A California wildfire that has destroyed more than a dozen homes is forcing thousands of residents to flee as flames rage for a fourth day through drought-parched canyons and foothills north of Los Angeles, officials said on Monday. The Mercury News reports that fire has knocked out power to more than 1,000 people, and Cal Fire, the statewide agency responsible for coordinating wild land firefighting efforts, says the blaze is not contained and hundreds of residents in Monterey County have been evacuated.
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Three of the scorched homes belonged to firefighters.
The Sand Fire’s been burning for days and sent black smoke over Los Angeles. Government officials had originally planned to allow residents to re-enter their homes over the weekend, but shifting winds caused the fire to grow faster than expected.
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.
The fire started Friday afternoon, according to Eric Holthaus writing for the Pacific Standard, in a patch of brush alongside Highway 14 in Santa Clarita. The cause of death will be determined by an autopsy. Productions that used the ranch included “The A Team”, “Invisible Man” starring Chevy Chase, “Terror From Above” and “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”, according to the ranch website.
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 auto parked in the driveway of a home. “So they shoot that up into an area that is strategic”, Chris Reade of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
“We are in July”, he said.
Authorities say a wildfire outside the scenic Big Sur region on California’s Central Coast has destroyed 20 homes, up from six. Unexpected winds on Sunday reenergized the blaze and stirred up fire tornadoes that jumped across the area.
“I’m still at work and trying to get a hold of this fire, trying to protect the other structures that are around the area”, Toscano told the television station Sunday.
A GoFundMe account was set up to support Toscano, a Marine veteran, who will share the donations with two other firefighters who lost their homes.
A helicopter makes a water drop. An area downwind from the fire is considered to be in danger.
The vegetation – dry from the years-long drought – fueled the fire, whose flames whipped 20 to 50 feet high and seemed to jump ahead by a quarter mile at a time, officials said.
The fire has been declared a level 3, on a scale of 5, on the National Preparedness Level, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Juliet Kinikin said Sunday that there was panic as the sky became dark with smoke and flames moved closer to her home a day earlier in the Sand Canyon area. As of 11:00 pm local time Sunday, the fire was 10 percent contained, but spreading in several different directions owing to variable winds.
Osby re-stated his appeal for residents affected by the blaze to heed mandatory evacuation orders for their own safety – and for the protection of public safety personnel.
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“It’s extremely important that when we ask for evacuations that citizens get their animals and their loved ones out promptly”, Osby said. “What should you take, what can’t you live without?”
