Calif. wildfire guts 18 homes
Man’s body found inside burned vehicle
LOS ANGELES — Flames raced down a steep hillside “like a freight train,” leaving smoldering remains of homes and warnings that more communities should be ready to flee the wildfire churning through tinder-dry canyons in Southern California, authorities said Sunday.
Planes and more than a dozen helicopters dropped water and retardant on the blaze sparked Friday that has destroyed 18 homes and blackened more than 34 square miles of brush on ridgelines near the city of Santa Clarita. About 300 miles up the coast, crews were battling another fire spanning more than 16 square miles outside the scenic Big Sur region.
Near Santa Clarita, residents of some 1,500 homes were evacuated, and winds were pushing flames northeast through Angeles National Forest. More than 1,600 firefighters were battling the flames threatening homes and commercial buildings. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
The body of a man was discovered Saturday in a burned sedan outside a home in the fire zone. Los Angeles County sheriff ’s officials are investigating the death but said there was no evidence it was a crime.
The fire destroyed sets at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita, which has Old Weststyle buildings used for movie locations. It also forced a nonprofit sanctuary for rescued exotic creatures to evacuate 340 of its more than 400 animals, including Bengal tigers and a mountain lion.
North on the Central Coast, a blaze consuming brush in mountains near Big Sur was threatening about 1,650 homes.