'The most frightening thing': 10,000 homes evacuated as Sand fire rages in Santa Clarita Valley
Wind-whipped flames raged overnight in the steep, rugged mountains of the Santa Clarita Valley, charring more than 33,000 acres and threatening thousands of homes.
The Sand fire, named for Sand Canyon, continued to burn Monday in the hills toward Acton, prompting the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to order the evacuation of at least 10,000 homes.
“This is a big animal,” said Mike Wakoski, a spokesman for the multi-agency wildfire effort. “Containment of the fire is going to be slow.”
A landscape of desiccated fuel has created explosive conditions for a fire averaging 10,000 football fields a day, Wakoski said.
A shift in the weather was not likely to help firefighters, although wouldn’t hinder them either, said National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Rorke.
Weakening winds, an increase in humidity and a slight drop in temperatures were expected Monday, Rorke said, while the slight chance of thunderstorms loomed over Southern California.
When the massive blaze erupted Friday along the 14 Freeway at Sand Canyon, 30- to 50-mph winds fanned the flames on hillsides carpeted with tinder-like chaparral, pushing them into the Angeles National Forest.
As water-dropping helicopters worked overnight, the firefight got a significant boost Monday: the number of firefighters increased from 1,600 to nearly 3,000 firefighters, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The fire remains only 10% contained.
"It's burning so quickly and so rapidly that our firefighters are getting in and doing a lot of great work, but to get in and do some of that stuff safely is very difficult," said Justin Correll, an engine fire captain in San Bernardino National Forest.
One fatality has been reported. Firefighters found a man’s body inside a burned car parked in a driveway.
source: latimes
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