More homes, horses lost to flames
A destructive wildfire driven by strong winds swept through northern San Diego County on Thursday, moving toward Oceanside and other coastal communities and forcing new evacuations as it consumed homes.
The fast-moving Lilac fire spread through the Bonsall area, charring 4,100 acres along the Highway 76 corridor, destroying 20 structures and threatening 5,000 more. Powerful Santa Ana winds fanned flames westward.
“People need to be ready because this fire could make it all the way through Oceanside to the coast if it continues,” Nick Schuler, a division chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told reporters Thursday evening. The 76 was closed at Interstate 15.
Three people were burned when they couldn’t escape flames quickly enough, while another was hospitalized with smoke inhalation. Two firefighters were also injured, one with smoke inhalation and another after dislocating a shoulder. The latter popped his shoulder back in and returned to work, authorities said.
Numerous horses died or were injured when flames ripped through the San Luis Rey Training Center, a thoroughbred racehorse facility on Camino Del Rey, destroying most of the barns. Trainers initially tried to coax the horses onto a main track at the center, but as flames encroached, they simply set the panicky horses free.
Workers risked getting trampled to let the animals out.
“There are horses running all loose down here,” trainer Cliff Sise told bloodhorse.com, which covers horse racing and breeding. “People have lost horses. Barns have burned down. It just happened so fast that [we] had to do something.”
Residents of Vista, Oceanside, Fallbrook, Bonsall and the Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton who weren’t already ordered to evacuate were told to be ready to flee. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in the county as night-f lying helicopters prepared to make water drops.
“This is a wind-driven fire that is moving at a dangerous rate,” Cal Fire Capt. Jon Heggie said. “We’re trying our best to get out ahead of it to try and keep people safe.”
In Murrieta, a fast-moving wildfire destroyed at least one home and triggered evacuations, most of which were lifted late Thursday. The blaze, reported about 1:15 p.m. near Los Alamos and Liberty roads, scorched 300 acres in about three hours and was 10% contained, ac-
cording to Cal Fire. About 300 firefighters were tackling flames moving through heavy fuels. Dozens of residents were left without power.
The new blazes come as fatigued firefighters in Los Angeles County began to make progress on major fires that together have destroyed or damaged more than 30 homes and prompted the evacuations of more than 100,000 people.
The 475-acre Skirball fire in Bel-Air had not grown in nearly a day, a testament to the overnight assault that crews launched on the western and northern edges of the fire, close to the 405 Freeway and multimillion-dollar homes, officials said.
The 30% containment figure means firefighters have cleared brush to make a fire break, or hauled in hoses, to stop the blaze from advancing along about onefifth of the fire’s perimeter.
“We’re not done,” said L.A. Fire Department Chief Ralph Terrazas. “We’re in the middle of this event.”
One firefighter was injured Wednesday and treated for burns on his neck.
The LAFD tested a new technology Thursday: a drone that used thermal imaging to seek out hotspots so crews could be sent to areas that need attention.
The Skirball fire destroyed four houses on Casiano Road, Moraga Drive and Linda Flora Drive, and damaged a dozen others. The Creek fire in the mountains above Sylmar was more destructive. It had burned 15,323 acres, destroyed 15 structures and damaged an additional 15. By Thursday evening, the blaze was 20% contained. Authorities expected that number to rise and lifted most evacuation orders, allowing many residents to return home.
While flames were burning much less intensely, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti warned residents that it’s still an insecure time.
“We still have winds that, through Saturday, can pick up without any notice,” he said.
Carlos Angulo, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier, wound his way up and down Kagel Canyon Road on Thursday, familiar with the neighbors on his route. But now the street was lined with charred trees, melted playground equipment and destroyed homes, casualties of the Creek fire.
Angulo, who has worked this route for about 13 years, pulled up outside the ashes of one home. He greeted the owner by name, as well as another resident — handing them both their mail.
“I’m going to hold the mail for you in the office until you find a place or something,” Angulo told the woman, who was seeing her destroyed home for the first time.
The woman he’d delivered mail to was shaken, as she looked at what was left of her home.
“They’re like my family. I see them every day,” Angulo said. “It’s very sad.”