U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Michelle Caldwell says the risk to homes is “significantly reduced” Saturday as crews hold the fire line to the north, south and west.

The blaze, which claimed the lives of two firefighters, has burned over 242 square miles and more than 76 homes. It is 42 percent contained.

A reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist responsible.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The ferocious wildfire burning north of Los Angeles has turned into a creeping giant, steadily chewing through thick and dry chaparral on its eastern flank. While crews report good progress, the blaze that claimed the lives of two firefighters was far from being fully contained.

Investigators, meanwhile, were working to find the arsonist responsible for the huge wildfire that has burned through 241 square miles, or 154,655 acres, of the Angeles National Forest. It was 42 percent contained Friday. More than 76 homes and dozens of other structures have been destroyed.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger offered a $100,000 reward Friday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprit.

In the rugged terrain of the San Gabriel Wilderness, fire officials relied on aerial water drops to slow the flames and the backbreaking work of hand crews to build fire lines. While flames inched down steep canyons, crews defended a cluster of church camps and a bar along the Angeles Crest Highway. The fire was about five miles north of the foothill communities of Monrovia and Sierra Madre late Friday.

“A hundred-year-old fuel bed has a lot to burn,” said Deputy Incident Commander Carlton Joseph. “So we really need to button this up.”

The weekend weather forecast called for cooler temperatures and slightly higher humidity.

At least a dozen investigators are working to analyze clues found at a charred hillside, including incendiary material reported to have been found there. Officials said the fire was arson, but were still trying to find whoever was responsible and understand how it was set.

“We are in the early stages, just beginning to put things together,” said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Liam Gallagher, who is heading the murder investigation. “Firefighters losing their lives in the line of duty is an added incentive, but we work every case to the fullest.”

Near a large shade tree where crews get their twice daily briefings, firefighters set up a makeshift memorial for Capt. Tedmund Hall and Specialist Arnaldo Quinones. The fallen firefighters helped save about 60 members of an inmate fire crew Sunday as flames approached their camp when they set a backfire that allowed the group to get to safety. The pair died when their truck plunged 800 feet down a steep mountain road.

Most wildfires are caused by human activity, and government statistics show that people were faulted for 5,208 wildfires in Southern California in 2008, the highest number since at least 2001. Between 2006 and 2008, Southern California was the only region of the country to see a significant jump in the number of wildfires blamed on people.

Still, very few of the forest fires lead to criminal or civil cases. The U.S. Forest Service recorded nearly 400 arson wildfires since 2005, records show.

The number of firefighters assigned to the Station fire continued to grow to more than 5,244, and a mini-city sprung up at a park in the Lake View Terrace neighborhood, complete with rows of showers, a mess hall that served firefighters 5,000-plus calorie meals each day and souvenir T-shirt vendors.

The cost of fighting the fire was estimated at $37 million so far.

source: news.yahoo.com

.

Deputy incident commander Carlton Joseph said it wasn’t known whether the fire was set accidentally or whether it was arson. Investigators are working on determining the cause.

Carlton said authorities have leads that brought them to the conclusion that human beings started the blaze, but he would not give any further information. He noted that lightning had been ruled out as having sparked the wildfire.
The 140,000-acre blaze erupted Aug. 26. The ignition point has only been identified as mile marker 29 on Angeles Crest Highway.

Firefighters made more progress Wednesday against the giant wildfire that has ravaged a national forest north of Los Angeles, with another day of cooperative weather providing a big assist to beleaguered fire crews.

The blaze in the Angeles National Forest had burned nearly 219 square miles, or 140,150 acres, by early Wednesday. Firefighters have created a perimeter around 22 percent of the blaze, largely by removing brush with bulldozers and setting controlled burns. Bulldozers still have 95 miles of fire line to build.

“The crews are making excellent progress based on the improved weather conditions,” U.S. Forest Service incident commander Mike Dietrich at a Wednesday news conference.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the fire area Wednesday morning and served breakfast to firefighters, scooping Cream of Wheat into paper bowls and giving them plenty of protein so “they get all pumped up for the next fight out there with those fires.”

The blaze has destroyed more than five dozen houses, killed two firefighters and forced thousands of people from their homes.

Officials also were keeping a close eye on the wind, which had been calm overnight but could pick up Wednesday afternoon and move flames closer to homes and a historic observatory. Mount Wilson is currently strongly defended.

U.S. Forest Service incident commander Mike Dietrich was not willing to say a corner had been turned.

