Brush fire burns in Santa Anita Canyon

Brush fire burns in Santa Anita Canyon Hikers, Scouts briefly trapped by flames By Janette Williams, Staff Writer Article Launched: 04/26/2008 11:42:36 PM PDT Water is dropped on the Santa Anita Fire which broke out Saturday afternoon burning over 20 acres above Arcadia as it moved towards Sierra Madre Saturday, April 26, 2008. (Staff Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz) • Photo Gallery: Chantry Flat fire ARCADIA - A slow-moving fire had consumed more than 100 acres of brush in a rugged hillside area of Santa Anita Canyon by Saturday night, and officials ordered more strike teams to the area for a fresh assault on the blaze at daybreak. By 10 P.M. authorities had ordered the evacuation of dozens of homes in the northern portion of Sierra Madre, displacing about 1,000 people said Roger Lowe, Sierra Madre's volunteer Fire Department batallion chief. "(The fire) is in very difficult terrain, and I don't believe it will be contained for 20 to 24 hours," said Roger Lowe, Sierra Madre's Volunteer Fire Department battalion chief. The blaze, which started in a wooded area about a mile north of Arno Drive in north Arcadia, was reported in a 9-1-1 call just before 3p.m., Lowe said. As night fell Saturday the flames were moving north and west up the ridge, spreading from an area near Chantry Flat, where more than 100 hikers were trapped in the parking lot for several hours earlier in the day. The hikers were led out of the popular recreation area in the late afternoon, officials said, and about three dozen Boy Scouts - who for several hours were kept from leaving Arcadia Wilderness Park about two miles east of the fire - were also escorted out late Saturday -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- afternoon. Until nightfall Saturday, three Los Angeles County helicopters were constantly "landing and taking off" in an area close to the Eaton Canyon Golf Course to load up with water, said Lisa Derderian, spokeswoman for the Pasadena Fire Department. Flights were expected to resume at dawn. About two hours after the initial five-acre fire was reported it had spread to about 23 acres, but Lowe said the Adams Mule Pack Station, about five miles from the fire line, and a cluster of cabins in the canyon about seven miles away from the blaze, were not at risk. Conditions were tough for fire crews, Lowe said. "We don't foresee any real horrendous weather problem," he said, "but there's only one road up and it's extremely steep, with a lot of decomposed granite" that makes for very slippery conditions. The only injury reported was a firefighter who was taken to a hospital after having an allergic reaction to a bee sting, Lowe said. Flames and plumes of smoke from the vertical fire line were clearly visible from Santa Anita Avenue and the Foothill (210) Freeway throughout the afternoon. About 75 firefighters and units from Arcadia, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Monrovia responded A Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter drops water on a brush fire near Arcadia, Calif. on Saturday, April 26, 2008. More than 40 acres of brush has burned in steep terrain bordering the Angeles National Forest. Over 100 people were trapped for several hours at a nearby recreation area due to the flames. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg) to the blaze. Los Angeles County Fire Department provided water tankers and an observation plane. Fire retardant drops were made throughout the afternoon in an effort to stop the fire from moving over the top of the ridge. Lowe said ground vehicles were able to get up to the fire, which was fed by "light fuel" brush that burns very quickly. Winds were a factor in the fire's spread, he said, "But the direction is very predictable, and we don't anticipate a big wind shift." Residents close to the start of the three-mile stretch of road into Chantry Flat who came out to look at the fire were quickly shooed inside their houses by police, and roads in the area were blocked off to cars and pedestrians in a radius of several miles. Temperatures were in the 90s Saturday, but Lowe said the fire came early in the season when the brush still contains some moisture. "But five months from now this kind of fire could react completely differently," he said. "It could be much larger and more aggressive, with more potential for winds."

YouTube | April 27, 2008

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