According to the Associated Press, people in Southern California endured a third day of devastation Saturday as wind-blasted wildfires torched hundreds of mobile homes and mansions, forced thousands of people to flee and shut down major freeways.
There were no deaths reported, but the Los Angeles police chief said he feared that authorities might find bodies among the 500 burned dwellings in a devastated mobile home park that housed many senior citizens.
Fire Capt. Steve Ruda said, “We have almost total devastation here in the mobile park. I can’t even read the street names because the street signs are melting.”
The Santa Ana Wind-blown series of fires has injured at least 20 people and destroyed hundreds of homes from coastal Santa Barbara to inland Riverside County, east of Los Angeles. The thick smoke blanketed the nation’s second-largest city and its suburbs Saturday.
A fire hop-scotched through the winding lanes of modern subdivisions in Orange and Riverside counties and destroyed more than 50 homes as night fell
The destructive Tea Fired that Firefighters broke out Thursday night in Montecito, an enclave about 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles, was trying to be contained by firefighters, when a fire erupted overnight in a trailer park in the Sylmar area of the San Fernando Valley, north of downtown Los Angeles. The raging fire destroyed the mobile homes, nine single-family homes and several other buildings before growing to more than 8,000 acres — more than 12 square miles. By Saturday, it was only 20% contained.
The fire sent residents fleeing in the dark Saturday morning as Santa Ana winds that topped 75 mph torched cars, dry brush and much of Oakridge Mobile Home Park.
Another fire began Saturday afternoon, in Corona, about 50 miles inland from Los Angeles.
The Corona blaze, named the Freeway Complex Fire, had burned more than 1,000 acres and damaged 19 homes by Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of residents fled the fire, which was being fought by more than 200 firefighters. Several helicopters and airplanes dropped water and flame-retardant.
Shortly after midnight Friday, the Sylmar fire burned to the edge of the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center campus, knocking out power and forcing officials to evacuate two dozen critical patients.
Hospital staff members quickly shut down the ventilation system to keep the smoke out. Backup generators were out, so nurses walked the darkened halls with flashlights. Emergency room staff members used hand-powered ventilators to keep critical patients alive.
The shifting winds then caused the fire to move uphill toward the San Gabriel Mountains and downhill toward homes. It jumped across Interstates 5 and 210, forcing the California Highway Patrol to shut down portions of both freeways.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles. Fire officials estimated that 10,000 people were under orders to evacuate.
There are many Costa Ricans living in the Los Angeles area, and TicosLand.com wishes them and all the residents of Los Angeles well during this trying time.
Tags: Costa Rica, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Wildfires, Santa Ana Winds, Southern Calilfornia
