Firefighters make progress against blaze near Malibu
MALIBU, California (CNN) — A dangerous and dynamic wildfire in Southern California that left six firefighters hurt and destroyed dozens of homes grew to 4,500 acres Saturday evening, officials said.
But firefighters have been able to contain 25 percent of the blaze, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Until the fire is knocked down, we can’t be sure what the next development will be, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said at a news conference earlier.
About 10,000 people fled their homes in the Malibu area ahead of the flames, which began around 3:30 a.m. PT (6:30 a.m. ET) .
The fire has also knocked down power lines, said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Michael Freeman. About 1,700 firefighters were battling the blaze, aided by 23 aircraft.
An enormous number of resources were being devoted to the fight, said Malibu Mayor Jeff Jennings. Watch the mayor call the fire a ‘disaster’
I’m standing on my deck of my house here, and I can see four helicopters … all attacking the fire at once. So they are going after it in a hurry, there’s no doubt about that, he said.
It’s certainly not as bad as it could have been, said Jennings, who urged residents to listen to the radio, stay alert, stay vigilant.
The fire had destroyed more than 30 homes by Saturday evening. Watch houses engulfed in flames
Strong winds have been fanning the flames, a fire official told CNN.
Whenever these fires are pushed by … winds, it’s a like a blow torch with a hair dryer behind it, said Inspector Sam Padilla of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The fire started on a dirt road next to a paved highway in the Corral Canyon area, Freeman said.
Officials said that it’s unclear how the wildfire started, and that arson investigators were on the scene. See more photos of the flames
High winds and low humidity were impeding progress, Padilla said. Video images showed helicopters sucking water from swimming pools to fight the flames.
Mandatory evacuations remained in effect from Corral Canyon west to Trancas Canyon Road and from the coast on the south to Mulholland on the north. The Red Cross set up a shelter at Agoura Hills High School. Evacuated residents farther south were instructed to go to Channel Islands High School in Ventura County.
A resident who was not told to evacuate did so anyway, and he told CNN he thought his home had been destroyed.
Sia Hodjatie said the smell of smoke awoke him about 3:45 a.m. He and his family packed their pets into their car and started leaving the house an hour later.
When we were leaving, the fire was in our back door, Hodjatie said. My older son … said, ‘Dad, if we would have left 30 or 40 seconds more, we would have been baked here.’ And we saw the fire coming toward the house, and heavy smoke, and very, very uncomfortable situation.
Frank Angel and his wife told The Associated Press they had 15 minutes to get out of their house.
I ran out on the deck and I just saw a little fire and smoke up the canyon on the ridge [about a mile away], Angel told the AP. By the time we evacuated, it was already over the ridge. It spread faster than I’ve ever seen it.
Thick smoke billowed into the air and could be seen several miles from the flames, witnesses said. The fire is producing a tremendous amount of smoke, Pepperdine University official Jerry Derloshon told CNN.
Looking westward, where the fire was several miles away, he said, There’s so much smoke, it almost defies understanding.
Pepperdine students were being asked to relocate to a central location on campus as a precaution, he said.
Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire Department, said their firefighters were ready in case the fire spreads there. The city is about 130 miles southeast of Malibu.
We’re very, very concerned. We’re on high alert. Our fire crews have been told to be ready to come in off duty. They all have their equipment with them, so they can report anywhere they’re needed.
We’re hoping and praying that the winds do not materialize down here, that we have no fires, and there’s no need for additional resources down here if something breaks. It’s a very tense, nervous situation, Luque said.
It was the second time in just over a month that fires ravaged the region. Last month’s fires charred more than 508,000 acres in several counties, destroying about 1,600 homes, causing 14 deaths and forcing 1 million people from their homes.
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