Tulsa World: Los Angeles: Deadly wildfire advances

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Los Angeles: Deadly wildfire advances

Smoke from the Station Fire rises over downtown Los Angeles on Monday. Jon Vidar / Associated Press

By JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press
Published: 9/1/2009 2:25 AM
Last Modified: 9/1/2009 4:27 AM

A deadly wildfire that has blackened a wide swath of tinder-dry forest around Los Angeles made another menacing advance Monday, surging toward thousands of suburban homes and a vital mountaintop broadcastingcomplex.

Fire crews battling the blaze in the Angeles National Forest tried desperately to beat back the flames. The fire was the largest of at least eight burning across California after days of triple-digit temperatures and low humidity.

The flames scorched 164 square miles of brush and threatened more than 12,000 homes, but the lack of wind kept them from driving explosively into the hearts of the dense suburbs northeast of Los Angeles.

"It's burning everywhere," U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Dianne Cahir said. "When it gets into canyons that haven't burned in numerous years, it takes off. If you have any insight into the good Lord upstairs, put in a request."

Authorities revised an earlier report that five people were trapped in a canyon near Gold Creek. They later said five men and one woman refused several orders to evacuate the remote ranch.

Fire crews set backfires and sprayed fire retardant at Mount Wilson, home to at least 20 television transmission towers, radio and cell phone antennas, and the Mount Wilson Observatory.

The observatory also houses two giant telescopes and several multimillion-dollar university programs. It is both a landmark for its historic discoveries and a modern center for astronomy.

The fire was expected to reach the mountaintop sometime during the night Monday, said Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mark Whaling. If the flames hit the mountain, cell phone service and TV and radio transmissions would be disrupted, but the extent was unclear.

Dozens of buildings are scattered around the complex, along with a trove of telescopes at the observatory.

Firefighters worked for two days cutting fire lines around the most vulnerable structures. The goal was to minimize damage to the buildings, most of which are made mainly of steel and concrete.

The blaze killed two firefighters, destroyed at least 53 homes and forced thousands of evacuations. The firefighters died when their truck drove off the side of a road with flames all around them.

Northeast of Sacramento, a fire destroyed 60 structures over the weekend, many of them homes in the town of Auburn.

East of Los Angeles, a 1,000-acre fire threatened 2,000 homes and forced the evacuation of a scenic community of apple orchards in an oak-studded area of San Bernardino County. Brush in the area had not burned for a century, fire officials said. Flames burning like huge candles erupted between rocky slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains and the neat farmhouses below.

The two Los Angeles County firefighters who were killed Sunday died when their truck crashed on Mount Gleason near Acton.

The victims were fire Capt. Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County, and firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 35, of Palmdale. By JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press

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