Los Angeles city and county firefighters battled a fast-spreading wildfire that ignited at around 9 p.m. Thursday, prompting evacuations in the northern part of the county.
Santa Ana winds of up to 60 mph helped the Saddleridge Fire jump two freeways and grow to more than 1,600 acres with zero containment by 1 a.m. Friday, the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed.
The #SaddleridgeFire in Sylmar is now being considered a “Major Emergency” by the @LAFD. https://t.co/GFOTY28sZB
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) October 11, 2019
Residents in the Oakridge Estates, Glenoaks and the Foothill areas of the Sylmar neighborhood and Porter Ranch to the Ventura County line were under mandatory evacuation as the fire continued to move out of control, affecting at least 1,900 homes, LAFD said.
At least one commercial structure has been destroyed so far and several others are threatened, Fox 11 reported.
“If you live in that area, please just pack up and leave now,” Margaret Stewart of LAFD told Fox 11.
An evacuation center was opened at the Sylmar Recreation Center and was set to open at the Granada Hills Recreation Center around 2:30 a.m.
Several other smaller fires, including the Sandalwood Fire in Calimesa, the Reche Fire in Moreno Valley and the Wendy Fire in Newbury Park continued to burn into the early morning hours of Friday as well.
No injuries have been reported yet.
Pacific Gas & Electric, the state’s largest utility company, shut off power to thousands of customers in northern and central California this week to mitigate the risk of wildfires amid the dry, windy weather.
The Los Angeles Fire Department is investigating the cause.
https://www.foxnews.com/weather/fast-spreading-wildfire-prompts-evacuations-in-southern-califonria
“Santa Ana winds of up to 60 mph helped the Saddleridge Fire jump two freeways and grow to more than 1,600 acres with zero containment…”
So. Cal’s WORST possible nightmare.
NOTHING is more conducive to spreading fires out of control than those hot Santa Ana winds.
So a fire starts at 9 pm and there is ZERO containment by 1 am? In my neck of the woods, a wildfire starts at night what with all the trees (and lots of dead ones, drought you know) and grass and plants and lack of roads (all dirt) in the mountains and ranches…that is, it’s a lot more fire-suitable out here than SoCal!–and lots of locals and volunteer firefighters can have it out pronto…with lack of roads and steep mountain sides, and, likely, poorer quality equipment…can have that fire out in a matter of a couple of hours. During fire season (April to June—it’s very dry then and lots of wind), thousands of acres of fire can be put out in a few days (plus planes with water carriers, including Native American fire-fighting plane crews) and almost no homes burned.
Santa Ana winds, eh? Well, our fire season winds are just as strong. No excuses, SoCal! Or is PG&E trying to deliberately lose customers? I guess they like being bankrupt…