Governor Declares State Of Emergency In Response To Wildfires
Santa Ana Winds Fuel Deadly Marek Fire

POSTED: 7:03 am PDT October 12, 2008
UPDATED: 6:57 pm PDT October 13, 2008
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SUNLAND, Calif. --
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Monday in Los Angeles and Ventura counties in response to wildfires.

The declaration came hours after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa confirmed that one person was killed in the 4,726-acre Marek Fire near Lake View Terrace. Nearly 40 mobile homes were destroyed.

Crews also battled fires Monday in Porter Ranch, Newport Beach and Camp Pendleton.

Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County coroner's office said a homeless man and his dog burned to death when flames consumed a makeshift wood-and-cardboard shelter near Paxton Street and Foothill Boulevard -- not far from the interchange of the Foothill (210) and Ronald Reagan (118) freeways. The man's age and identity were not immediately determined.

"All the details about what happened with this individual are not yet clear to us, but do not underestimate the ability of the wind to push this fire," Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said. "In some situations, you may not even be able to outrun the fire if you're that close to it. And again, the radiant heat from this fire -- it's not like a campfire. It is extremely hot, and even from 30 or 40 feet can be very hot -- hot enough to maybe set one's shirt or clothing on fire. So heed the warnings from law enforcement and the firefighters. ... Help us ... do our job, and that's to protect life first and foremost, and then the property."

Fire officials alerted other communities to the west in the Ventura County city of Simi Valley and south to Malibu, 20 miles away, as an ominous plume streamed over neighborhoods and far out to sea.

Winds dropped in the evening but were predicted to roar back to life after 11 p.m., with speeds over 60 mph, officials said.

"This fire has the real potential of moving from where it is now ... as far as Pacific Coast (Highway)," Freeman said.

Residents downwind were warned to remain alert into the night.

"It can go from here to the ocean in a matter of two to three hours," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

An estimated 1,200 people were evacuated due to the Marek Fire, which was just 5 percent contained.

Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mark Savage said 37 or 38 mobile homes were destroyed by that blaze early Monday. Various industrial sites also burned.

"We could have had an army there and it would not have stopped it," Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Mario Rueda said. "Wind is king here, it's dictating everything we are doing."

Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, the hospital closest to the Marek Fire, was evacuating five of its most fragile patients to other hospitals.

Video: Evacuations Under Way In Sylmar

Spokeswoman Carla Nino said those patients, including four newborns, were all on ventilators and were the most difficult to transport. Some other patients were discharged but the hospital decided it was not necessary to evacuate about 180 others.

The dry and warm Santa Ana winds typically blow into Southern California between October and February, priming vegetation for fires by slashing moisture levels. The Santa Anas originate in the Great Basin. High pressure pushes cool, dry desert air through the Southern California mountains, compressing and heating the air as it descends. As the Santa Anas whistle through canyons and valleys, they pick up speed and can spread fires across parched regions.

Last October, fires fanned by Santa Anas destroyed 2,196 homes and burned a combined 800 square miles in Southern California.

The Marek Fire began early Sunday during the first significant Santa Ana of the season, and about 1,000 firefighters from city, county, state and federal agencies were deployed. The cause was under investigation.

"This is what we feared the most," said Savage. "The winds that were expected, they have arrived."

The blaze died down overnight and containment was estimated as high as 20 percent, but authorities warned it remained a sleeping giant. Fierce winds returned before dawn and sent it raging again.

Flames jumped the Foothill Freeway, which was closed in both directions for about a three-mile stretch in northern Los Angeles between the 118 Freeway and Interstate 5 amid the morning rush hour, officials said.

"That was quite a jump, that's an eight-lane fire break," said fire spokesman Inspector Paul Hartwell.

The eastbound side of the 118 was also closed.

Red Cross spokeswoman Red Godfrey said 500 people registered at an evacuation center at San Fernando High School and about 80 to 100 were staying there. The Red Cross also opened a second evacuation center at Sylmar High School. Figures for that one were not immediately available.

The U-Haul companies of the San Fernando Valley and Van Nuys offered free storage to Lake View Terrace residents affected by the Marek fire. Fire victims will receive 30 days of free self-storage. In addition, free boxes are available through the company's "Take a Box, Leave a Box" recycling program.

The U-Haul facilities offering free storage are located at:

* 27150 Sierra Highway in Canyon Country
* 7721 Hollywood Way in Burbank
* 2320 N. Lincoln Ave. in Altadena
* 8500 Sepulveda Blvd. in Sepulveda
* 18160 Parthenia St. in Northridge
* 21326 Devonshire St. in Chatsworth

Angeles National Forest spokesman Stanton Florea said the fire will likely burn for several days. If the fire spreads farther uphill, an area near some California condor nests could be threatened, and protecting those condors would be a priority, he said.

Sanitation Officials Monitor Landfill

Los Angeles sanitation officials are closely monitoring the wildfire's proximity to a methane-filled defunct landfill in Lopez Canyon where two buildings and several cars have been burned.

City spokeswoman Janelle Erickson said the Fire Department has given clearance for officials to enter the landfill site to check on the highly explosive gas, which is pumped to a nearby power plant run by Minnesota Methane.

Erickson said the fire razed a 3,000 square-foot modular trailer, where some 100 employees work in operations and administration, around 2 a.m. Sunday and then part of a maintenance repair shop and several cars around 5:30 a.m. Monday.

The fire did not affect the gas collection and pumping system. She says if there is a problem, officials will activate a backup system that will ventilate the methane into the air to avoid a gas buildup and possible explosion.

LAUSD Closes Schools

The fire prompted the Los Angeles Unified School District to keep some schools closed Monday -- Broadous Elementary in Pacoima, Hubbard Elementary in Sylmar, Harding Elementary in Sylmar, Fenton Charter School in Lake View Terrace, Community Middle Charter in Lake View Terrace, Community Charter High in Lake View Terrace, and Triumph Academy Charter in San Fernando. Around 11 a.m., the Los Angeles Unified School District closed Pacoima Elementary School, 11016 Norris Ave.