In a hillside neighborhood of Glendale, Frank Virgallito stood in a group anxiously watching a controlled burn edge toward their neighborhood.

Virgallito said he and his neighbors had been on high alert since Friday but ignored a voluntary evacuation.

“You don’t sleep well,” Virgallito said. “I get up every hour and a half or two hours to get a good view of where the fire is. For four days we’ve been a little sleep-deprived. It’s unnerving.”

Virgallito said he saw deer, coyote and skunks scampering down his street away from the heat and ash of the smoldering wilderness.

Officials also worried about the threat to a historic observatory and TV, radio and other antennas on Mount Wilson northeast of Los Angeles. But on Tuesday, firefighters set backfires near the facilities before a giant World War II-era seaplane-turned-air tanker made a huge water drop on flames inching toward the peak from the north and west.

By nightfall, 150 firefighters and engines were stationed at the peak to defend the towers, said fire spokesman Paul Lowenthal.

The flames crossed the Angeles Crest Highway into the San Gabriel Wilderness to the east on Tuesday, Lowenthal said. Firefighters made progress on fire breaks to the north near Acton and southwest from Altadena to the Sunland neighborhood.

Firefighters and longtime residents know it could be so much worse. Autumn is the season for the ferocious Santa Ana winds to sweep in from the northeastern deserts, gaining speed through narrow mountain canyons, sapping moisture from vegetation and pushing flames farther out into the suburbs.

“If we had Santa Anas, we still have all this open land here on the western flank and islands of vegetation would throw embers into the air, which would blow down to the homes,” Fire spokesman Henry Martinez said, his voice trailing off as he imagined the worst-case scenario. “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

The wildfire season usually doesn’t gather steam until the winds hit in October, but the Station fire has been driven by dryness instead of wind. The region is in the midst of a three-year drought, and the tinder-dry forest is ripe for an explosive fire.

Fire officials said 12,000 homes were threatened, but as evacuations are lifted, that number will likely fall.

Smoke billowed thousands of feet up in the air, forming what firefighters call an “ice cap,” which dissipated and was pushed east for at least 800 miles.

In Colorado, smoke from the Station Fire combined with soot from local fires to block mountain views from Denver.

“That really speaks to the columns of smoke and how much burning was going on,” said Norv Larson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, Colo.

“I’ve put haze in the forecast. I don’t see it ending anytime soon,” Larson said. “We’ve got our fires here, you’ve got your fires there.”

Flames charred other parts of Southern California, including one that burned at least 1.5 square miles in the San Bernardino County community of Oak Glen and another that threatened 400 homes in Yucaipa and was at 70 percent containment.

“There’s action everywhere,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said as a helicopter interrupted his comments at a news conference in San Bernardino County.

Lance Williams, 49, managed to save his aunt’s home in Delta Flats, a remote community tucked in a canyon in the Angeles National Forest, but returned Tuesday to find his neighbors’ homes in ashes.

“It looked like hell,” Williams said. “The fire was creating its own winds. There was no way of predicting which way it would go.”

He said he used a water pump to fight off the firestorm that raced down hillsides into the canyon. By the time he ran out of water, fire crews had arrived to defend the home that had been in his family since 1945.

Near the remains of house, the charred frames of animal cages swayed in a light wind. In one of the cages, the remains of three small dogs were found.

The massive fire also took a toll on firefighters who bunk down each night in tents at the huge fire command center. Glendale firefighter-paramedic Jack Hayes, 31, said he had not taken a day off for a week.

“You can’t sleep,” said Hayes, who had the beginnings of a beard and bloodshot eyes. “You’re ready to go and there’s always something you could be doing.”

Two firefighters — Capt. Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino and firefighter Specialist Arnaldo “Arnie” Quinones, 35, of Palmdale — were killed Sunday when their vehicle plummeted off a mountain road. Quinones’ wife is expecting a child soon, and Hall had a wife and two adult children.

source:

.

Authorities say flames from the wildfire are about to reach Mount Wilson, home to a historic observatory and transmitters for every major television and radio station in the area.

Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Mark Savage said Sunday that “it’s not a matter of if it impacts Mount Wilson, it’s a matter of when,” and estimated that the flames could leap to the top of the mountain within a few hours.

Savage says firefighters could be pulled at any moment if the situation becomes dangerous.

Television stations say if the antennas burn, broadcast signals will be affected but satellite and cable transmissions should not be.

Two giant telescopes and several multimillion-dollar astronomy programs are also located at the observatory.

