wildfires

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Serious rain on the way; evacuations in Southland burn areas

   While some folks scramble to find their rarely used umbrellas today, others in the Southland are either sandbagging or shoring up their properties in the areas charred by the recent wildfires. The threat of mudslides is so serious in Orange County, volunteer evacuations are recommended in the most fire-ravaged  canyon areas of Yorba Linda. Earlier this month, wind-whipped wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes and […]
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Officials call the Santa Barbara County wildfire an accident

  Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times — A Montecito home is destroyed by last Thursday’s wildfire.   Late today, officials announced last week’s destructive wildfire in Santa Barbara County was caused by a bonfire in the Tea House Garden area above the upscale enclave, Montecito. Some young people reportedly created the bonfire and thought they had put it out before they left. Sundowner winds of 70 […]
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

President-elect Obama touched by the plight of Southland fire victims

  Barack Obama greets the crowd at his victory rally in Chicago on election night.   President-elect Barack Obama is not in charge yet, but that has not stopped him from showing compassion and exerting his influence. At a news conference late yesterday, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced he had received a phone call from President-elect Obama, “.. he and […]
Monday, November 17, 2008

Fire crews gain ground on stubborn Southland wildfires

  Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times In the fire-damaged Oakridge Mobile Home Park hundreds of homes were destroyed, but some survived. “We have found no human remains at this point.” That was the conclusion today from a Los Angeles County Coroner official about the search for victims at the fire-ravaged Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar. L.A. County Coroner spokesman Ed […]
Sunday, November 16, 2008

Wildfires still burning in the Southland

Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times A firefighting plane circles the flames and smoke in Yorba Linda The major battle against these destructive wildfires shifted to Orange and San Bernardino Counties today where the flames are the most threatening. Fire crews from Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara County, and as far away as San Mateo in Northern California are joining that fight. Since […]
Saturday, November 15, 2008

Sylmar fire causes power problems in the Southland

  Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times A firefighter battles to save a mobile home in Sylmar. The Burbank foothills in the San Fernando Valley have not been touched by the flames of the rampaging Sylmar wildfire, but my community is still affected. A short time ago, I got an e-mail alert from Burbank City Council Member, Marsha Ramos, about electrical power concerns. […]
Saturday, November 15, 2008

Fire, wind, and danger in the Southland

Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times The firestorm in Sylmar A fire emergency in the San Fernando Valley today. The main wildfire erupted in the foothills above Veterans Memorial Park in Sylmar last night around 10:30 p.m. Wicked Santa Ana winds of 70 miles an hour whipped the flames into a roaring firestorm. 2,600 to 3,000 acres have been blackened. At least 200 homes have been destroyed […]
Friday, November 14, 2008

Fire and destruction in Santa Barbara County

  Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times A home burns in Montecito last night Today Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County as a massive out-of-control wildfire rages through some wealthy and exclusive neighborhoods. The fire kicked-up last night around 6 p.m. in the Tea House Garden area in the foothills of Montecito. Sundowner winds in the area reached up to […]
Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Update on Southland wildfires

Irfan Khan/ Los Angeles Times The temperatures have heated up, but the winds have calmed down in the San Fernando Valley today, giving tenacious fire crews the advantage over two deadly wildfires. One man was killed when his makeshift home was consumed by fire and another person died in a freeway crash on a smoke shrouded freeway. At a news conference this morning, Governor Schwarzenegger announced […]