Homes destroyed as heat wave, winds spark brush fires in SoCal
LOS ANGELES — The worst of this week’s heat wave hit Southern California on Friday, sparking several brush fires, including one that was burning numerous homes and other structures in San Diego County.
The most serious of the fires was burning out of control along Interstate 8 near Alpine. The fire jumped through the community of West Willows, engulfing buildings and also burning along a traffic median on the side of the freeway.
Authorities said that more than 350 acres had been burned and that hundreds of people had been evacuated. Officials were still trying to tally the exact number of homes lost. But video from Alpine showed numerous homes and other structures burning as winds pushed the fire through foothill communities.
Resident Enrique Camargo said he ran toward the fire area to check its progress after the evacuation order was made. As he checked on the fire, he said, his wife was home packing the car.
He said he was still not sure if they would follow through with evacuating.
“Let’s see what happens,” Camargo said.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said immediate evacuations were needed in the Highland Mobile Home Park and the surrounding community.
As of 2 p.m., the California Highway Patrol shut down eastbound Interstate 8 lanes. Other road closures included the off-ramp at Willows Road and the on-ramp at Tavern Road.
Another fire forced evacuations near Camp Pendleton.
The blaze broke out about 11:30 a.m. and an hour later was continuing to burn in the Mainside area between Santa Margarita and De Luz, the Marine Corps tweeted.
Officials said evacuations were in place for Lake O’Neill, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the De Luz Child Development Center. Those displaced were being sent to a McDonald’s on base.
A truck fire along the Cajon Pass spread to nearby brush, threatening structures in the Devore Heights area, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The fire quickly grew to 100 acres and is burning off Highway 15 and Kenwood Avenue, north of San Bernardino. Two outside lanes of the 215 Freeway, north of the 15 Freeway, have been closed as a result.
Firefighters also handled smaller blazes in the Angeles National Forest, Montecito Heights, Sylmar and Pacoima near the Hansen Dam.
Even before noon, several places broke heat records for the day, including downtown Los Angeles, which hit 95 degrees, Burbank and Van Nuys. The San Diego County community of Ramona reached its highest recorded temperature — 112 degrees — by 11 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.
It was expected to get hotter in the afternoon, with the National Weather Service forecasting the high in downtown L.A. to reach 106, shattering the July 6 record of 94 degrees. Woodland Hills hit 115 degrees around 1 p.m. Forecasters were also expecting a recordbreaking 115 degrees in Van Nuys and 106 in Long Beach.
“We expect today to be the hottest day,” said Keily Delerme, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Even coastal areas are expected to see temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s.