Meanwhile, firefighters fixed their attention on the blaze’s fast-moving northern front as more evacuations were ordered.

While thousands have fled, two people who tried to ride out the firestorm in a backyard hot tub were critically burned. The pair in Big Tujunga Canyon, on the southwestern edge of the fire, “completely underestimated the fire” and the hot tub provided “no protection whatsoever,” Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said Sunday.

The two individuals made their way to firefighters and were airlifted out by a sheriff’s rescue helicopter. They received adequate notification to evacuate from deputies but decided to stay, Whitmore said.

One of the two was treated and released and the other remained hospitalized in stable condition. A third person was burned Saturday in an evacuation area along Highway 2 near Mount Wilson, officials said. Details of that injury were not immediately known.

“There were people that did not listen, and there were three people that got burned and got critically injured because they did not listen,” Schwarzenegger said at a news conference at the fire command post.

The blaze was only about 5 percent contained and had scorched 55 square miles in the Angeles National Forest. Mandatory evacuations were in effect for neighborhoods in Glendale, Pasadena and other cities and towns north of Los Angeles. Officials said air quality in parts of the foothills bordered on hazardous.

At least three homes deep in the Angeles National Forest were confirmed destroyed, but firefighters were likely to find others, Dietrich said.

Firefighters hoped to keep the blaze from spreading up Mount Wilson, where many of the region’s broadcast and communications antennas and a historic observatory are located. Flames were within two miles of the towers Sunday, fire officials said.

For the third straight day, humidity was very low and temperatures were expected in the high 90s. Some 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze.

Mandatory evacuations were also in effect for neighborhoods in Altadena and for the communities of Acton, La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta and Big Tujunga Canyon.

There was some progress Sunday, as a small number of La Canada Flintridge residents living west of the Arroyo Seco were told they could go back to their homes.

But more evacuations were ordered in the small town of Acton in the Antelope Valley, and school districts in La Canada Flintridge and Glendale announced that classes were canceled Monday because of the fire.

The fire traveled six to eight miles overnight, burning as actively after dark as it did during the day, said Forest Service Capt. Mike Dietrich. Dietrich said he had never seen a fire grow so quickly without powerful Santa Ana winds to push it.

“The leading edge, the one they’re really focused on, is that northern edge. It’s moving pretty fast up in that direction,” said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Randi Jorgenson. “But the fire’s growing in all directions. All fronts are going to be areas of concern today.”

Fixed-wing aircraft and a DC-10 jumbo jet were dropping water and flame retardant on the fire.

At the fire command post, Schwarzenegger praised firefighters for successfully protecting subdivisions in the foothills.

Rob Driscoll and his wife, Beth Halaas, said they lost their house in Big Tujunga Canyon. By Sunday morning they were desperate for more information and came to the command post to get answers.

“Our neighbors sent us photos of all the other houses that are lost,” Halaas said, her voice breaking as her young son nestled his sunburned face in her arms. “We’ve heard as many as 30 houses burned.”

Driscoll said 15 of his neighbors who live on private property within the forest were still waiting for word on their homes. Fire officials assured them teams were working to survey the damage.

At least 12 evacuation centers were set up at schools and community centers in the area.

The center at Crescenta Valley High School filled up after evacuation orders came down at about 2 a.m., but by Sunday afternoon fewer than two dozen people remained. Residents trickled in to get information and snacks.

Debbie and Mercer Barrows said their house was saved but they lost their scenic view of a hillside to the flames.

“That’ll grow back,” said Mercer Barrows, a TV producer.

The Barrows didn’t consider staying in their home because there’s only one way in to their La Crescenta neighborhood.

“It depends where your house is, if you can see what’s coming. If you’re up next to steep and heavy brush like we are, forget it,” Barrows said.

The fire, which broke out Wednesday afternoon, was the largest and most dangerous of several burning around southern and central California and in Yosemite National Park.

A second fire in the Angeles National Forest was burning several miles to the east in a canyon above the city of Azusa. The 3.4-square-mile blaze, which started Tuesday afternoon, was 95 percent contained Sunday. No homes were threatened, and full containment was expected by Monday.

A wildfire on the Palos Verdes Peninsula on the south Los Angeles County coast was 100 percent contained, according to county fire officials.

Southeast of Los Angeles in Riverside County, a 3.8-square-mile fire in a rural area of the San Bernardino National Forest was 75 percent contained as it burned in steep, rocky terrain in Beeb Canyon. No structures were threatened.

