Sylmar High School. Figures for that one were not immediately available.

Residents in Chatsworth, still reeling from a train collision that left 25 dead on Sept. 12, spent a nerve-wracking day watching embers from the Porter Ranch blaze set trees and shrubs on fire.

Vera Cunningham, who lives near where a commuter train crashed head-on into a freight train, said she put important files and some jewelry in her car in case she and her husband needed to evacuate. A neighbor's palm tree burst into flames but they were able to douse it with a garden hose.

"It's been very stressful but all the neighbors have gotten together," Cunningham said. "The smoke is very heavy. ... There's still stuff smoldering."

Most schools in the area were closed Monday.

The wildfire in San Diego County began on an explosives training range at Camp Pendleton. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

Marine Sgt. Darhonda Rodela, a base spokeswoman, said the American Red Cross set up a shelter on the base for families affected by the fire. She did not know how many families were evacuated from a portion of the base's San Luis Rey housing area.

Outside the base, evacuees were being sent to shelters set up at El Camino High School and Oceanside High School, said Jane McVey, a spokeswoman for the city of Oceanside.

Firefighters also contained small blazes near Santa Clarita in northern Los Angeles County, near a Santa Paula oil facility in Ventura County, in Newport Beach and along a freeway in San Bernardino.

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