Results tagged “evacuations”

The Forest Service lifted mandatory evacuations for the Wrightwood area at noon today. The Sheep Fire prompted around 6,000 to 8,000 people to evacuate the area near the San Bernardino National Forest on the San Gabriel Mountains.

The Sheep Fire broke out around 2:30 yesterday afternoon in the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Bernardino National Forest and continues to burn between Lytle Creek and Lone Pine Canyons. The blaze has now grown to 3,500 acres and is reported as being 10% contained, with about 1,000 personnel working to control the fire, according to InciWeb.

The Station Fire continues to hold the San Gabriel Mountains under siege as the northeastern flank of the 35,000+ acre blaze rages in the Acton area, continues to burn out of control with dangerous hotspots near homes in neighborhoods of La Crescenta, and could pose a threat to Mount Wilson (where 22 broacast stations have communication towers). The fire remains at around the 5% containment level. Here are some updates and information at this hour:

Evacuation centers have been opened in two more schools to shelter residents who are being asked to leave their homes in the Antelope Valley due to the Station Fire. In addition to the first evacuation center opened in the region at Highland High School in Palmdale, shelters are now accepting evacuees at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita and Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga. The Glendale Unified School District announced early this morning they were canceling all classes on what would have been the first day of the school year; the GUSD is housing one evacuation center at Crescenta Valley High in La Crescenta. The La Cañada Unified School District, which is housing an evacuation center at La Cañada High, is expected to announce later today if they, too, will close tomorrow and postpone their first day of school.

In just a few short hours since dawn, the Station Fire is now reportedly burning over 35,000 acres, and has spawned a new set of evacuations. Deputies are now ordering out residents of "Crown Valley, Soledad Canyon and Aliso Canyon as the fire [has] moved northwest along the Angeles Forest Highway," reports the Pasadena Star-News.

Burning over challenging terrain that has not been scorched in decades, the Station Fire in La Cañada Flintridge grew wildly overnight, and has prompted a more extensive set of evacuations. The Pasadena Star-News reports:

More mandatory evacuations were ordered early Saturday morning for Gould Mesa Motorway, North Starlight Crest Drive, Ridge Court and Greenridge Drive, effective immediately, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The wildfire blazing in the hills of Santa Barabra continued to burn through the night, and is now closing in on homes. The Jesusita fire has now grown to 420 acres, and is forcing approximately 1,200 residents to evacuate from 2,000 threatened homes. A Red Cross shelter has been set up at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta. Arrangements have been made to accommodate animals as well.

The LAPD announced yesterday, "with a high degree of confidence," that all residents from the Oakridge Mobile Home Park safely escaped the Sayre Fire, which destroyed 479 homes in the Sylmar neighborhood. "While this was abundantly good news and a testament to the bravery of a number good neighbors and members of the Police and Fire Departments, it does not fully relieve the Police Department of the responsibility for a proper accounting of all evacuees," the LAPD said in a statement this morning.

Firefighters in Orange County are currently fighting two reported brush fires. A fire "in Corona near Green River Road and the westbound Riverside (91) Freeway" was reported in the 9 o'clock hour this morning, and now reports of a fire in Yorba Linda in an as-of-yet unspecified area are both threatening homes as well as necessitating freeway closures and evacuations. CBS2.com reports that "the 91 Freeway was closed between Green River Road and the Corona (71) Expressway at 9:45 a.m. Traffic is also being stopped on the Riverside (91) Freeway between Orange and Riverside counties." Immediate evacuations of the area have been ordered. The Yorba Linda fire is prompting evacuations of the area to the East of Gypsum Canyon, which, according to a live report on KABC-7 is the area on Page 741 of the current Thomas Guide map book.

The La Jolla Fire, eponymously named after the canyon currently ablaze in Point Mugu State Park north of Malibu, has grown to 32 acres, but firefighters have 50% of the blaze contained, according to the Ventura County Fire Department's webpage. Downed power lines, most likely due to winds, are suspected to be the cause of the Sesnon Fire, according to "sources close to the investigation," per ABC7's Twitter. Additionally, all evacuations for the Marek Fire have been lifted.

The Sesnon Fire in Porter Ranch, which has now burned around 2,000 acres, has prompted the following neighborhoods to be under mandatory evacuation: Box Canyon, Woosley Canyon, Bell Canyon, Lake Manor, Brown Canyon, Twin Lakes and Dayton Canyon. Basically, the message is if you're in Porter Ranch or to the West of, leave. For complete coverage, follow our "wildfire" tag by clicking here.

On the fourth day of the fire in Sierra Madre, most of the 1000 residents were allowed back home and schools reopened today. 59% of the fire is contained with a knockdown expected by Friday. Cooler temperatures and higher humidity that is predicted for today will aid the firefighters in their fight.

While 300-400 people are being let back into their homes on the Eastside of the fire in Sierra Madre, Fifty-one homes in Pasadena were evacuated late this afternoon, according to the Pasadena Star News:

Hear that sucking sound? The media's commitment to learning from its many recent mistakes in reporting ethics and the semantics thereof is again being sucked out of the collective memory hole. Two years ago, Hurricane Katrina survivors were initially referred to by numerous media outlets as "refugees." While "refugee" can be inferred to be descriptive of one who "takes refuge," the fact is that -- at least since the 1951 approval of the UN Convention...