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Three arrested over California wildfires after 2,000 residents evacuated
Three arrested over California wildfires after 2,000 residents evacuated
(about 2 hours later)
Nearly 2,000 residents were evacuated and two homes burned in a wildfire that started early Thursday when three people tossed paper into a campfire in the dangerously dry foothills of southern California's San Gabriel mountains, authorities said.
Hundreds of firefighters backed by helicopters and planes are battling a wildfire which has triggered evacuations and air quality alerts across parts of Los Angeles county.
Embers from the fire fanned by gusty Santa Ana winds quickly spread into neighborhoods below where residents were awakened in the pre-dawn darkness and ordered to evacuate.
The blaze raced across the foothills of Glendora on Thursday, scorching 1,700 acres, coating the air with smoke and ash and forcing 2000 people to flee.
The three suspects, all men in their 20s, were arrested on charges of recklessly starting the fire that spread smoke across the Los Angeles basin and cast an eerie cloud all the way to the coast.
City officials declared a state of emergency as dramatic images showed huge flames consuming trees and at least two homes.
One resident suffered minor burns in the neighborhood abutting Angeles National Forest, just north of the San Gabriel Valley community of Glendora, according to Los Angeles County fire chief Daryl L Osby.
Three men who apparently let a campfire get out of control were charged with recklessly starting the blaze, which started around 5.50am local time. By 10am columns of smoke were visible from Hollywood and Orange County. Cars on the 10 freeway emerged from the area coated in dust and ash.
"Because of our preparations, we were able to save hundreds, if not thousands, of homes this morning," Osby said.
Warm temperatures and 30mph winds fanned the fast-moving blaze, putting at risk residents who stayed to try to protect property rather than flee.
At least 2 ½ square miles of dry brush were charred in the wilderness area about 25 miles north-east of downtown Los Angeles.
Their lives were more important, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Scott Miller. “Act quickly. Don’t sit around and contemplate what you should do.”
Police said the three suspects were detained near Colby Trail, where the fire was believed to have started. At least one was homeless, Glendora police chief Tim Staab said. One of the suspects is from Irwindale and the other from Glendora.
Authorities urged residents from the San Gabriel valley to Pomona valley to stay indoors and said air quality could worsen, potentially affecting people with heart and lung problems as far away as Long Beach. Schools were shut and the LA fire department ordered mandatory evacuations.
The notorious Santa Anas, linked to the spread of southern California's worst wildfires, picked up at daybreak. The extremely dry Santa Anas blow downslope and can push fires out of the mountains and into communities below. The area, which has been historically dry, has been buffeted by the winds which have raised temperatures into the 80s. The Santa Anas typically begin in the fall and last through winter into spring. A wet winter reduces fire risk, but the whole state is experiencing historically dry conditions.
Two “super-scooper” tanker planes and eight helicopters helped some 700 firefighters battle the blaze.
TV news helicopters spotted embers igniting palm trees in residential yards as firefighters with hoses beat back flames lapping at the edges of homes. Homes are nestled in canyons and among rugged ridges that made access difficult.
Soon after the blaze began arson investigators accompanied firefighting and police detained two men, Clifford Eugene Henry, 22, of Glendora, and Jonathan Carl Jarrell, 23, of Irwindale. The US Forest Service detained a third suspect, Steven Aguirre, 21, described as a homeless man from Los Angeles.
Glendora police said officers went door to door ordering residents of the city of 50,000 to leave. Citrus College, located in the heart of Glendora, canceled classes for the day.
They were charged with recklessly starting the fire, Glendora police chief Tim Staab told a news conference. “We did receive a call from a citizen who advised that two people suspiciously were walking away from the fire. They were tossing papers into [a] campfire and a breeze reportedly kicked up and set this fire.”
Several schools were closed. The Glendora unified school district closed Goddard middle school, which was being used as a fire department command post. District spokeswoman Michelle Hunter said 900 students attend the school, which is near the fire and within the evacuation area.
Later he told the Los Angeles Times there was no evidence the men started the fire on purpose. The trio had been sitting around a campfire trying to stay warm when a gust of wind came up. “That’s what started the fire,” the chief said. One of the suspects admitted starting the fire and was "apologetic," Staab added.
Between 1,700 and 2,000 residents were evacuated and the order included 880 homes in Glendora and the neighboring foothill city of Azusa. Many residents, some wearing masks, used garden hoses to wet the brush around their houses, even as firefighters ordered them to leave.
Nancy Miranda, the officer who detained the first two men, said they were breathless, covered in ash and reeked of smoke. A search of their backpacks yielded cigarettes and cannabis.
"Don't waste any more time with the water. Time to go," a firefighter ordered.
It was named the Colby fire because it began near the intersection of Glendora mountain road and Colby motorway.
More than 700 firefighters were on the scene. The Los Angeles County fire department deployed seven engines and three helicopters to the fire, which was reported around 5.50am local time and grew rapidly. Officials added to the firefighting aircraft with a water-dropping Super Scooper plane.
The fire follows a dry year – and exceptionally parched winter - which has prompted warnings of severe drought and water rationing across California.
Ash rained down on the city, said Jonathan Lambert, 31, general manager of Classic Coffee.
"We're underneath a giant cloud of smoke," he said. "It's throwing quite the eerie shadow over a lot of Glendora."
A man was photographed on the roof of a home talking on a cellphone as he surveyed the smoke-choked sky.
The smoke spread across metropolitan Los Angeles to the coast and was visible from space in Weather Service satellite photos. The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory and urged residents to avoid unnecessary outdoor activities in areas directly impacted by the smoke.
Jennifer Riedel, 43, anxiously watched as the orange-hued plume descended on her neighborhood in Azusa.
"I woke up from the rattling windows from the helicopters overhead, and I heard the police over the PA, but I couldn't hear what they were saying," Riedel said. "I'm hearing from neighbors that we're evacuating, but I'm waiting for a knock on the door."
Riedel said her husband left for work early and she was getting her children, ages five and seven, ready to evacuate.
"They're a little nervous, but I'm keeping calm for them," she said. "I've been loading the car up with important papers and getting the kids dressed. We'll just take some essentials and get going if we have to."
The last catastrophic fire in the San Gabriel Mountains broke out in 2009 and burned for months. The flames blackened 250 square miles, killed two firefighters and destroyed 209 structures, including 89 homes.
California is in a historically dry era and winter has brought no relief.
Red flag warnings for critical fire weather conditions were posted from Santa Barbara County south through Los Angeles to the US-Mexico border, along the spine of the Sierra Nevada, and in areas east and north of San Francisco Bay.
Fires that struck windy areas of the state earlier in the week were quickly quashed by large deployments of firefighters, aircraft and other equipment before the flames could be stoked by gusts into major conflagrations.
Large parts of southern California below mountain passes, canyons and foothills have been buffeted all week by the region's notorious Santa Ana winds.
Spawned by surface high pressure over the interior of the West, the Santa Anas form as the cold air flows toward southern California, then speeds up and warms as it descends in a rush toward the coast. Some of the most extreme gusts reported by the National Weather Service topped 70mph.
These offshore winds also raise temperatures to summerlike levels. Many areas have enjoyed temperatures well into the 80s.
California is also under the influence of a persistent upper-level ridge of high pressure anchored off its north coast that has also kept the region generally warm, dry and clear.
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