Hot, gusty winds fan 8,500-acre Calif. wildfire

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By JEFF WILSON, Associated Press Writer Jeff Wilson, Associated Press Writer – 20 mins ago

MOORPARK, Calif. – An 8,500-acre wildfire in the Ventura County hills closed a college on Wednesday and threatened 1,000 homes as hot, gusty Santa Ana winds fanned the flames.

"We are expecting winds to pick up and fire activity to increase. On the east and west flanks it's wide open country," Ventura County fire Capt. Ron Oatman said.

The winds gusted to 45 mph in the morning but should decrease through the afternoon, said Eric Boldt, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

"This morning is probably going to be the most critical timeframe" for firefighters, he said.

The 13-square-mile blaze that began near ranches and farms was heading toward subdivisions and was only 10 percent contained.

The fire, which burned two outbuildings, threatened 1,000 homes and 20 commercial buildings, firefighter Steve Kaufmann said.

Some areas were under evacuation orders.

Moorpark College, a community college located in the hills, announced on its Web site that it would be closed.

The fire erupted Tuesday from spontaneous combustion of manure at a local ranch, according to a statement from the county Sheriff's Department. But Oatman called the statement premature and said the cause of the blaze officially remained under investigation.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency for the county.

The forecast for Wednesday called for 100-degree heat and low humidity, making brush easier to burn.

More than 850 firefighters were battling the fire. Three firefighters received minor injuries.

City spokesman Hugh Riley said the water district authorized avocado growers to turn on irrigation sprinklers in their orchards. He noted Tuesday that the fire was following the path of a blaze several years ago.

"That was a big one and fortunately it burned a lot of the fuel that could feed this one," he said.

Some smaller wildfires broke out Tuesday as weather turned the region into a tinder box.

A blaze that ignited in Riverside County, 40 miles east of Los Angeles, burned 160 acres. It was about 60 percent contained and no homes had been lost.

Winds also caused some increased fire activity on ridgetops in the San Gabriels, where a gigantic arson-caused wildfire continues to smolder a month after it began. But Carol Underhills, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, says a haze was caused by ash whipped up by the Santa Anas.

The fire burned across 160,557 acres — 251 square miles — of Angeles National Forest after it was ignited Aug. 26. At its peak it destroyed 89 homes and caused two firefighter deaths.

The fire remained 94 percent surrounded Tuesday, and fire commanders again pushed back the projected date for full containment, this time from Tuesday evening to Thursday morning, due to the weather.

The weather service also issued "red flag" warnings of fire weather conditions in other parts of California due to a combination of low humidity, high temperatures and wind.

Those areas included the hills east of San Francisco Bay and mountains to the north, the northern Sierra and northern Sacramento Valley and a large swath of the state farther north.

A 300-acre wildfire burning in a heavily wooded area of Sonoma County near Geyserville was expected to be contained Wednesday morning.

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AP writer Solvej Schou in Los Angeles contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090923/...s/us_wildfires

[samanthajane13]

'Full attack' on Southern California wildfire

MOORPARK, Calif. – A fleet of helicopters made water drops as bulldozers carved firebreaks Thursday to stop a 25-square-mile wildfire burning through an agricultural region of Southern California.

High heat and very low humidity kept fire danger high even though meteorologists said the dry Santa Ana winds that spread the flames through rural Ventura County were weakening.

The 16,400-acre blaze northwest of Los Angeles was 40 percent surrounded, and the effort to increase containment involved 21 helicopters, 21 bulldozers, 214 fire engines and 1,800 firefighters. Eight air tankers were also available.

"It's a full attack," said Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Bill Nash.

Winds were ranging between 6 mph and 12 mph, about half the speeds of the previous day, he said. But triple-digit temperatures persisted along with relative humidity levels in single digits.

The fire erupted Tuesday north of the city of Moorpark and has spread and west through hills, mountains and agricultural lands, including avocado orchards. Two outbuildings have been destroyed and 75 homes, along with oil production sites and electrical transmission lines, remained threatened.

Efforts were being focused on the northeast corner of the fire, where helicopters were making drops with water taken out of the Santa Clara River, Nash said.

Eight injuries have been reported, none serious, he said.

The fire began near an agricultural mulch pile, but the cause remained under investigation, authorities said.

Firefighting costs topped $3 million.

Elsewhere in Southern California, a 16-year-old boy was arrested for investigation of starting a 475-acre wildfire Wednesday near Yucaipa in San Bernardino County. The fire was 60 percent contained.

The teenager was spotted on a bicycle where the blaze started, said Bill Peters, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Northeast of Los Angeles, the smoldering remnants of a month-old, 251-square-mile forest fire in the San Gabriel Mountains was listed as 94 percent contained, and officials expected to declare it fully surrounded by Thursday evening. Winds in the Angeles National Forest were also milder, but the air remained hot and dry.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090924/...s/us_wildfires

[samanthajane13]

Wildfire near LA remains at 98 percent containment



LOS ANGELES – The once-massive California forest fire that killed two firefighters and incinerated 89 homes won't be fully contained until the season's first rain, officials said Thursday.

With the blaze now 98 percent contained, firefighters have gotten as close as they can to surrounding the wildfire that burned 251 square miles of forest northeast of Los Angeles in recent weeks, U.S. Forest Service fire spokesman Bob Poole said.

Fire officials had anticipated completely containing the fire by midnight Thursday, but Poole said they backed off their goal when they realized they couldn't get crews into parts of the fire perimeter where the terrain was too steep.

"They tried to get in there, but it's just vertical there," he said. "That doesn't mean we don't have some sort of precaution there. We have retardant but not a line."

Firefighters continued to widen the fire break with the objective of constructing a 500-foot buffer around the burned area. About 700 firefighters and nine helicopters are involved in the mop-up operations.

He said the blaze won't be declared fully contained until the first rain of the season. There was no rain in the immediate forecast.

Meanwhile, about 35 miles to the west, crews carved firebreaks to try to stop a 27-square-mile wildfire burning in Ventura County.

"It's a full attack," said Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Bill Nash.

High heat and very low humidity kept fire danger high even though meteorologists said the dry Santa Ana winds that spread the flames were weakening.

The blaze was 65 percent surrounded, and the effort to increase containment involved 21 helicopters, 21 bulldozers, 214 fire engines and 1,800 firefighters. Eight air tankers were also available.

Winds died down compared with earlier in the week, he said. But triple-digit temperatures persisted along with relative humidity levels in single digits.

The fire erupted Tuesday north of the city of Moorpark and has spread through hills, mountains and agricultural lands, including avocado orchards. Two outbuildings have been destroyed and 75 homes, along with oil production sites and electrical transmission lines, remained threatened.

Eight injuries have been reported, none serious, Nash said.

The fire began near an agricultural mulch pile, but the cause remained under investigation, authorities said.

Firefighting costs topped $3 million.

Elsewhere in Southern California, San Bernardino County authorities said a 16-year-old boy may have been involved in starting up to 14 wildfires in the inland region east of Los Angeles since 2006.

The youth was arrested near a new fire Wednesday near Yucaipa and was booked into juvenile hall for investigation of arson. The district attorney's office was awaiting reports before considering charges.

The 347-acre Yucaipa fire was 90 percent contained, spokesman Bill Peters said.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090925/...s/us_wildfires