Battle rages to control nearly 30,000 acre Calif. fire
The Powerhouse Fire that began burning Thursday in theAngeles National Forest, blackening about 29,500 acres and destroying ordamaging 15 homes, is not expected to be fully contained until a week fromtoday, authorities said.
With containment at 40 percent as of late this morning, mandatoryevacuations remain in effect for the communities of Lake Hughes and ElizabethLake and for parts of Green Valley, said Ron Ashdale of the U.S. ForestService.
About 2,000 people have been evacuated, and it was unclear how long theevacuation order would remain in place.
“Fire officials are now developing a re-entry plan for evacuatedresidents,” incident commanders said in a statement released this morning.
Fifteen homes have been damaged — six of them destroyed — and 1,210structures have been threatened, according to Ashdale, who said nearly 2,200firefighters have been deployed to fight the blaze. Ground crews were beingassisted today by crews in 11 helicopters and eight fixed-wing aircraft.
Meanwhile, authorities were monitoring large power lines andtransformers running through the fire region.
“The power lines serve residents through the entire West Coast intoWashington state,” this morning’s statement says. “A redistribution of powergrids and lines must be done if the fire impacts the lines. … If the firecontinues to move on its current path, it has the potential to move into anarea that houses a solar farm.”
Sustained winds of about 25 miles per hour gusting to 40 mph pushed thefire across the California Aqueduct and into the Antelope Valley on Sundayafternoon. Two tongues of fire caused problems Sunday near Muntz Ranch, about12 miles west of Lancaster, and 10 miles farther west, near the CaliforniaState Poppy Reserve east of Lebec.
The fire spread out in the linear east-west valley holding the smallcommunities of Lake Hughes and Elizabeth Lake. Portions of the vast area theblaze already has consumed have not been touched by fire since 1929, USFSofficials said.
Schools, community centers and parks at Lake Hughes and Elizabeth Lakeappeared from the air to have been singed, but not destroyed.
By Sunday afternoon, three major fires burned in steep canyons nearthose two areas, while a fourth front was burning to the northwest up PineCanyon Road, into rugged, uninhabited lands east of Interstate 5 at Lebec.
Ashdale said the fire’s northern spread was stopped Sunday along a mile-long stretch of the California Aqueduct between Price Canyon and Indian Spring,west of Quartz Hill.
Gusty winds from the south blew embers past fire lines, triggering spotfires in the desert brush. Ground crews were rushed there as helicopters dumpedwater on them.
A decrease in wind velocity today and a rise in humidity could help inthe battle to control the blaze, USFS officials said.
Roads that remained closed today included Bouquet Canyon Road north ofSanta Clarita and Lake Hughes Road east of Castaic.
Traffic was blocked on most roads in the foothills southwest ofPalmdale, and huge flames were burning along Pine Canyon Road. The backcountryin the Angeles National Forest north and west of the blaze was also declaredoff limits.
