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Mt Baldy on Fire

9:10 a.m.: UPDATE: 200 firefighters battling blaze threatening homes near Mt. Baldy Village

By Lori Consalvo, staff writer

Article Created: 05/13/2008 09:13:49 AM PDT

MT. BALDY - More than 200 firefighters continued to battle a 35- to 40-acre brush fire that was threatening homes near Mt. Baldy Village this morning. The Buckhorn Fire is burning in steep terrain and being pushed by 20 to 30 mph winds. Fire officials said three to four homes in Bear Canyon have been evacuated after the 4:30 a.m. blaze was reported near Mt. Baldy and Glendora Ridge roads. Mt. Baldy Village was not evacuated as previously reported, but residents stood outside their homes watching the blaze. "The Mt. Baldy Village community, at this time, is not considered threatened," said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Frank Garrido. He also said the fire was some distance from the three or four homes in Bear Canyon and fire crews had been deployed to help protect those homes. Two hikers, described by sheriff's officials as a female and her father, called Pomona police about 7:30 a.m. when they became stranded by the blaze. The call was transferred to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. "They stated they were exhausted and unsure where to go," said sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers. "They could see helicopters but were not able to get their attention." Sheriff's officials sent a helicopter with a hoist to the area to help the hikers. An earlier report that sheriff's deputies evacuated Mt. Baldy Village was inaccurate, Beavers said. But she said Bear Canyon, a residential camp ground, was put under mandatory evacuation.

6:32 a.m.: 20-acre blaze prompts Mt. Baldy Village evacuation

Melissa Pinion-Whitt

Article Created: 05/13/2008 06:34:05 AM PDT

MT. BALDY - Residents of Mt. Baldy Village are being evacuated due to a 20-acre brush fire that is threatening homes in the village, fire dispatchers said. The fire was reported at 4:45 a.m. near Mt. Baldy Road and Glendora Ridge Road, said Ed Pickett, supervising fire dispatcher for Los Angeles County Fire Department. About 200 Los Angeles and San Bernardino County firefighters were battling the blaze, along with the U.S. Forest Service and Mt. Baldy volunteer firefighters. San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies were handling evacuations.

Fire updates

Fire updates can be found at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Santa Anita Canyon on Fire

Brush fire burns in Santa Anita Canyon

Hikers, Scouts briefly trapped by flames

By Janette Williams, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 04/26/2008 11:42:36 PM PDT

• Photo Gallery: Chantry Flat fire

ARCADIA - A slow-moving fire had consumed more than 100 acres of brush in a rugged hillside area of Santa Anita Canyon by Saturday night, and officials ordered more strike teams to the area for a fresh assault on the blaze at daybreak. By 10 P.M. authorities had ordered the evacuation of dozens of homes in the northern portion of Sierra Madre, displacing about 1,000 people said Roger Lowe, Sierra Madre's volunteer Fire Department batallion chief. "(The fire) is in very difficult terrain, and I don't believe it will be contained for 20 to 24 hours," said Roger Lowe, Sierra Madre's Volunteer Fire Department battalion chief. The blaze, which started in a wooded area about a mile north of Arno Drive in north Arcadia, was reported in a 9-1-1 call just before 3p.m., Lowe said.

As night fell Saturday the flames were moving north and west up the ridge, spreading from an area near Chantry Flat, where more than 100 hikers were trapped in the parking lot for several hours earlier in the day. The hikers were led out of the popular recreation area in the late afternoon, officials said, and about three dozen Boy Scouts - who for several hours were kept from leaving Arcadia Wilderness Park about two miles east of the fire - were also escorted out late Saturday afternoon. Until nightfall Saturday, three Los Angeles County helicopters were constantly "landing and taking off" in an area close to the Eaton Canyon Golf Course to load up with water, said Lisa Derderian, spokeswoman for the Pasadena Fire Department. Flights were expected to resume at dawn.

About two hours after the initial five-acre fire was reported it had spread to about 23 acres, but Lowe said the Adams Mule Pack Station, about five miles from the fire line, and a cluster of cabins in the canyon about seven miles away from the blaze, were not at risk. Conditions were tough for fire crews, Lowe said.

"There's only one road up and it's extremely steep, with a lot of decomposed granite" that makes for very slippery conditions. The only injury reported was a firefighter who was taken to a hospital after having an allergic reaction to a bee sting, Lowe said. Flames and plumes of smoke from the vertical fire line were clearly visible from Santa Anita Avenue and the Foothill (210) Freeway throughout the afternoon. About 75 firefighters and units from Arcadia, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Monrovia responded to the blaze. Los Angeles County Fire Department provided water tankers and an observation plane. Fire retardant drops were made throughout the afternoon in an effort to stop the fire from moving over the top of the ridge. Lowe said ground vehicles were able to get up to the fire, which was fed by "light fuel" brush that burns very quickly. Winds were a factor in the fire's spread, he said, "But the direction is very predictable, and we don't anticipate a big wind shift." Residents close to the start of the three-mile stretch of road into Chantry Flat who came out to look at the fire were quickly shooed inside their houses by police, and roads in the area were blocked off to cars and pedestrians in a radius of several miles. Temperatures were in the 90s Saturday, but Lowe said the fire came early in the season when the brush still contains some moisture. "But five months from now this kind of fire could react completely differently," he said. "It could be much larger and more aggressive, with more potential for winds."

janette.williams@sgvn.com

(626) 578-6300, Ext. 4482

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