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It was only 12 hours later when the Ventura County firefighters returned to Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar.

“The homes are, what, 3 feet high now?” Dave Stevens of Station 46 in Simi Valley said of the scene they found when they returned for search-and-rescue efforts Saturday afternoon.

The five-engine strike team from Ventura County was called out at 12:30 a.m. Saturday to assist in fighting the Sayre fire. Joining the multi-agency firefighting effort, they were assigned to a road called Sycamore, at the very back of the 200-acre gated mobile home park, where the picturesque park rose toward the hills of Angeles National Forest.

Cary Rake, an engineer from Station 43 in Simi Valley, said, “It never occurred to me when we went in there. …”

Stevens finished his sentence, “… that the whole thing would burn down.”

The firefighters were broken into three-person groups, each trying to keep about five homes protected by dousing them with water.

Rake spotted a woman coming out of one of the houses. He didn’t have time to say anything to her. He grabbed her and put her in a firetruck. Later, another emergency vehicle took her away.

But the Santa Ana winds kept whipping up the ferocious blaze, spreading it faster than firefighters could fight it. It was blowing embers onto and under the mobile homes, forcing teams to make quick decisions about which homes to focus on based on which ones they thought they could save.

The firefighters — all of whom work at stations in Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks — stayed on Sycamore, continuing to hose down the houses.

Then they ran out of water. The teams were ordered to flee for their own safety.

Before they left the mobile home park, Jim Waldron, an engineer from Station 45 in Simi Valley, said the firefighters grabbed boxes and went into the homes, filling them with anything they thought might have sentimental value to the owners.

“When we left, we drove through flames to get out of the complex,” Stevens said.

Here is a short clip taken by from the cell phone of Ventura County Fire Department firefighter Jeff Pike, who works at station 45 in Simi Valley.

Written by Ventura County Star / Read Entire Article

DIAMOND BAR - A fire that destroyed or damaged 259 homes on its weekend march toward Diamond Bar was mostly under control Monday.

Calm winds and increased humidity allowed firefighters to get the upper hand on the Triangle Complex Fire, which started Saturday in Corona and torched 29,000 acres across four counties.

The fire was 60 percent contained by Monday night.

No structures in Diamond Bar were damaged, but the fire caused the evacuation of 1,800 homes along Tonner Canyon.

Residents were allowed to return home Monday.

“They’re just putting out the hot spots and everything,” Diamond Bar Mayor Jack Tanaka said Monday afternoon, and added he was greatly relieved when fire officials told him late Sunday the danger to local homes largely had passed.

More than 3,800 fire officials were working the fire late Monday.

Yorba Linda sustained the brunt of the damage, with 113 homes destroyed and 50 damaged, officials said.

Firefighters likely would be in the area for several days “mopping up,” said Nick Cercello of the Costa Mesa Fire Department, who spoke on behalf of all agencies responding to the fire.

The fire not only spared homes in Diamond Bar, but also skipped over camping facilities in the Firestone Scout Reservation in Tonner Canyon such as tents, a rock climbing wall and obstacle courses.

“The vegetation in that area is very, very dense and very dry, with no fire record for quite some time,” Brown said. “We were dealing with 10- to 15-foot tall brush that is usually four to five feet.”

The dense vegetation combined with extremely low humidity, fierce wind conditions and topography allowed the fire to burn as fast as it did, he said.

The fire flared up early Monday, but crews kept it from crossing a fire break.

Capt. Mike Crandall of the Placer County Fire Department oversaw his crew of firefighters and inmate work crews on the ridgeline about 1:30 p.m. Monday.

The men sweated in the nearly 90-degree weather as they worked to create a fire break by cutting down trees with chain saws and digging trenches.

As wind died down and the ground crews gained more containment of the fire, some fire fighters - who have been battling blazes across Southern California since Thursday - used the down time to lay down or sit in lawnchairs overlooking the canyon.

Other crews used it as an opportunity to talk to residents about fire prevention.

About 11:30 a.m., Highbluff Road resident Irvin Craig received a visit from Los Angeles County Firefighters.

Story by Whittier Daily News

Nearly 50 firefighters hurried to protect faraway homes from flames over the weekend, but San Bernardino County remained protected just in case a blaze ignited here.That’s because the county’s mutual-aid coordinator had spent 12 straight hours poring over a plan for how many local firefighters can be parceled out while keeping cities and forests here fully guarded.

“We never strip ourselves down so far that we put our own county and residents in jeopardy,” said San Bernardino County Fire Chief Pat Dennen, who sent three strike teams to assist in three fires burning in Southern California.

