WAR OUT WEST
Calif. gov issues fire warning, sees gains
GOV. JERRY BROWN warned of wildfires raging on Christmas Day as Southern California firefighters gained some traction Saturday in day six of the devastating blazes.
While the fiery tide turned a bit, authorities warned the returning Santa Ana winds could blow any optimism away before the end of the weekend.
More than 175,000 acres were destroyed so far as the windwhipped flames devoured everything in their path, including more than 1,000 buildings reduced to ash and rubble.
“This is the new normal, and this could be something that happens every year or every few years,” said Brown, pointing the finger at climate change. “We’re about to have a firefighting Christmas.”
Progress was finally reported as the powerful winds began to diminish Friday, giving the 8,500 firefighters a shot at bringing the half-dozen blazes under some degree of control.
The Los Angeles County fires in Bel-Air, Santa Clarita and Sylmar were increasingly tamed, while the Creek Fire was 80% contained and the Rye Fire was deemed 65% contained.
But forecasters warned the winds of 40 to 50 mph could return to the bone-dry region by Saturday night, fanning the lingering flames into new disasters.
And the largest fire, in Ventura County, forced new evacuations and threatened the Los Padres National Forest, sanctuary for the endangered California condor.
“We’re facing a new reality in this state, where fires threatened people’s lives, their properties, their neighborhoods and billions and billions of dollars,” said Brown after touring Ventura.
Remarkably, as hundreds of thousands of Californians fled their homes and the fires raged out of control, only a single death was reported.
Capt. Kendal Bortisser of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention acknowledged that first responders were often powerless in fighting the blaze.
“When a tornado hits the Midwest, there’s no stopping it,” he said. “When a hurricane hits the East Coast, there’s no stopping it. When the Santa Ana winds come in, there’s no stopping them.”
For those Southern Californians permitted back into their homes Saturday, the damage was difficult to process.
Dick Marsala wore sunglasses to hide his teary eyes inside the stillsmoldering remains of his home in the Rancho Monserate County Club retirement community.
“I’ll be darned,” he said after discovering a framed photo with him playing golf had somehow survived.