Ash, smoke fill Santa Clarita skies
A wildfire in the Santa Clarita Valley area has burned more than 11,000 acres, prompting mandatory evacuations in some areas and covering much of the Los Angeles basin with smoke and ash.
The Sand fire, which was reported about 2 p.m. Friday, is 10 percent contained, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said Saturday.
About 300 residences in unincorporated Little Tujunga Canyon remained under mandatory evacuation orders. One structure has burned, fire officials said.
Mandatory evacuations for Soledad Canyon have been lifted.
Hot, dry temperatures and wind gusts are expected to hamper the efforts of more than 300 firefighters battling the blaze.
Fanned by gusts of up to 40 mph, the fire burned more than 2,000 acres overnight.
Weather officials warned that Saturday would mark the peak of a regional heat wave.
Forecasters say temperatures in the eastern Santa Clarita Valley area — where the fire is raging — are expected to reach up to 106 degrees.
Red-flag warnings remain in effect for much of the region until midnight.
As of Saturday morning, the blaze was “significantly larger,” said Richard Lincon, a public information officer for Los Angeles County Fire Department.
“It’s already heating up here,” Lincon said. “There’s a great possibility that the fire will increase in size.”
Strong winds and high temperatures had driven the flames into new pockets of the mountainous area Saturday, Lincon said. Steep hillsides and deep ravines have prevented fire crews from heading into some areas to dig lines that could keep the fire from spreading further.
“Our safety, as well as everyone who lives in this area, is the utmost priority,” Lincon said. “We’re trying to make sure that everyone is safe.”
Meanwhile, a cloud of smoke blanketed much of the Los Angeles region Saturday morning, prompting the South Coast Air Quality Management District to issue a smoke advisory that will remain in effect until midnight Sunday.
People are advised to avoid vigorous outdoor activity, and children, older adults and those with respiratory or heart disease should remain indoors. Residents also are being asked to keep their windows and doors closed or seek alternative shelter.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has extended a heat alert through the weekend.
It will remain in place throughout Saturday for the Los Angeles basin and the San Gabriel Valley and continue through Sunday in hotter regions of the county, including Pomona and the San Fernando, Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys.
“When temperatures are high, even a few hours of exertion may cause severe dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke,” said Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, L.A. County’s interim health officer. “Extreme heat such as this is not just an inconvenience, it can be dangerous and even deadly.”
The fast-growing Sand fire, which originated on the eastern edge of the Santa Clarita Valley next to the 14 Freeway at Soledad Canyon Road, spread southeast into the northern flanks of the Angeles National Forest, a terrain of steep arroyos and dry chaparral.
Robbie Munroe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said winds won’t exceed 25 mph Saturday but will remain “just gusty enough to cause problems” for firefighters. The winds are expected to shift from north to south later in the afternoon, and fire officials said the gusts could cause concern.
Conditions remain very dry, with only 5 percent to 10 percent relative humidity in the area where the blaze is burning, Munroe said.
The combination of low humidity, high temperatures and significant winds creates conditions that make fires more dangerous — more likely to spread quickly and more erratic, Munroe said.