63 Homes Destroyed as Fires Erupt Across the Southland : Disaster: Dozens of residences razed in Glendale and Santa Barbara. Arson suspected in three major blazes. Two freeways are closed.

A swarm of fast-moving fires, at least three deliberately set, exploded across tinder dry Southern California from Santa Barbara to San Diego on Wednesday--destroying 63 homes, forcing evacuation of hundreds of residents, leaving several firefighters injured and closing two major freeways.

An arson fire raced through the affluent Glendale Hills, destroying 18 homes, damaging 16 others and causing $25 million in damage before it was contained at 8 p.m., officials said.

Another blaze near Santa Barbara roared down a canyon in the Santa Ynez Mountains on gusting, erratic “Sundowner” winds and consumed at least two dozen homes Wednesday evening, authorities reported.

And late Wednesday, a small firecontrolled burn by the U.S. Forest Service that had been contained erupted anew into an inferno in the Cleveland National Forest of Riverside County, destroying 15 homes in the Temescal Canyon area. The blaze also forced closure of Interstate 15 in El Cerrito, said California Division of Forestry spokeswoman Jeaneen Gardner.

There were no reported deaths in any of the fires, but In in Riverside County, 17 firefighters were burned--one critically--as they battled a blaze that seared an undeveloped parcel of land southwest of Hemet.

Three more Riverside County firefighters suffered heat exhaustion fighting a separate fire in Moreno Valley.

A 3,500-acre wildfire destroyed at least six homes in the Sleepy Hollow area of Carbon Canyon in the Chino Hills.

A transient was arrested after allegedly admitting setting the fire, which burned in parts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties.

In Glendale, firefighters were so overextended that residents were left to battle the blaze on their own during the first hours of the fire.

It came down to one man, one hose as residents scrambled to their roofs with garden hoses hoping to beat back the advancing flames.

Los Angeles City Fire Capt. Stephen Ruda commanded one contingent of firefighters who were among the first to arrive at the blaze along Foxkirk Road.

“Some homes we could save, some we had to abandon,” Ruda said. “The pine trees just exploded. Fireballs were raining into the canyon below us. The houses were helpless.”

Arson investigators in Glendale said a butane lighter, locked in the open position with a pen, was found in the brush.

It was the third arson this week in Los Angeles County caused by a butane lighter locked open the same way, said Glendale Battalion Chief Chris Gray.

“We suspect it’s the same person, because it’s been the same cause in three of the fires,” Gray said.

Authorities said a witness saw someone who might have set the fire and took a license plate number. But no arrests have been made.

“I haven’t seen a fire like this in Glendale for 12 years,” said Mayor Larry Zarian. He said fire officials reported that many of the homes that burned had highly flammable shake roofs.

About 1,000 students and teachers were evacuated from Glendale Community College in the middle of classes Wednesday as flames moved within yards of the campus, said spokeswoman Mary Shelburne.

In the Park Highlands area northeast of Santa Barbara, a fire of suspicious origin that began near California 154 and Painted Cave Road jumped tree-lined streets, skipped from roof to wood shake roof and swept down a canyon to Cathedral Oaks Road, fire officials said.

Capt. Charlie Johnson said the fire was “arson related,” but he would offer no additional details.

A second fire merged with the canyon blaze, setting fire to a portion of the Santa Barbara County Jail, jumping U.S. 101 and forcing closure of the highway between Santa Barbara and Goleta. No injuries were reported.

Sheriff’s deputies and National Guardsmen began evacuating residents in the fire area shortly after 7 p.m., but many people had left the area earlier without stopping to gather any possessions.

“There will probably be in excess of 50 homes burned,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Bailey said late Wednesday. “It could be 100.

“Fifty would be a close ballpark figure right now. Before this thing gets under control, there probably will be 100 homes lost. This thing is the worst I’ve seen in 25 years.”

Dr. George Scott ran around his house with a fire extinguisher, spraying the underbrush as fire consumed his back yard. He put his three dogs into his ancient Chrysler Imperial, but said he would not leave.

“I’ve been through three of these things,” he said. “But I’ve never seen winds this high.”

Ten minutes later, Scott drove out of the subdivision.

Steve Humphries, who lives on Via Los Santos Road, said he had seen many brush fires in the region, but none like this one.

“I’ve got all my fire equipment back at the house, but of course that’s on fire now too,” he said. “I never thought I’d get caught in one.”

In Carbon Canyon, the brush fire apparently started by a transient in the tinder-dry grass blackened more than 3,500 acres and was still uncontained Wednesday evening as nearly 400 firefighters battled in near-record heat to save hundreds of threatened homes.

The fire started about 11 a.m. in Orange County near Carbon Canyon Regional Park and quickly spread northeast into the foothills of San Bernardino County where 15 homes were damaged--six of them destroyed-- and hundreds of residents evacuated from the community of Sleepy Hollow and other areas in Chino Hills.

About 200 homes remained threatened Wednesday evening in the Chino Hills area.

Authorities said they were no longer worried about the fire damaging homes in Orange County or further destruction in Sleepy Hollow.

None of the residents were injured, but six firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns as they battled fatigue and heat exhaustion while working in temperatures estimated at 105 degrees with wind gusts of about 15 miles per hour.

“It is a very serious fire,” said Orange County fire spokeswoman Kathleen Cha. “We have the most extreme burning conditions. It’s hot, it’s dry and we have winds.”

Pat Morgan, who fled her home in Sleepy Hollow as flames threatened to ignite the structure, said at a police blockade: “I felt like I was in a movie (and) they were filmming a disaster. The cinders are blowing in your eyes, the winds are unbelievable, you’re listening to them tell you to evacuate. I bet (the temperature) jumped 20 degrees. It felt like I was in a furnace.”

Police arrested Peter Diaz Reyes, a 29-year-old transient, on suspicion of felony arson shortly after the fire was started. He was identified by a resident who told police that he was running from the scene.

Orange County Fire Capt. Hank Raymond said Reyes admitted starting the fire, but he told police the grass ignited by accident while he was trying to cook. Raymond said the suspect told authorities he started the fire in two places because he tried to cook in a second location after the first fire started.

Reyes was being held in Orange County Jail for investigation of arson.

The Riverside County firefighters injured in the brush fire near Hemet were rushed to hospitls throughout the area, including the San Bernardino County Hospital and Sherman Oaks Burn Center, authorities said. The names of the injured firefighters, three of whom suffered serious injuries, werer not released.

Cause of the fire was under investigation, officials said.

Three other Riverside County firefighters suffered heat exhaustion while trying to gain In San Diego County, a blaze burned 1,000 acres in the Dehesa area, and a 300-acre fire burned out of control on the Rincon Indian Reservation. Fire officials say they hoped to contain the Rincon blaze before this morning.

Firefighters also battled a 530-acre blaze on the outskirts of Ojai in Ventura County. