Flames near fire station

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Standing outside a nearly empty Avalon City Hall about 8 p.m., his hands on his hips, Joe Voci, 85, a resident of Avalon since 1956, shook his head in dismay, muttering, ‘The biggest mistake the Catalina Conservancy ever made was getting rid of those goats -- the goats kept the darn brush down.’

About 8:10 p.m., 30- to 40-foot-high wind-whipped flames could be seen about an eighth of a mile from the entrance of the Avalon fire station at the base of the foothills as a water-dropping helicopter whirled overhead.

-Louis Sahagun in Avalon