[ Wildland Fires ] [ Wildland Fires in Southern California/ Los Angeles ]
[ Wildland Fires in Southern California/ Los Angeles Index ]

The fires closed highways, cut power to thousands and choked the greater Los Angeles area with heavy smoke and ash.

a) San Bernardino / Eastern Los Angeles County:

Two wildfires in the suburbs of San Bernardino, a city of 185,000 about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, appeared to merge on Sunday into one 35 to 40 miles long fire front, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The fires have already blackened tens of thousands of acres. Fire incident commanders on Sunday also raised their estimate of homes burned in the suburbs just north of San Bernardino from 200 to 300 but still couldn't get close enough for complete count.

The second wildfire started Saturday in San Bernardino's Old Waterman Canyon. Santa Ana winds propelled the flames across 12,000 acres within hours as erratic winds gusting to 40 mph pushed the blaze in constantly changing directions.

The fires forced the evacuation of the San Manuel Indian Reservation's casino and the campus of California State University, San Bernardino, where flames damaged two temporary classrooms and a temporary fitness center. Patton State Hospital, which houses about 1,300 mental patients, also had to be evacuated.

Two firefighters suffered second-degree burns, and at least three others suffered minor burns or smoke inhalation on Sunday.

As many as 50,000 people have now been ordered to leave homes over a 30-mile stretch of the San Bernardino Mountains. This includes hundred of homes in the resort areas of Lake Arrowhead and Crestline, just north of San Bernardino. One evacuation center near San Bernardino International Airport was filled with as many as 1,000 people, including about 50 people in wheelchairs taken from a convalescent home.

At the western end of the fire front, in the eastern part of Los Angeles County about 50 homes were in flames Sunday morning in a canyon at the edge of the suburb of Claremont. Residents in the nearby city of La Verne were urged to evacuate immediately. Several evacuation centers were set up at Alexander Hue Community Center, 1700 Danbury Road and Taylor Hall at the Webb School on Webb Canyon Road. The Salvation Army has also opened doors to its Pomona office at 490 E. La Verne Ave.

b) Ventura County:

Wildfires were raging early Sunday in the hills above Simi Valley's Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and near Piru, where 300 homes were threatened for a time. The Simi Valley fire had burned 47,000 acres by daybreak, damaged 14 homes and was threatening as many as 2,000 structures. It had also shut down Highway 118, the main route connecting Ventura County to Los Angeles.

c) San Diego County:

Three wildfires

The largest blaze, a 100,000-acre fire started Saturday near the mountain town of Julian when a lost hunter set off a signal fire. The person was detained and may face charges. At least eight people were killed, including two who died inside their car as they apparently tried to escape the flames. Hundreds of people have been evacuated.

Another fire near Valley Center destroyed about 20 homes and blackened about 1,000 acres Sunday.