Some 300 firefighters were battling a fast-moving wildfire outside Los Angeles early on Saturday that forced the evacuation of about 300 homes, fire officials said.
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“So, we’re not only dealing with weather, now we’re dealing with having to do our best to provide structure defense in this very steep and rugged area”, said Jonathan Pangburn, a spokesman for Cal Fire.
A force of 900 firefighters were battling the flames in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (41C), with the aid of 28 helicopters and eight fixed-winged aircraft.
With the blaze only 10 per cent contained and temperatures expected to hit 41C (106F), around 300 homes have been evacuated and 10 roads closed for public protection.
On Friday, 70-mph wind gusts in the ridges blew the fire through containment lines crews had worked to build, he said.
The home is in an area among those ordered evacuated because of the wildfire that has blackened more than 31-square miles of brush.
“Because this is the fifth year of an ongoing drought we have a lot dry vegetation”, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby told a news conference, as quoted by Reuters. “It’s doing what it wants”. “At some point, you know you’re defeated and you have to step back and save what you can”.
Smoke drifted into the Los Angeles area, leading to potentially unsafe air quality.
People are advised to avoid vigorous outdoor activity, and children, older adults and those with respiratory or heart disease should remain indoors.
400 animals from a nearby wildlife sanctuary have also been evacuated. Volunteers showed up with trucks and trailers to help with the rescue.
County animal control officials said they rounded up 228 horses, 52 goats, 29 chickens, seven rabbits, five cats and two dogs from the Castaic area. Another shelter was set up today at Hart High School, 24825 North Newhall Ave., in Santa Clarita.
A forest fire burning near Big Sur on California’s scenic Central Coast has nearly doubled in size to almost 3 square miles.
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Jerri Masten-Hansen and her husband said she and her husband watched the fire creep in. “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”.
