A fast-moving fire in a residential neighborhood in Pomona injured one firefighter and destroyed four homes, Los Angeles County fire officials said Saturday.
About 150 fire personnel battled the flames, which began just after 5 p.m. in a shed behind an apartment building on Gordon Street in Pomona. After igniting an oak tree and a palm tree, the blaze destroyed the apartment and then spread quickly through the neighborhood as wind carried embers for more than a block. The flames damaged eight additional homes, a detached garage and a few cars.
County fire inspector Frank Garrido said the flames were fueled by trees and vegetation around the houses. “There is thick, heavy dense growth in the backyards,” Garrido said.
A firecaptain suffered a back injury and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Neighbors reported that illegal fireworks might have sparked the blaze, but Garrido said investigators have ruled that out as a possible cause.
--Anna Gorman
Beginning Sunday, the fire danger level in the Angeles National Forest will be raised from “high" to "very high,” authorities said today.
The change comes as summer weather continues to dry out vegetation and the region experiences an increase in fire activity,” said Stanton Florea, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.
“Grasses growing below 4,500 feet elevation have cured and are especially prone to fire,” Florea said in a statement.
[Updated at 9 a.m.: Police and fire officials are investigating
an indoor growing operation found inside a downtown L.A. commercial building
that was engulfed in flames.
After the fire was extinguished by
firefighters, investigators discovered growing equipment inside, said police
spokesman Richard French. What was being grown though is not yet known, he
said.
Fire department spokesman Erik Scott said it
was a possible illegal operation.]
Firefighters knocked down a structure fire this morning in downtown Los Angeles that engulfed a one-story commercial building.
Several Los Angeles Fire Department trucks were called to the scene in the 600 block of South Santa Fe Avenue at 6:40 a.m., department spokesman Erik Scott said.
It took 75 firefighters 37 minutes to extinguish the blaze, Scott said.
No injuries were reported, and the cause was under investigation.
-- Raja Abdulrahim
Photo: Los Angeles city firefighters extinguish an early-morning fire in an industrial building in downtown L.A. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times >>More photos
Firefighters continued efforts this morning to stamp out a slow-moving brush fire near the Sepulveda Pass that burned 80 acres and forced evacuations from the Getty Center and Mt. St. Mary's College. The fire was 90% contained this morning.
Sepulveda Boulevard remained closed between Mulholland Drive and Sunset Boulevard, said Erik Scott, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. At least two freeway off-ramps -- Getty Center Drive and Skirball Center Drive --on the northbound 405 Freeway also remained closed.
No structures were threatened, Scott said, but the Los Angeles Police Department issued voluntary evacuations for surrounding homes. The fire broke out about 12:44 p.m. Wednesday in the 1200 block of Getty Center Drive, where flames gradually moved up canyon walls and into the hillsides.
The fire appeared to have been sparked accidentally during a midday weed-abatement program, fire authorities said.
As a precaution, Getty museum officials evacuated 1,600 visitors and 800 employees, said Getty spokesman Ron Hartwig.
About 75 attendees of an eight-day national conference were evacuated from nearby Mt. St. Mary’s College.
Fire authorities did not know when the fire would be fully contained.
At one point, about 350 city and county firefighters as well as helicopters were attacking the fire by ground and air.
“Firefighters are there right now, trying to create a barrier,” Scott said.
-- Ruben Vives
Photo: Hilltops charred by fire overlook the 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass near the Getty Center. The fire, which started Wednesday afternoon, burned 80 acres and forced evacuations from the Getty and Mount St. Mary's College. It was 90% contained by Thursday morning, though Getty Center Drive remained closed. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) >>More photos
This morning, Cal Fire and Riverside County firefighters fully contained a 270-acre brush fire in Cabazon.
The Elm Fire, named after a nearby street, was doused by 8 a.m. The blaze erupted Tuesday afternoon when a 23-year-old Beaumont man laid down his motorcycle on dry brush and the exhaust set off flames, said Jody Hagemann, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Fire Department.
