100-M.P.H. Gusts Whip Up 4 Fires, Destroy 25 Homes : 400 Flee; Power Out for 328,000

Hellish firestorms, pushed by Santa Ana winds up to 100 m.p.h. that sent golf ball-sized chunks of burning embers dancing from roof to roof, damaged or destroyed 70 houses in the San Gabriel Valley communities of Baldwin Park and La Verne early this morning and caused hundreds of residents to flee.

The fires destroyed 25 homes and damaged 45 others and caused the evacuation of 400 residents. It took the efforts of nearly 500 firefighters to bring the blazes under control.

Both fires were blamed on electrical wires knocked down by the winds, which blew in from California’s desert.

The winds also fueled major fires in West Los Angeles and Glendale and knocked out electrical power to more than 328,000 people throughout Southern California and parts of Central California. About 30,000 homes and businesses were still without power early today. Full power was expected to be restored by evening unless new problems were kicked up by the winds.

The winds apparently caused the heavy turbulence that was blamed for minor injuries to two flight attendants and four passengers on a Piedmont Airways jet that flew into Los Angeles International Airport at 10 a.m. today from Dayton, Ohio.

No Major Injuries

There were no reports of major injuries from the fires. At least two firefighters and several residents suffered eye irritation and minor smoke inhalation.

The Baldwin Park fire broke out about midnight at the Allan Paper Recycling Co. plant at 14618 Arrow Highway. It spread rapidly south and west and quickly consumed most of the plant, along with an adjacent lumber yard, a Shell Oil Co. distribution center and two other industrial properties.

Then it moved into the lower-middle-class residential district to the immediate south. Fifteen homes were destroyed. Thirty-five other homes and five commercial buildings were damaged.

It was the “first time in my 28 years in the Fire Department that I’ve seen a firestorm move through a residential area like this,” said Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Garry Oversby.

Firefighters evacuated about 100 residents, most of whom ignored the shelter offered by the Red Cross at the Margaret Heath Elementary School. They preferred to brave the punishing winds and choking smoke to stay as close as possible to their homes.

Fire Spread Rapidly

An hour or two after the Baldwin Park fire began, another started 12 miles to the east at the LeRoy Boys’ Home on a brush-covered hillside on Baseline Road in La Verne. The blaze spread rapidly south across Baseline and west along Rodeo Lane, destroying 10 homes worth $300,000 to $400,000 and causing major damage to 10 others.

About 300 residents were evacuated, and about 125 of them took refuge at the Bonita High School gymnasium.

In West Los Angeles, about 50 people were staying at a Red Cross shelter or seeking other housing assistance today after a Wednesday night blaze destroyed an apartment complex that was under construction and spread to nine other apartment buildings.

Still burning early this afternoon was a 200-acre fire that began shortly before 2 a.m. between Glendale and Pasadena in the San Rafael Hills north of the Ventura Freeway and south of Glenoaks Boulevard.

The fire burned a thin three-mile swath along the foothills, and firefighters warned residents on the south side of Glenoaks to leave their homes. No damage to homes or injuries were reported, and the fire was contained by 11:15 a.m. The fire caused closure of parts of the Ventura Freeway, playing havoc with morning rush-hour traffic and clogging the Glendale Freeway.

The strong winds were expected to continue tonight and Friday, blowing 25 to 35 m.p.h. in metropolitan areas and as hard as 80 m.p.h below passes and canyons, the National Weather Service said.