Southern California blaze jumps fire lines; families flee

By The Associated Press

GENE BLEVENS / LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS Firefighters battle a wildfire yesterday near Santa Clarita, Calif. Residents of more than 600 homes were ordered to evacuate after a shift in the wind.

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Residents of more than 600 homes near Santa Clarita were ordered to evacuate as the fire grew to more than 4,200 acres. An unexpected wind shift had pushed the fire toward houses just hours after officials had lifted an evacuation order affecting about 80 homes.

By yesterday afternoon, the fire — fanned by winds of up to 20 mph — had moved northeast outside fire lines toward homes in the neighborhood of Fair Oaks, county Fire Department spokesman Mike Brown said. Mandatory evacuations also were in place for Placerita Canyon, the Placerita Nature Center and Sand Canyon, and a 10-mile stretch of the Antelope Valley freeway was closed.

No injuries or structural damage was immediately reported from the fire, one of several burning a total of 40,000 acres in the state, from eastern San Diego County to Yosemite National Park.

More than 1,000 firefighters were battling the wildfire, which started Saturday. The cause of the blaze was not yet known.

About 90 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in Riverside County, fire officials contained 50 percent of a 3,600-acre fire. Full containment was expected tomorrow morning.

"We're continuing to improve lines, and we don't see much more growth in the fire," said Jim Boano, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry.

Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted yesterday for about 500 homes, but voluntary evacuations were issued for 200 other homes, Boano said. The fire destroyed three single-wide mobile homes, 11 outbuildings and several vehicles.

The fire was started by someone who had been doing target practice, officials said. The person, whose name was not released, was given a citation and may have to pay a portion of the firefighting costs.

A lightning-sparked wildfire in Yosemite National Park was being allowed to burn because slow-moving flames were cleaning the forest floor of debris that could have fed a more dangerous fire. The blaze has scorched at least 3,000 acres and forced the closure of several popular trails.

Elsewhere, fire crews in western Nevada started heading home yesterday after mostly containing an erratic fire that had destroyed at least 15 homes and briefly threatened the governor's mansion in Carson City. The wind-driven fire, which blackened nearly 7,600 acres along a four-mile stretch of the Sierra foothills, was 85 percent contained late Saturday. Officials said it could be fully contained by tomorrow.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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