Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Southern California Firestorm


socalMAN123

Recommended Posts

Wildfire burning in O.C.

Homes threatened in the area of Portola Parkway and the 241 toll road.

SILVERADO CANYON - A brush fire that broke out in the vicinity of Silverado Canyon and Santiago Canyon roads in east Orange early tonight crossed the 241 toll road was threatening some homes, a fire official said.

 

The flames were headed toward the Northwood and Portola Springs residential areas, according to Orange County Fire Department Capt. Stephen Miller, who said the wind-whipped blaze started just before 6 p.m. and grew quickly.

 

The fire was initially said to be about 20 acres in size, and was "probably in the hundreds" within the hour, Miller said.

 

No injuries or structural damage were reported as of 7 p.m., he said, adding that winds were between 35 and 45 miles per hour.

 

According to ABC7, the fire was burning along the Foothill Transportation Corridor (241) near the Bee Canyon access road.

 

The 241 was shut down between the Eastern Transportation Corridor (133) and Chapman Avenue, and Santiago Canyon Road was closed between Chapman Avenue and Modjeska Canyon Road, Channel 7 reported.

 

Sheri Iler of Silverado Canyon saw the fire as she was driving home from work in Newport Beach.

 

"I knew it was down in this area," said Iler, 45, who made her way to the OCTA command post at Irvine Regional Park after she discovered all the roads to her house had been blocked off.

 

She said she is worried that if the wind changes, it will move the fire toward her house.

 

"My pets are there," she said. "I've gotta go save them."

 

The Orange County Register will update this coverage as soon as infomation is available.

 

Fires race through Southern California, destroy Malibu landmarks.

Hundreds of homes are evacuated as flames move through dry growth from Santa Barbara County to the Mexican border. A 10,000-acre blaze in northern L.A. County destroys 10 structures; in San Diego County, one person is killed and at least 10 injured.

By Scott Glover and Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

8:22 PM PDT, October 21, 2007

More than a dozen wind-driven firestorms consumed up to 35,000 acres across Southern California today, including a vast expanse of northern Los Angeles County where 10 structures were destroyed, 800 homes were evacuated and additional 3,800 residences were threatened.

 

The fires raced through dry growth in hilly terrain stretching from Santa Barbara County to the Mexican border. In San Diego County, one person was killed and at least 14 injured, four of them firefighters.Near the 14 Freeway leading to Palmdale, three people suffered burn injuries in the so-called Buckweed Fire, which began near Agua Dulce and leapfrogged through the hills, starting new flare-ups that threatened subdivisions in Canyon Country and surrounding areas.

 

Firefighters were battling the blaze along a 15- to 20-mile fire line. The fire had burned 10,000 acres by evening with no containment in sight. Winds near the fire lines were whipping up to 80 mph, and officials predicted they could intensify overnight. The blaze moved so quickly that fire officials had to relocate their command center five times to keep up with the advancing flames.

 

By early evening, authorities had evacuated all of Vasquez Canyon, Bouquet Canyon, North Oak Park and parts of San Francisquito Canyon. Residents were sent to Saugus and Quartz Hill high schools.

 

"It's making a run with the high winds," said Chris Freeman, a Los Angeles County fire spokesman. "It's gone from Agua Dulce all the way to Canyon Country. It's a pretty good distance."

 

Canyon Country resident Paul Smith, 43, lives less than a mile from the flames. He said he came out of his Newhouse Street house around 5 p.m., and the fire was just coming over a ridge straight in front of him.

 

"It started off with a small flame, then it just started jumping and started smaller fires," he said. "Within five minutes, the whole ridge was on fire and the flames were 100 feet tall."

 

The Buckweed blaze posed a major new challenge to fire agencies already battling a 2,200-acre blaze in Malibu that forced evacuation of hundreds of homes and destroyed several landmarks, including the famous Castle Kashan and a church. It was 10% contained as of 4 p.m. Referring to the record-setting drought in Southern California, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky told an afternoon news conference that the Malibu fire was part of "a conflagration we knew was going to come at some point."

 

The Canyon Fire, near Malibu Canyon and Piuma roads, began at 4:50 a.m. Downed power lines were a possible cause of the blaze, which quickly fanned out in several directions through the hillsides along Pacific Coast Highway, destroying Malibu Presbyterian Church, at least five homes and two commercial structures. Sixteen other homes sustained minor to moderate damage, and five businesses were damaged, most of them at the Colony Creek Shopping Center.

 

More than 1,400 firefighters were on the blaze. No injuries to residents or firefighters were reported, but fire officials were bracing for a long night and predicted that the fierce winds could intensify this evening.

 

"The wind is clearly a tremendous challenge to the firefighters," Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said. "They are doing all they can to protect structures. We've heard the winds are going to increase tonight and we are very concerned about that."

 

Lower Topanga and Tuna canyons were ordered evacuated late this afternoon. Mandatory evacuations had been declared earlier in the Malibu Canyon, Sweetwater Canyon, Puerco Canyon, Monte Nido, Carbon Mesa, Rambla Pacifico, Big Rock, Malibu Crest and Serra Road areas. Voluntary evacuations were recommended in Corral Canyon. Given the unpredictable nature of the winds, "we want everyone in the area to start getting prepared" to evacuate, Freeman said. A total of 1,500 people had been evacuated.

