The fire that has destroyed at least 18 homes in northern Los Angeles County gained ferocious new power two days after it broke out, sending so much smoke in the air that planes making drops on it had to be grounded for part of the afternoon.
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Sand fire burns Santa Clarita hillsides, prompts evacuationsEvacuations in Acton include homes along Agua Dulce Canyon Road north to the 14 Freeway, Crown Valley north to the 14 Freeway, and all of Soledad Canyon and Bootlegger Canyon, Los Angeles County fire officials said.
A huge wildfire in the Los Angeles area spread another 2,000 acres overnight and appeared to have killed a motorist whose remains were found in a charred vehicle in the fire’s path, officials said on Sunday. John Tripp, incident commander with the LAFD told ABC-7, “That fire came through like a freight train…We’ve never seen a fire come into Sand Canyon like that and neither have those residents”.
Extreme heat and years of ongoing drought, both linked to climate change, are increasing wildfire risk in California and 10 of the state’s 20 largest wildfires on record have all burned in the last 10 years.
The area was among those ordered evacuated as the fire raged through brush withered by days of 100-degree Celsius temperatures as Southern California sweltered through a heatwave.
An “unexpected wind event” forced officials to cancel plans for residents to return to some areas, fire officials said via a Twitter post late on Sunday.
Authorities said the so-called Sand Fire grew from 22,000 acres, or more than 34 square miles (88 square km), a day earlier, fueled by high winds and parched conditions after years of drought. A man’s body was found in a burned sedan in the 26700 block of Iron Canyon Road, which is near one of the neighborhoods where a home had burned.
“My husband’s stubborn as a mule, and he wouldn’t leave”, Wash told KABC-TV.
“Well, you know, you work so hard on a piece of property… but I knew I could get out”. I don’t know if our house is still standing or not. “All we can do is pray”.
The Sand Fire, as it was called, was said to have broken out shortly after 2PM on Friday, spreading near Santa Clarita – around 40 miles northwest of LA.
A number of animals including bengal tigers, mountain lions, horses, goats and rabbits were removed from fire areas.
One of the strike teams deployed is a San Francisco Fire Department team specially trained in protecting structures.
Brock Bradford lives in a historic house in Palo Colorado, one of the evacuated areas, and could see the flames coming down the road as he fled.
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The LA Sand Fire , burning north of Burbank, blanketed Los Angeles in smoke and ash over the weekend and is 10 percent contained.
