The Creek fire started Tuesday about 6:30 a.m. and quickly raced out of control as powerful Santa Ana winds pushed it toward houses below.
The fire has destroyed at least 30 homes and scorched 11,377 acres, authorities said.
As crews continue to fight the blaze, some residents are beginning to assess the damage to their foothill properties.
Among the charred landscape off Little Tujunga Canyon Road in Sylmar stood what remained of Rancho Padilla, where nearly 30 horses died in the fire.
“All I could think about was the horses, the horses, the horses. And they were like, ‘Get out, get out, get out,’ ” said Patricia Padilla, whose family owns a ranch there. “The structures can get rebuilt, but the lives of the horses can’t. ... That’s my biggest heartbreak.”
One of Virginia’s horses is in the hospital and another, along with her sister’s horse, Scar, are doing fine. Still, they felt for their boarders and the horses they’d lost.
“Honestly, it feels like we lost a big part of our family,” Patricia said. “To see it all gone ... it’s heartbreaking.”
The blaze was 0% contained, and residents had been evacuated from an area covering more than 20 square miles. The fire jumped the 210 Freeway and burned in Shadow Hills to the south, where residents scrambled to evacuate hundreds of horses, alpacas and other animals. About 20 of the 30 homes that have burned were in Little Tujunga, Kagel and Lopez canyons, officials said.
Several exits along the 210 Freeway leading into Sylmar, Pacoima, Shadow Hills and Sunland remain closed, the California Highway Patrol said.
About 2,500 homes are still under threat, and about 900 firefighters are battling the blaze, said Los Angeles County fire inspector Gustavo Medina.
Farther north, in Santa Clarita, firefighters were making significant gains against the Rye fire that had burned toward Magic Mountain on Tuesday afternoon. The fire briefly shut down access to the 5 Freeway from Highway 126 and triggered mandatory evacuations.
Roy DeFilippis, 69, and his wife, Yolanda, 66, had only recently arrived home from a vacation and were excited to spend a nice, relaxing afternoon at a campground west of Santa Clarita when the Rye fire started.
The couple have been on a road trip for weeks, starting out at their home in Nova Scotia and traveling to Simi Valley to spend Thanksgiving with their daughter and her family.
Driving thousands of miles, they faced several challenges. The RV broke down in Kingman, Ariz., and then again as they were traveling in California toward Simi Valley. Roy DeFilippis almost lost control going down a mountain.
On Tuesday afternoon, hewas watching TV, considering whether to drink more coffee or switch to cold beer.
“And all of a sudden, we hear sirens and sirens, and police came out and told us we had to evacuate,” he said.
Walking out of their RV, the couple saw flames as tall as their motor home.
You can also check California Under Fire
They ditched the Honda Civic they’d been hauling. There was no time.
They ensured their most precious cargo — their eight Yorkies, Spike, Zoey, Lacey, Madison, Spencer, Mickey, Sammy and Snickers — were in the RV, and they rushed onto Highway 126.
Late Wednesday morning, they were parked on a gravel lot between Santa Clarita and Fillmore, waiting until the campground was reopened at noon. They weren’t sure whether their car survived.
But Roy DeFilippis, a retiree from Florida, felt like, because they were safe from the fires, it just made for a good story to tell his friends. “Life is a true adventure, isn’t it?” he said.
The fire had burned 7,000 acres and was 5% contained Wednesday. All evacuations and road closures have been lifted.
After five years of drought, California was inundated with one of its wettest winters on record last year, followed by the hottest summer on record. That created a bountiful crop of light grass and vegetation that then shriveled and is now primed to burn.
The Santa Ana winds that have driven the flames are expected to subside by Friday, the National Weather Service said.
No comments:
Post a Comment