To the north, in the state’s coastal midsection, all evacuation orders were lifted Sunday after a 10-square-mile fire burned near the Monterey County town of Soledad. The blaze, 80 percent contained, was started by agricultural fireworks used to scare animals away from crops. The fire destroyed one home.

In Mariposa County, a nearly 7-square-mile fire burned in Yosemite National Park. The blaze was 50 percent contained Sunday, said park spokeswoman Vickie Mates. Two people sustained minor injuries, she said.

Park officials closed a campground and a portion of Highway 120, anticipating that the fire would spread north toward Tioga Road, the highest elevation route through the Sierra.

About 50 homes in the towns of El Portal and Foresta were under evacuation orders and roads in the area will remain closed through Monday, Mates said.

source:

.

The blaze nearly tripled in size in triple-digit heat Saturday, leaving three people burned, destroying at least three homes and forcing the evacuation of 1,000 homes and an untold number of people.

A slight drop in temperatures and an influx of fire crews from around the state were expected to bring some relief Sunday.

Mandatory evacuations were in effect for neighborhoods in Altadena, Glendale, Pasadena, La Crescenta and Big Tujunga Canyon.

The flames crept down the slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains despite mild winds blowing predominantly in the other direction.

“Today what happened is what I call the perfect storm of fuels, weather, and topography coming together,” said Captain Mike Dietrich, the incident commander for the U.S. Forest Service. “Essentially the fire burned at will; it went where it wanted to when it wanted to.”

Dietrich said he had never seen a fire grow so quickly without powerful Santa Ana winds to push it.

At least three homes deep in the Angeles National Forest were destroyed, and firefighters were searching for others, Dietrich said.

Evacuation centers were set up at two high schools and an elementary school in the area.

The fire was the largest and most dangerous of several burning around southern and central California and in Yosemite National Park.

The fire especially grew to the north and west, bringing new concerns for the areas near Acton and Santa Clarita.

More than 31 square miles of dry forest was scorched by the fire. It was only 5 percent contained.

At least three people were burned in the evacuation areas and airlifted to local hospitals, Dietrich said. He had no further details on their injuries.

Air crews waged a fierce battle against the southeast corner of the fire, burning dangerously close to canyon homes. Spotter planes and tankers dove well below ridge then pulled up dramatically over neighborhoods.

The fire was burning in steep wooded hills next to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in northern Pasadena.

In La Vina, a gated community of luxury homes in the Altadena area, a small group of residents stood at the end of a cul-de-sac on the lip of a canyon and watched aircraft battle flames trying to cross the ridge on the far side.

At one point, the flying circus of relatively small propellor-driven tankers gave way to the sight of a giant DC-10 jumbo jet unleashing a rain of red retardant.

“We see a drop, we give a big cheer,” said Gary Blackwood, who works on telescope technology at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “We’ve watched it now for two days hop one ridge at a time and now it’s like we’re the next ridge.”

A major goal was to keep the fire from spreading up Mount Wilson, where many of the region’s broadcast and communications antennas and the historic Mount Wilson Observatory are located, officials said.

A second fire in the Angeles National Forest was burning several miles to the east in a canyon above the city of Azusa. The 3.4-square-mile blaze, which started Tuesday afternoon, was 95 percent contained Saturday. No homes were threatened, and full containment was expected by Monday.

A wildfire on the Palos Verdes Peninsula on the south Los Angeles County coast was 100 percent contained Saturday afternoon, according to county fire officials.

Southeast of Los Angeles in Riverside County, a 3 1/2-square-mile fire in a rural area of the San Bernardino National Forest was 30 percent contained as it burned in steep, rocky terrain in Beeb Canyon. No structures were threatened.

To the north, in the state’s coastal midsection, a 9.4-square-mile fire threatening Pinnacles National Monument kept 100 homes under evacuation orders near the Monterey County town of Soledad. The blaze, 60 percent contained, was started by agricultural fireworks used to scare animals away from crops. The fire destroyed one home.

A state of emergency was declared Saturday for Mariposa County, where a nearly 5.5-square-mile fire burned in Yosemite National Park. The blaze was 30 percent contained, park officials said.

Park officials closed a campground and a portion of Highway 120, anticipating that the fire would spread north toward Tioga Road, the highest elevation route through the Sierra. The number of firefighters was expected to double over the weekend to 1,000.

About 100 residents from the town of El Portal were under evacuation orders, said Brad Aborn, chairman of Mariposa’s Board of Supervisors. He said the remainder of the town, an estimated 75 people, were evacuated Saturday morning.

source:

.