Gusty winds helped spread the flames, while the man, whose name was not released, ran to a nearby home for help, she said. Firefighters responded to the blaze at about 3:19 p.m. south of Ida Avenue and Elm Street.
“The area is sparsely populated,” Hagemann said.
No evacuations were issued.
About 12 fire crews consisting of 265 firefighters helped battle the blaze. Assisting in the attack from the air were six helicopters and four air tankers, Hagemann said.
Fire investigators have cited the man for a misdemeanor violation of causing a fire by a negligent action, Hagemann said. Riding motorcycles in the wildland area is illegal, officials said. Fire investigators impounded the man's motorcycle and said they would seek to recover costs of fighting the fire from the cyclist, Hagemann said.
A brush fire that burned more than 30 acres of Angeles National Forest today was 60% contained this afternoon and appeared heading toward full containment by later this evening, authorities said.
About 300 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service and Los Angeles city and county fire departments battled the blaze that broke out near 13000 Little Tujunga Canyon Road about 1:45 p.m., said Angeles National Forest spokeswoman Dee Dechert.
“We’re moving in the right direction. We will have crew on scene through the night, and we’re cautiously optimistic," Dechert said. "Unless the winds pick up, we should be picking this one up soon, I’d say within the day.”
Smoke could be seen from "quite a distance," she said.
The fire is in the same vicinity of last year’s Marek fire, Angeles National Forest spokeswoman Sherry Rollman said.
“Right now it’s up on the ridge, burning east,” she said.
Four air tankers were on the scene, with more expected. No structures were threatened, and no injuries were reported.
Firefighters quickly knocked down a small brush fire in Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium today, authorities said.
The fire broke out about noon near the Los Angeles Police Academy and burned about five acres of medium to light brush, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.
It took more than 70 firefighters and three water-dropping helicopters less than 45 minutes to put out the flames.
No structures were threatened, and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was under investigation, Humphrey said.
[Updated at 11:24 a.m.: Riverside County Fire Department officials said the De Luz hills area fire was fully contained at about 8 a.m. today. Firefighters will spend the day mopping up the burned areas, officials said.]
A heavy brush fire in the De Luz hills area of Temecula that has burned up to 94 acres was 80% contained this morning and is expected to be fully contained later, Riverside County fire officials said.
The De Luz fire broke out around 2:34 p.m. Thursday near Avenida Del Oro and Rancho California Road. Firefighters fought the fire on steep and dense terrain with southeast winds of 10 to 15 mph giving fuel to the fire.
The fire closed Rancho California Road, and several nearby businesses were evacuated, said Jody Hagemann, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Fire Department.
About 350 firefighters from several agencies, four air tankers and three helicopters helped fight the flames overnight.
A blaze in the Angeles National Forest that consumed 75 acres and forced all northbound lanes of Interstate 5 in Castaic to be shut down was fully contained today, U.S. Forest Service officials said.
Firefighters contained the fire at about midnight and were mopping up hot spots this morning, said Dee Decker of the U.S. Forest Service.
At least three helicopters and a first-alarm unit made up of more than 100 people were dispatched to the fire, which broke out at about 5 p.m. north of Templin Highway in Castaic, said Los Angeles County Fire Department officials.
The California Highway Patrol closed all the northbound lanes, bringing traffic to a halt for miles during Wednesday afternoon's rush hour. The cause was under investigation, Decker said.
Seven people, including three children, were injured early this morning in a fire at a Lincoln Heights apartment building, officials said.
The fire was reported about 3:15 a.m. at a fourplex in the 2800 block of Manitou Avenue, said Devin Gales, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Firefighters arrived to find the two-story building “well-involved” with fire, including visible flames and smoke, Gales said.
More than 100 firefighters battled the flames, and they put the fire out shortly before 4 a.m., Gales said.
The seven injured people suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation and were taken to area hospitals. Fifteen others were displaced by the fire, Gales said.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation, Gales said.
