1,500 L.A. homes threatened
Three fires break out as L.A. officials tour the area urging preparedness.
Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times
Three wildfires broke out in northern Los Angeles County on Thursday, the worst of which was threatening at least 1,500 homes in Leona Valley, near Palmdale.
Some structures have been lost to the so-called Crown fire, officials said, but they will not be able to determine whether those were homes or outbuildings on the many ranches in the area until sometime Friday.
Capt. Sam Padilla, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said the Crown fire has burned nearly 6,000 acres and there was zero containment. In addition to Leona Valley, evacuation orders were issued for the nearby community of Ana Verde and the fire was moving east toward Quartz Hill, leaving the possibility of more evacuations overnight.
Although flames were burning below electrical transmission towers in the area, Padilla said there have been no interruptions of power to surrounding communities. At least one communications tower was on fire.
The burning structures were on the northern side of Leona Valley, an agricultural area west of Palmdale known for cherries and wine grapes.
About 500 firefighters are on the scene.
A second blaze, the Briggs fire, burned more than 350 acres south of the 14 Freeway at Indian Canyon Truck Trail and Briggs Road. By late Thursday, firefighters said they had the blaze under control..
The third fire, off Lancaster Road near Gorman, burned about 30 acres before it was put out.
Inspector Matt Levesque of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said no injuries or fatalities have been reported in any of the fires.
In neighboring Kern County, firefighters were banking on cooler weather to help them get the upper hand on two separate blazes that have ravaged more than 17,000 acres and burned nearly three dozen structures.
The fires near Palmdale began on the same day that Los Angeles officials took a helicopter tour of some the region's most fire-prone areas, with the aim of avoiding a repeat of last year's disastrous Station fire.
The aerial tour included La Cañada Flintridge, one of the hardest-hit areas in last summer's wildfires, as well as Griffith Park, Topanga Canyon, the Santa Monica Mountains and other areas. The officials urged residents to take every precaution to protect their homes with brush clearing and other measures.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/30/local/la-me-fire-season-20100730
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