Dennen dispatched 45 firefighters to the blazes in Yorba Linda, Sylmar and Montecito, but he said he’s drawing the line there.

The county could do without four strike teams, but with possible high winds sweeping through the coming weekend, Dennen wants to keep ample firefighters on hand.

“We need to staff up, because there’s always the possibility we’re going to be on our own,” he said. “We can’t anticipate just one incident; we have to anticipate the second, third, fourth and fifth.”

Nearly 500 firefighters from northern cities such as Fresno, Santa Barbara and Ventura could be parking 125 fire engines in San Bernardino County this weekend as a precautionary measure.

Planning ahead is critical during fire season, which is why fire officials every year have asked the Board of Supervisors for $500,000 to better staff fire engines.

The money pays for a fourth firefighter to jump on each engine in fire-prone areas, such as Devore, Wrightwood and Lucerne Valley. Additional firefighters are also staffed in Grand Terrace, because it’s a central location and can respond to several nearby areas.

“It makes all the difference in the world to have an extra set of hands,” the chief said.

Dennen’s plan and mutual aid were the reasons that fire officials were able to successfully battle 2007’s Grass Valley and Slide fires in the mountains while still helping out on the blaze that burned simultaneously in Malibu.

Within hours of the fires breaking out in Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs, local firefighting agencies had assembled 84 fire engines to attack the flames. That number grew to 142 fire engines - long before agencies outside the county sent help.

“When you see 125 fire engines coming down the road, there’s a system behind that to get it done,” Dennen said.

Written by Stacia Glenn / SB Sun

The Sayre-Fire started on November 14, 2008.

The fire situation in southern California is straining the areas resources.  Equipment and manpower from other regions of the state have been deployed and many of them are already in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas assisting local fire crews.

Sylmar ‘Sayre’ Brush Fire

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Corona, Yorba Linda ‘Triangle Complex’ Fire

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Montecito ‘Tea’ Fire

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The Freeway Complex fire that has already hopscotched from one city to another in the hills between Anaheim, Corona and Chino made a quick turn to the north Sunday morning, threatening homes in the Los Angeles County city of Diamond Bar.

The gated Country Estates section in Diamond Bar was the first section firefighters decided to evacuate.

To the south, the Orange County Fire Authority called for renewed evacuations in Yorba Linda, as erratic winds again threatened homes that escaped the first wave of fire Saturday.

Officials in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties grappled with evacuating thousands of residents from Chino Hills south into Anaheim.

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Dozens of residences in unincorporated villages like Sleepy Hollow and Olinda were lost to fire, as the fast-moving fire destroyed at least 100
residences.

At least 15 homes in an exclusive Yorba Linda enclave burned after water
ran out, fire officials said today.

The fire was renamed the Triangle Complex Fire, then the Freeway Complex Fire.

As many as 40,000 people were ordered out of their homes in the four
counties by mid-morning.

Story by CBS2

In a swiftly moving catastrophe that seemed as familiar as it was shocking, Southern California once again was besieged by flame Saturday, from Orange County to Santa Barbara, with hundreds of homes consumed by three major wind-driven fires, including one of the most devastating blazes ever to strike the city of Los Angeles.

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At least 30,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes amid smoke that blew like stinging fog through wind-ravaged canyons. Major freeways, including Interstate 5 and the 91 and 71 freeways, were closed, making escape tricky for some. More than 500 mobile homes were destroyed at a community in Sylmar; and about 100 houses and apartments were damaged or destroyed in Riverside and Orange counties. The numbers were expected to grow.

Fire erupted at about 9 a.m. in Corona, in Riverside County. Dubbed the Freeway Complex fire — it started near the westbound 91 Freeway not far from the 71 Freeway — the blaze damaged or destroyed 16 homes in Corona before following the Santa Ana Canyon into Orange County. It destroyed or damaged at least 30 homes in Yorba Linda, then spread to Anaheim Hills, igniting at least 10 homes and 50 apartments. By nightfall, it had scorched nearly 6,000 acres and was just 5% contained.

“The embers are falling miles ahead of the fire front,” said Kris Concepcion, a battalion chief with the Orange County Fire Authority. “That’s what is creating a lot of the problems, and the wind is a challenge.”

One of those fires swept through the Cascade Apartments near Santa Ana Canyon Road in Anaheim Hills, a 250-unit complex set into a hillside, where apartments rent for as much as $2,000 a month.