Firefighters in Santa Clarita are fighting a three-acre brush fire in a wash about two miles east of the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park, Los Angeles County fire officials said.
No homes were threatened, although the fire is burning in light-to-medium brush just south of a residential neighborhood near the intersection of Bridgeport Lane and McBean Parkway, said county Fire Inspector Steve Zermeno.
The fire was reported at 3:51 p.m. and an hour later it was about 45% contained, he said. It is being fought by five engine companies, a water-dropping helicopter and four camp crews.
Zermeno said a witness reported seeing three teen-aged boys running from the fire shortly after it broke out.
Anaheim police and arson specialists are investigating the death of a man whose remains were found inside a burned car in Anaheim.
The unidentified man's body was discovered about 7:45 p.m. Monday by firefighters responding to a fire in a commercial building in the 1000 block of north Shepard Street near La Palma Avenue, said Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Ramirez.
After dousing the flames for almost an hour, firefighters told police they had found a charred body in the driver's seat of a two-door Nissan parked inside the warehouse-like building, Ramirez said. The car was registered to an employees of the business, he said.
“That employee is still unaccounted for,” he added.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
“There are some indications that lead us to believe that this may have been a suicide,” Ramirez said. “However, we are not ruling anything else out.”
Five small brush fires broke out in the Cleveland National Forest this afternoon, none though threatened any homes.
A pair of helicopters from the Orange County Fire Authority were holding the fire in check, and firefighters expect the flames to be contained sometime tonight, said Brian Harris, spokesman for the Cleveland National Forest.
The fires covered more than 2 acres deep in the Trabuco Canyon area, adjacent to the perimeter of the destructive Santiago fire of 2007. Harris said the origin of the fires was “suspicious” and that the blazes were probably caused by humans.
[Updated at 6 p.m.: Base officials increased the amount of burned acreage to 102. No prediction of containment has been made.]
{Updated at 8 p.m.: Base officials now say the fire is 50% contained.}
A brushfire at Camp Pendleton has burned about 25 acres, causing some precautionary evacuations of office buildings, the Marine Corps said this afternoon. No buildings have been damaged or housing units threatened.
Vandegrift Boulevard, the main road through the sprawling base, was closed in both directions, officials said. Cause of the blaze is undetermined.
The blaze is being fought by land crews, air tankers and water-dropping helicopters, officials said. The fire broke out after 1 p.m.
A 37-year-old Pacoima man has been arrested for arson after a woman’s charred body was found inside a San Fernando Valley apartment building, officials said today.
John Edward Herreres was booked on suspicion of arson in connection with a fire Thursday afternoon in the 12200 block of Osborne Place, police said. After the blaze was extinguished, investigators discovered the charred body of a woman, whose identity is still being verified.
Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigators and LAPD homicide detectives immediately initiated an investigation and identified Herreres. His motive for setting the fire remained unknown, and his bail was set at $250,000.
The county coroner’s office has yet to determine the cause of the woman’s death. Authorities say prosecutors could file additional charges once that is determined. A dog's charred body also was found in the burned apartment.
Arson is believed to have caused a San Fernando Valley fire in which a woman and a dog were found dead inside a burned apartment, authorities said today.
Investigators were trying to determine how the woman and dog died Thursday in the 12200 block of Osborne Place in Pacoima, said Sgt. Scott Kennedy of the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill police station.
“The cause of death and identity remains unknown,” Kennedy said. Firefighters were called to the apartment building at 3:51 p.m.
“When they arrived, they found a cold and extinguished fire,” Kennedy said. The bodies were found as investigators searched the apartment.
A third child injured in a fire that destroyed a day-care center in northern Mexico has been admitted for treatment at the Northern California Shriners Hospitals for Children in Sacramento, officials said.
The 2-year-old boy arrived at the hospital at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, said Catherine Curran, a spokeswoman for the hospital. The boy was burned over 20% of his body and was listed in serious condition, she said.
