Mandatory Evacuation Orders Announced for Nearly 500 Homes

Big Tujunga Canyon resident Rhonda Keermann views the area where several feet of mud has blocked Big Tujunga Canyon Road, preventing her from leaving, in the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday. A skiploader later cleared an area for her to pass. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

After plenty of mandatory evacuations prompted by the Station Fire last September, some 489 homes in fire-scorched areas will once again go under mandatory evacuation orders tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., affecting neighborhoods La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Acton, unincorporated areas of Glendale and the City of Glendale.

Five inches have already fallen in the foothills since Sunday, but they've seen nothing yet: four to eight inches are expected tomorrow with one or more inch pouring down per hour. That heavy drenching significantly increases the risk of debris and mud flows.

If anything does happen, residents are asked to prepare for a few-day stay away from home, with returning to their neighborhoods on Monday in the worst case scenario. Police hope to have the neighborhoods cleared by 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Although the evacuations are a precautionary step, there is nothing illegal about not heeding warnings. Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies will be keeping track of who stays and who leaves, but persistently insist residents leave. "You win the race. If you evacuate, you beat mother nature at this tragic game," said Chief Michael P. Freeman at a press conference.