By Saturday afternoon, a thick layer of smoke hung over the apartments. One resident huffed and puffed as he marched through it.

“I gotta get my dog out,” he growled, without interrupting his stride. Wearing flip-flops, he slogged through puddles left by fire hoses and vanished into the haze.

Firefighter Patrick Ochoa, a veteran of numerous major fires in Southern California who was among the first responders to the Freeway Complex fire, said he could recall no fire as difficult to fight.

“Nothing has been as devastating in O.C. as this,” he said. “This is horrendous.”

In Yorba Linda, wind-driven embers ignited at least five homes on one block of San Antonio Road, and firefighters were struggling to keep the fire east of Fairmont Boulevard, which divides Yorba Linda roughly in half. Streets struck particularly hard by the fire included Hidden Hills Road, Mission Hills Lane and Stonehaven Drive.

A separate fire a few miles north in Brea severely damaged Brea Canyon High School, a continuation school.

More than 20,000 people were ordered to evacuate the Orange County burn area, sometimes under treacherous conditions. Bobby Johnson, 18, of Yorba Linda left on the 57 Freeway, driving through fire on both sides of the road. “It was a valley of flame,” he said.

Portions of the 91, 71 and 55 freeways and the 241 toll road were closed, as were freeways in Los Angeles County, including portions of Interstate 5 and the 14 and 210 freeways.

The fire in Sylmar, known as the Sayre fire, began late Friday night and swept through the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, parts of which had burned after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The toll appeared to be the largest number of housing units lost to fire in the city of Los Angeles, surpassing the 484 residences destroyed in the 1961 Bel-Air fire.

A dangerous, fast-moving brush fire in the Sylmar section of the San Fernando Valley, spread by gusting 50 mph winds has now burned at least three homes and is threatening several more, City Fire Department spokesperson Melissa Kelly said today.

So far there are no reports of injuries to residents or fire personnel, said Kelly.

The blaze ignited about 10:30 p.m. in the dry, brushy hills above 13000 W. Sayre Street near Shablow Ave, and has so far consumed 100 acres, said Kelly

Story by Fox 11 LA

On Friday, November 14, 2008 at 10:43 PM, three engine companies of Bullhead City Firefighters, one rescue ambulance, under the command of Battalion Chief Craig Stephenson responded to a residential structure fire at 694 Palo Verde Drive.

Bullhead City Firefighter Jeremy Cady and Captain Steve Campbell removed the debris and window blinds that were destroyed in the fire.

Arriving firefighters observed the front glass door had already been broken.  With black smoke showing from the interior, and the smoke level was to the floor, a simultaneous interior attack was ordered through the front door.

A small working fire was found in a bedroom.   This was a small carpet fire that had smoldered for a while.  The fire was limited to the bedroom.  However, two additional burn patterns were found in the master bedroom and in the living room.  These two carpet fires burned out prior to our arrival.

These three fires were considered to be debility set.  The investigation will continue with the Bullhead City Police department.

No one was living in this residence.  The home was brand new with no evidence that anyone was living in the home.

Written and Submitted to West Coast 911 courtesy of Larry Tunforss / Bullhead City PIO

As a wildfire that devastated the wealthy enclave of Montecito settled down late Friday, a second blaze erupted in Sylmar amid heavy winds and destroyed at least three structures and scorched 100 acres, authorities said.

The Montecito blaze destroyed 111 residences and damaged nine near Santa Barbara before flame-stoking winds died down and the fire stabilized. However, authorities cautioned that the totals could go higher; 1,500 homes were still threatened, and the fire was not contained. Flames had consumed 1,800 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

the Montecito fire was smaller than many of the wildfires that have ravaged Southern California in recent years, but its speed and ferocity exacted a huge toll in property damage and left residents stunned. After breaking out at 6 p.m. Thursday, the fire raced unchecked through the populated slopes of the Santa Ynez Mountains, exacerbated by 70 mph winds, combustible brush and narrow roads that became clogged with incoming fire crews and outgoing evacuees.

“This thing came on so fast, you just couldn’t believe it,” actor and homeowner Rob Lowe said Friday. “Embers were raining down, they were in our hair, they were in our shirts. . . . It was absolutely Armageddon.”

Another resident said he was awed by the fire’s destructive force.

“We watched probably about $60 million” worth of houses “just burning out on Mountain Valley, a real posh area,” said Paul Morison, who defended and saved his own home in the Riviera area of Montecito. “This morning they’re gone. . . . The big house we used to look at, probably over 10,000 square feet, there’s nothing.”

Story by LA Times