SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) – A raging wildfire that forced thousands from their homes on the edge of Los Angeles continued to burn Monday as frustrated fire officials said residents reluctant to heed evacuation orders made conditions more risky and destructive for their neighbors.
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At least 18 structures have been destroyed and one damaged in the Angeles National Forest near the Bear Divide and Sand Canyon areas, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
“It’s burning so quickly and so rapidly that our firefighters are getting in and doing a lot of great work, but to get in and do some of that stuff safely is very hard”, said Justin Correll, an engine fire captain in San Bernardino National Forest.
While firefighters and home owners have saved hundreds from devastation.
An “unexpected wind event” forced officials to cancel plans for residents to return to some areas, fire officials said on social media network Twitter on Sunday.
Embers fall from a burning tree in Placerita Canyon at the Sand Fire on Sunday.
A massive wildfire outside the scenic Big Sur region on California’s Central Coast sparked a spot fire, charring another 1,000 acres Monday.
At least 18 dwellings were destroyed over the weekend, and authorities have reported one fatality, an unidentified man found on Saturday evening in a burned-out vehicle parked in the driveway of a home. Police officials are still investigating the death. The most serious fires are burning in the south.
Detectives were trying to determine whether the man was killed by the blaze or another cause.
Firefighters in Los Angeles are battling a 51-square-mile fire that a fire department official called “almost unprecedented”.
Melley reported from Los Angeles.
The fire also burned parts of the Sable Ranch, where many movies and TV shows were shot, reducing film sets to charred piles of burnt wood and metal.
A GoFundMe page has been started to help Toscano, who has a young son who was with his mom at the time.
Helicopters circled the blaze, dousing the flames with water.
So far, 2,964 firefighters were battling the flames.
Fire crews attempted to dig lines to halt the fast-moving fire, but the mountainous area proved problematic, according to Nathan Judy, fire information officer with the Angeles National Forest.
Juliet Kinikin lives with her husband and two children in the Sand Canyon area of Los Angeles County told how the family began to panic as the sky became dark and the flames closed in.
Earlier, Johnson said that at least 140 deputies in Santa Clarita Valley were working on protecting the evacuation areas.
The smoke in Las Vegas is coming from a Southern California blaze more than 200 miles (321.85 kilometers) away in Santa Clarita that has destroyed 18 homes.
When the blaze appeared to die down, she thought the worst was over and returned.
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“It’s like a warzone here, and you can’t stop looking”, said Sarah Vincelli. “I grabbed all the pictures of the kids, and then I took the paintings of my parents that had been done by a local artist”. The evacuation areas include: – All residents in Acton along Agua Dulce Canyon Road north to the 14 Freeway; Crown Valley north to the 14 Freeway; and all of Soledad Canyon and all of Bootlegger Canyon. From a ridgetop, she saw flames engulf a neighborhood.
