This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/23/california-wildfires-evacuations-heat-temperatures

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
California wildfires prompt warnings of extreme danger amid evacuations California wildfires prompt warnings of extreme danger amid evacuations
(about 4 hours later)
Continuing heat and wildfires that have forced the evacuations of hundreds of homes in California led on Saturday to red-flag warnings of extreme fire danger amid gusty winds and scorching, dry air. Wildfires burned out of control on Saturday in mountains north of Los Angeles and near Big Sur on California’s scenic Central Coast, posing a threat to some 1,300 homes, authorities said.
Related: Welcome to the 'heat dome': no, you're not going to evaporateRelated: Welcome to the 'heat dome': no, you're not going to evaporate
For a second day, triple-digit highs were forecast for many regions of southern California. On Friday, the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles topped out at 111F (44C) while Palm Springs recorded 115F (46C), and even San Diego and beaches hit the 80s. Southern California firefighters faced another day of triple-digit heat from a dome of high pressure over the region. While Central Coast temperatures were more moderate, conditions included winds and low humidity.
It reached 106F (41C) in Santa Clarita, just north of Los Angeles, where a brushfire raged up tinder-dry ridges near State Route 14. As many as 400 homes and a recreational vehicle park were ordered evacuated. The fire in northern Los Angeles County grew to more than eight and a half square miles, darkening skies with smoke that spread across the city and suburbs, reducing the sun to an orange disk at times.
“It just continues to move. It’s not slowing down,” the Los Angeles County fire inspector Joey Marron said late on Friday night. The South Coast Air Quality Management District warned that at times air would reach unhealthy levels.
No homes had burned and the fire was heading southward into Angeles National Forest and away from densely populated areas north of it in Santa Clarita, which has about 180,000 residents. The fire erupted on Friday afternoon in the Sand Canyon area near State Route 14 as the region was gripped by high heat and very low humidity. About 300 homes were under mandatory or voluntary evacuations, but none had burned.
“I got all my tenants out of the RV park, and for the people that weren’t there and still have dogs, I broke into their trailers and got their dogs out,” Kurtis Bell, manager of River’s End RV Park, told KCAL-TV. Hundreds of county and Angeles National Forest firefighters battled the blaze, aided by three dozen water-dropping helicopters and retardant-dropping airplanes.
Driven by 20mph winds, the afternoon fire quickly enveloped more than five square miles of brush near a freeway, State Route 14. Some lanes were shut and Metrolink train service in the area was halted. Huge flames leapt on ridgetops and smoke could be seen miles away in downtown Los Angeles. “It just continues to move. It’s not slowing down,” county fire inspector Joey Marron said late Friday.
“I got all my tenants out of the RV park and for the people that weren’t there and still have dogs, I broke into their trailers and got their dogs out,” Kurtis Bell, manager of River’s End RV Park, told KCAL-TV.
Metrolink train service in the area was halted on Friday and on Saturday was subject to delays.
About 300 miles up the coast, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection firefighters battled a nearly three-square-mile blaze in rugged mountains north of the majestic Big Sur region.
The blaze five miles south of Garrapata State Park posed a threat to 1,000 homes and the community of Palo Colorado was ordered evacuated, Cal Fire said. A middle school in Carmel-by-the-Sea was readied as an evacuation center.
More than 300 firefighters were on the lines. Highway 1 and businesses in the Big Sur area, a major summer tourist destination, remained open.
For a second day, triple-digit highs were forecast for many regions of southern California. On Friday, the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles topped out at 111F (44C) while Palm Springs recorded 115F (46C), and even San Diego and beaches hit the 80s. It reached 106F (41C) in Santa Clarita, just north of Los Angeles.
Driven by 20mph winds, the fire near State Route 14 quickly enveloped more than five square miles of brush. Huge flames leapt on ridgetops and smoke could be seen miles away in downtown Los Angeles.
“You could see the fire [on] the top of that mountain, the tops of all these mountains, 20ft up in the air,” Bell said. “It absolutely looked like the apocalypse.”“You could see the fire [on] the top of that mountain, the tops of all these mountains, 20ft up in the air,” Bell said. “It absolutely looked like the apocalypse.”
Night-time images showed long glowing lines on the ridges, topped by soaring swaths of flames and walls of smoke.Night-time images showed long glowing lines on the ridges, topped by soaring swaths of flames and walls of smoke.
In the steep, rugged canyons near the central California coast, a fire near Big Sur, in Monterey County, burned nearly one and a half square miles of brush, grass and redwoods. Garrapata state park, south of Carmel, was closed for the weekend.
It was heading toward the Big Sur forest, known for its beauty, and was expected to burn more fiercely at night as moist ocean air retreated and warm, dry air from inland began blowing toward the sea, state fire spokesman Jonathan Pangburn said.
No homes were immediately threatened in the sparsely populated area.