A 3-year-old girl who suffered burns to 80% of her body was the first child to be admitted to the hospital's pediatric burn unit Saturday afternoon, and a 3-year-old boy with burns to 50% of his body arrived at about 11 p.m. Saturday, Curran said. Both children were in critical condition.
The fire broke out Friday at the ABC day-care center in Hermosillo, Mexico. About 140 children were inside. At least 41 of them were killed.
Some of the children injured in the day-care center fire in Sonora, Mexico, will be admitted for acute burn care at Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento, a spokeswoman said this morning.
"We are responding and accepting patients who were injured,” hospital spokeswoman Catherine Curran said. She could not say how many children would arrive or when.
[Updated at 1:43 p.m.: A 3-year-old girl with burns over 80% of her body was expected to arrive sometime today at the hospital, Curran said. She said one parent was traveling with the girl, but it was unclear whether it was her mother or father.]
Leading the triage will be Assistant Chief of Burns Dr. Tina Palmieri, Curran said.
Meanwhile, investigators in Hermosillo today were trying to determine what sparked Friday’s blaze at the ABC day-care center that left at least 31 children dead. Mexican news reports said the center lacked emergency exits. Rescue workers had to smash through walls to get inside the building. According to one media account, a desperate parent crashed his car into the building to make a hole.
The fire moved swiftly through the center, which occupied a two-story, factory-type building. Accounts varied, but some reports said as many as 176 children were inside at the time of the blaze. The victims were 6 months to 5 years old.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has ordered the county’s attorney general, Eduardo Medina Mora, to launch an investigation.
-- Ruben Vives in Los Angeles and Ken Ellingwood in Mexico City
Photo: Rescue workers put an injured child into an ambulance in Hermosillo, Mexico. Credit: Associated Press / El Imparcial
A 34-year-old man and his two sons were killed when their San Bernardino County home caught fire early this morning, authorities said. The man's wife, 33, managed to break open a window and escape the flames with their daughter, who is in critical condition.
Firefighters responded to the 16200 block of El Cajon Drive in Hesperia about 1 a.m. after a neighbor called 911, said county fire spokeswoman Tracey Martinez.
“The home was fully engulfed,” she said of the single-story residence. “It’s a complete loss.”
The father and the couple’s 9-year-old son were pronounced dead at the scene. His 4-year-old son was taken to Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville, where he later died.
The mother suffered minor injuries and the couple’s 10-year-old daughter was taken to the burn unit at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, Martinez said.
Firefighters found no smoke detectors inside the home.
More than 120 firefighters fought a blaze in an industrial building housing shoes in North Hollywood this afternoon, just southwest of Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.
The fire was reported at 1:30 p.m. at 6818 Vineland Avenue, and firefighters battled the blaze for 51 minutes. One firefighter and one civilian was being assessed for nonlife-threatening injuries, said Brian Humphrey, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The Los Angeles Fire Department’s hazardous materials team is responding to an emergency call at one of USC’s medical laboratories near Lincoln Park in East Los Angeles, a fire department spokesman said.
The hazmat team went to the Edmondson Research Building at 1840 Soto St. shortly before 6 a.m. No evacuations were necessary, said Davin Gales, a spokesman for the fire department.
No further details were available.
Updated at 7:45 a.m.: A custodian at the research laboratory discovered a small leak coming from underneath a door and notified security officials, said USC spokesman James Grant. No students were in the building at the time, he said.
Updated at 8:55 a.m.: Turns out the liquid was cleaning fluid used to buff the floors, and there was no emergency, Grant said.
Fire officials in Santa Barbara continued expressing optimism this afternoon. Helicopters are dousing hot spots, while ground crews are manning the edges of the fire to prevent its spread. The fire is still active on ridge tops.
"We feel confident that the threat is lessening," said Capt. Dave Sadecki of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. He added, however, that a threat remains because much of the wildfire is still uncontrolled. Officials have pegged containment at 30%.
