TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Wildfires Spread Across California

ADVERTISEMENT

By NOAKI SCHWARTZ, The Associated Press

Published: October 22, 2007

MALIBU, Calif. - Nearly a dozen wildfires driven by powerful Santa Ana winds spread across Southern California on Sunday, killing one person near San Diego and destroying several homes and a church in celebrity-laden Malibu.

The fire was among at least 10 blazes stretching from north of Los Angeles to San Diego as hot weather and the strong winds, arriving from the desert, marked the traditional height of the wildfire season.

Four firefighters and at least 10 other people were injured and taken to hospitals in connection with the San Diego fire, said Roxanne Provaznik, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry.

The blaze burned about five square miles near a highway, and a second charred about 13 square miles in northern San Diego County and was threatening homes near Witch Creek, Provaznik said.

Meanwhile, in Malibu, about 700 firefighters worked to protect about 200 homes in several upscale communities nestled in the hills, officials said. About 1,500 people fled the fires, officials said.

The blaze, which started in Malibu Canyon, had charred at least 1,200 acres and destroyed a church and several homes, one of them a landmark castle. No residents or firefighters were injured, Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said.

The winds carried embers across the Pacific Coast Highway, closing the popular road and setting fire to cars and trees in the parking lot of a shopping center where a supermarket, drug store and other shops were damaged.

'This fire is zero percent contained, which means we're at the mercy of the wind,' acting Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich said.

In all, five homes and two commercial buildings had been confirmed lost throughout the Malibu area, Freeman said. Nine more homes were damaged, he said.

The fire is expected to burn for another two to three days, he said. Until the blaze is extinguished, 'there will literally be thousands of homes that will be threatened at one time or another,' he said.
Fire crews early Sunday found downed power lines, which may have started the fire, Capt. Mike Brown said.

Flames consumed the landmark Castle Kashan, a stately fortress-like home with turrets and arched windows, as about a dozen residents watched from across a street. Chunks of brick fell from the exterior of the burning building that overlooks the coast.

Erratic wind gusts hampered efforts to drop water from aircraft and pushed flames toward HRL Laboratories, a research and engineering facility jointly owned by Boeing Co. and General Motors Corp., about a mile north of Pepperdine University. One outbuilding caught fire, Boeing spokeswoman Diana Ball said.

Faculty and staff at the 830-acre Pepperdine campus had been urged Sunday to evacuate, and students were told to gather in the school's cafeteria and basketball arena.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT