Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Calif. fire destroys only two homes
Associated Press
Published October 2, 2005
LOS ANGELES - A wildfire that torched more than 23,000 acres on the edge of the city left a surprising legacy - it destroyed just two homes, a remarkably small number given the size and ferocity of the blaze.
A break in dry, windy weather and a speedy, pinpoint response by thousands of firefighters combined to spare scores of homes that stood in the path of the flames, officials said.
"It's thinking ahead of where you think the fire is going to be - looking at weather reports, wind speed, humidity, past burn patterns," said Battalion Chief Lou Roupoli of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Coming just weeks after the chaotic response to Hurricane Katrina, the textbook effort in Los Angeles County prompted this reaction from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Spectacular."
The fire began Wednesday afternoon in the Chatsworth area of northwest Los Angeles, then spread quickly in high winds.
By Saturday afternoon, firefighting equipment was heading elsewhere, the blaze mostly out.
There were six injuries, none serious. Neighborhoods were reopened to residents.
Meanwhile, firefighters battled another wildfire Saturday in Burbank that blackened about 1,100 acres. About 70 homes in the rugged area 10 miles north of downtown Los Angeles were evacuated as a precaution.
Hundreds of emergency personnel were fighting a third fire about 70 miles east of Los Angeles in and around the San Bernardino National Forest.
[Last modified October 2, 2005, 04:39:27]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
