One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Station Fire Spreads to 35,200 Acres, Continues to Burn Out of Control
Photo by East of West LA via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
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. The fire's movement is described as unstoppable; it is "knocking at the door of JPL," and "creeping down slopes toward civilization," in neighborhoods like La Cañada-Flintridge. Three civilians were taken from the Big Tujunga area to Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, and "one firefighter was hospitalized for heat exhaustion." 34 recreational buildings along Big Tujunga Canyon Road were also lost to the fire. The Station Fire is considered the "largest and most dangerous wildfire" currently burning in California, according to a live on-air report on abc7, and Governor Schwarzenegger is expected to speak shortly regarding the blaze.
Evacuation centers are up in the following places: La Cañada High School (La Cañada-Flintridge), Crescenta Valley High School (La Crescenta), Jackson Elementary (Altadena), and Highland High School (in Palmdale, for Acton-area residents). Animals are being accepted at several shelters in neighborhoods adjacent or near to those affected by evacuation orders. KNX1070 now reports that the Glendale Unified School District (which includes CVHS in La Crescenta) will not open for its first day tomorrow due to the fires.
Hot temperatures are expected today in the upper 90s and low 100s, but luckily there is little to no wind to exacerbate an already terrifying situation from Altadena to Acton.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
