Hot, Dry Winds Stoke Calif. Wildfires
Pastor Dale Morgan
Hot, Dry Winds Stoke Calif. Wildfires
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Sunday September 24, 2006 8:16 AM
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press Writer
OJAI, Calif. (AP) - Hot, dry Santa Ana winds gusting to more than 50 mph
Saturday stoked the flames of a three-week-old wildfire in Los Padres
National Forest and ignited at least two new fires.
The fires prompted officials to evacuate about 300 homes and a college
east of Ojai, while the winds briefly grounded water-dropping helicopters.
``Today we were getting kind of smacked by the winds. The helicopters
were up, and they were down,'' said Ventura County fire Capt. Barry
Parker. ``We actually fared pretty well today considering what we were
up against.''
Late Saturday, authorities urged residents along Highway 150 east of
Ojai to evacuate. The order was voluntary and prompted by flames from
one of the ``spot'' fires cresting a nearby ridge, said Curtis Vincent,
a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.
``It's close enough that they are feeling it's better that everyone
evacuate now before they go to bed,'' Vincent said. ``If I had friends
or family in that area, I'd have them get out in a nice, relaxed fashion
just to be safe.''
The new blazes that began when the winds blew embers past the fire lines
consumed thousands of acres of brush before burning back into the main
blaze, which was about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. That fire scorched
120,816 acres - or nearly 189 square miles - since igniting Labor Day.
It was 40 percent contained.
One of the ``spot'' blazes burned about 7,000 acres in the canyons above
Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula along Highway 150. The campus was
evacuated late Saturday.
Plumes of reddish smoke were visible as students raced between dorms
gathering books and clothing.
Charlie Kaiser, a 20-year-old student, walked to his car carrying a
surfboard wrapped in a blanket and several books.
``If we get Monday off, I want to go surfing,'' Kaiser said. ``I don't
think the campus is going to burn down or anything. It's too wet. The
fire will probably go around.''
Students said college maintenance employees had been running sprinklers
nonstop for a week. Buses were transporting evacuated students to a
nearby church for the night.
Another ``spot'' fire burned about 3,000 acres south of Lockwood Valley.
To the west, 10 homes in the Rose Valley area were evacuated as a
precaution, and hundreds of people in communities about 10 miles from
the fire's edge were told to be ready to leave if the winds sent flames
their way.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for extreme fire
conditions through Sunday in the area. Forecasters said gusts as high as
70 mph were possible during the weekend. By late Saturday, gusts were
down to about 30 mph, although officials expected them to increase again
Sunday morning.
A light, moist wind from the south had calmed the fire for much of the
week. Crews used the time to burn chaparral and wrap isolated homes in
protective material. Nearly 300 fire trucks waited in place to protect
homes, said Jim Turner of the forest service.
Susan Freeman, an Ojai resident, said she had loaded belongings into her
station wagon in case evacuations were ordered and worried about her
three dogs and five cats at home. She said, ``When you live with your
house packed in your car for two weeks, you get scared.''
The fire along the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties doubled in
size when Santa Ana winds kicked up a week ago. More than 3,000
firefighters were battling the blaze, which has cost $33 million to fight.
Elsewhere, a small brush fire broke out Saturday in the Angeles National
Forest in northern Los Angeles County. It burned 100 acres and was 35
percent contained. No structures were threatened and no evacuations were
ordered, authorities said.
Crews mopped up another fire in Angeles National Forest that was fully
contained Friday after burning 113 acres. They also mopped up a
2,730-acre blaze in San Bernardino National Forest was fully contained
Saturday.