Thousands evacuated as California fires rage
Print Edition
THOUSANDS of homes remained evacuated yesterday as two massive wildfires raged in tinder-dry California hills and canyons, and authorities said a burned body was found in one neighborhood.
Firefighters have been working a fire up and down ridgelines since Friday that has blackened 80-square kilometers of brush on the edge of Santa Clarita and the Angeles National Forest. About 480 kilometers up the coast, crews were battling another blaze across 26-square kilometers north of the majestic Big Sur region.
The body of a man was discovered inside a burned sedan on Saturday evening outside a home in Santa Clarita, just north of Los Angeles. There was no evidence the death was crime-related, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said yesterday.
The area was among those ordered evacuated as the fire raged through brush withered by days of 35-degree Celsius temperatures as Southern California sweltered through a heat wave.
After flames driven by gusty winds swept through an evacuated neighborhood, firefighters reported that some buildings had been engulfed, but it was not immediately clear whether they were homes, outbuildings or garages, said Nathan Judy, a spokesman for the United States Fire Service.
The area was still unsafe, he said late on Saturday night.
More than 900 firefighters and water-dropping helicopters battled the flames overnight on several fronts. “It’s not a one-direction type of fire,” Judy said. “It’s going in different directions depending on which way the wind is blowing.”
Despite firefighters’ efforts, the blaze destroyed sets at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita, which has Old West-style buildings used for movie locations.
Smoke and ash from the fire cast a pall over neighboring Los Angeles. Air quality officials advised people with respiratory problems to stay indoors.
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