 

An overnight evacuation center was set up at Agoura High School, and an information center was established at Malibu High.

 

It could take two days or longer to control the fire, the chief said. A change in wind direction could pose a large threat.

 

"There will be literally thousands of homes threatened at one time or another," Freeman said. "We've heard the winds are going to increase tonight, and we are very concerned about that."

 

The owner of Castle Kashan, Lilly Lawrence, the daughter of an exiled Iranian oil minister and the goddaughter of Aristotle Onassis, was trapped inside her sprawling home with a house guest as the building burned around 6:30 a.m.

 

"They couldn't leave because the fire was blowing through the canyon. It was too dangerous," said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Dennis Cross.

 

Firefighters tried to save the home, but flames managed to spread under the building's foundation and there was little they could do, Cross said. The main house was destroyed. A stone facade around the courtyard was all that remained. Ten-foot-high flames continued to shoot up from the rubble well into the afternoon. Lawrence, known as Princess Lilly, managed to escape from the building sometime in the morning.

 

Connie James and her husband, Bernie, who both work at Pepperdine University, lost their designer home in the small, close-knit neighborhood of Malibu Knolls.

 

This is quite scary. As the article states, a person has been killed and ten people have been injured. You can seriously smell the smoke and you can see the flame from the 5 freeway. My prayers go out to those already evacuated or close to the flames.

---Brent

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 88
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

We have the Witch Creek Fire coming at us right now.

 

It's ok though this isn't the first time my home was thretened by a fire

 

My advice to everyone is: Don't ignore those evacuation orders! Alot of people died that way a few years ago.

 

If your not a firefighter and a firefighter is telling you to get out, get out!

 

They probably know how dangerous the fire is more than you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If everyone would have listened to Al Gore all this could have been prevented. Damn you global warming!

 

Jokes aside it seems a lot of CA people are on here, best of luck and wishes. Hopefully they will get some control of the situation but from the news I have seen it does look really bad. Last thing you want is a fire storm in a city. Bad deal..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wondering but did Magic Mountain operate a normal day yesterday. I know the fire is burning in Canyon Country, but I'm sure the smoke had the be terrible at the park. College of the Canyons is closed today, and that's maybe a mile or so from the park, so I'd imagin the park is pretty smokey.

 

In other news, I was watching the news out here (Texas) and I'm pretty sure that they have no idea that Canyon Country isn't located in Malibu... They kept talking about the ocean front view you have from Canyon Country. So all of you living out there, enjoy the appearent ocean view when the smoke clears. I just wish they had added the ocean view while I was living there!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No school for me today! But the fires are pretty scary. Even the Wild Animal Park is burning right now, and I my dad just got evacuated from his house. This looks way worse than the fires 4 years ago. The news people sound scared this time. I think I'm safe though. I live really close to the coast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just got a call from my sister. She was evacuated early this morning and just found out a couple of minutes ago off of a news site that a part of her subdivision is on fire.

 

I'm glad she got out and my mom made sure that when my sister bought her house that it was insured for wildfires, but still how bad is it that the her house will probably burn down only month after she got married.

 

Her husband is up in LA right now in the hospital (not fire related), and to learn that you have no house, after getting out of surgery would really be a rude awakening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I live in Irvine and my high school is on portola road(place of fire.)

You go to Northwood? Yeah, the fire is pretty much right there. Smoke was really bad today, and I had to walk home in it so I was like hacking all the way home. Wow Elissa, I hope your house is far enough away from the flames that it doesn't damage it. And Jahan got evacuated! This storm is burning out of control, I hope it ends soon...

---Brent

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, Elissa, KFI AM 640 just reported there was a fire at Magic Mountain Pkwy and The Old Road...Can you see SFMM burning?

 

Hope you guys are hanging in there!

 

Here's a map to see the fires that are being covered on the news.

 

I'm sick of breathing in smoke!

The map I posted above has been updated with the Magic Mountain fire.

 

It hasn't reached the park, it's threatening homes in Stevenson Ranch, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it does get close, Six Flags could have saved some money on demo costs of Psyclone. Good luck to all of those in danger. Around here all we get is high wind (sometimes tornadoes, but haven't in my hometown lately) and supposedly there is a fault line near me, but it isn't active, yet. Every couple years they say that a major earthquake is coming to my area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's pretty close to SFMM, but not close enough!

 

They closed The Old Road at Magic Mountain Parkway so they're talking about that a lot. Oh and we just saw our apartment on the news being flown over by a giant water dropping plane. I Tivo'd it and I'll try and put it up later!

 

So far we're all good here. Jahan's evacuation has been lifted and now the new fire is closer to us!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^^^Yeah, there have been some pretty insane winds, but not to the extremity of 100 MPH. Elissa, I hope you guys are okay and that the fire doesn't get any closer to your apartment.

---Brent

EDIT: I just heard on the news there actually were some gusts up to over 100 MPH. Holy crap!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/