Calif. blaze reverses course, threatens inland homes
Rain could lend a hand to firefighters
CAMARILLO, Calif. — It seemed that each time wind-driven embers sparked new blazes or a wall of fire leaped a Southern California hillside and came charging toward hundreds of homes, an army of firefighters was there to either douse or direct the flames away from humanity.
As a result, the fire that broke out Thursday quickly moved through the Camarillo Springs area without destroying a single home.
Firefighters were hoping for the same success Friday, as the fire raged out of control miles away near the coast.
Fifteen structures in the area 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles sustained some damage, and other homes in a wooded area were being threatened Friday by the blaze that had roared across 43 square miles. Some 900 firefighters using engines, aircraft, bulldozers and other equipment had it just 20 percent contained.
On Friday, the huge wildfire stormed back through canyons toward inland neighborhoods when winds reversed direction. A new evacuation was ordered in a Thousand Oaks neighborhood along a two-mile stretch of road overlooking smoke-filled coastal canyons.
However, cooler, calmer ocean air was beginning to move ashore, raising humidity and even bringing a chance of rain by Sunday night, which should aid firefighters.
After jumping Pacific Coast Highway 20 miles north of Malibu, the fire burned for a time on a beach shooting range at the Point Mugu Naval Air Station.
The blaze is one of more than 680 wildfires in the state so far this year — about 200 more than average.
On Friday, some 3,000 firefighters were battling a handful of blazes scattered around the state.
In Riverside County, a 4 ½ -squaremile fire that destroyed a home burned for a third day in mountains north of Banning. It was 65 percent contained.
Fifty-five miles away from Camarillo, in the hills above Glendale, a blaze broke out Friday afternoon, prompting the closure of several roads as it quickly charred 75 acres.
In Tehama County in Northern California, the size of a wildfire north of Butte Meadows was revised down from more than 15 square miles to 10 square miles, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. The fire was 10 percent contained.