But with cooler and moister conditions today, fire officials have lifted mandatory evacuation orders for all areas south of Highway 192, including the Santa Barbara Mission -- neighborhoods where most of the 30,000 people ordered to leave their homes lived. Areas north of the road, in mostly mountainous terrain, remain under mandatory evacuation.
Highway 192 is still closed to vehicles but was open to pedestrians. Some residents heading back home lugged suitcases along the road.
Cheers rose inside the UC Santa Barbara MAC Center when Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown announced to evacuees taking refuge there that most of them would be able to return home.
As he called out street names, people responded “That’s me!” They folded up blankets and went to their cars which most had turned into mobile garages to hold their belongings. Many had been displaced for several days and the air around the cots had grown a bit stale.
Diane Lacey, 44, had spent time in her car to get away from the noise and buzz of the center. She was headed into the center to see if her street was on the list. “Heck, yeah, I get to go home,” she said. She had been staying at the shelter since Thursday night. Mostly she was worried about her cats, Bubbie and Beebz. They were at the animal shelter. First priority -- pick them up.
Britney Ayers, 23, a student, and her grandfather, George Wasco, 77, had spent two days at the center. Ayers, who had her laptop with her, spent the time working on an English paper. Now she gathered up her computer and clothes and was ready to return to home.
“We’re relieved,” said Ayers. “We finally get to go home.”
For some, the trauma of being evacuated was replaced by the adventure of getting to meet Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who paid a visit to the evacuation center.
“I actually got to meet the governor, and I took my picture with him. I still can’t believe it,” said Dawn Naranjo, 43. She and her roommate, Kathy Taylor, 45, arrived at the evacuation center Friday afternoon. They had hustled to leave their home, south of Foothill Road near State Street, dropping off their seven hamsters and four birds at a pet store.
Dawn said when they return home today they would be spending the rest of the day trying to make their animals feel comfortable.
“It was so good to be able to come to a place where everyone was so sweet and we felt so safe,” said Taylor echoing others’ praise for the Red Cross staff that runs the evacuation center. At its peak, the center had 600 evacuees. This morning, when the governor visited it was down to 60 to 70 and about 50 staff members.
[Updated at 12:52 p.m.: The Woodland Hills fire was declared knocked down a few moments ago, and firefighters are continuing to mop up the scene, said Art Marrujo, dispatch supervisor for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The blaze consumed 20 acres of brush.]
Firefighters and helicopters are responding to a brush fire in Woodland hills, near the 4200 block of North Canoga Avenue, just south of the Woodland Hills Country Club.
Winds were mild and fire officials said crews were surrounding the blaze, which was reported about 11:30 a.m. A large plume of smoke, however, rose from the area.
Karen Telleen-Lawton and her husband, David, stood at the Mission Canyon Road blockade, thumbs out, trying to hitch a ride back to what they hoped was their home.
They had evacuated Tuesday from Rattlesnake Canyon. They had covered the deck with fire foam. Then they got in their car with seven tubs of belongings and drove away. This morning they were hiking back in, desperate for a look at what the firestorm had left for them.
But authorities turned them away at the roadblock. News crews and utility trucks rumbled by, but no one stopped to pick them up. Frustrated, they stood there, stalled pilgrims on their journey back to their neighborhood.
Even though evacuation orders were lifted this morning for most residents, some hard-hit areas remained closed.
“It would be nice if they could let us back in today,” Karen Telleen-Lawton said. The couple had already managed to sneak into an area that offered a vantage point Thursday night. A house across from theirs had burned. But theirs was intact that evening. Was it still?
“I’m sure there’s smoke damage,” she mused. “I really don’t know if it’s just a shell.”
In the distance, the hillside smoldered and trees were singed black. “We love our home,” she said.
-- Ann Simmons
Photo: Santa Barbara residents Karen and David Telleen-Lawton attempt to hitch a ride into Mission Canyontoday. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times
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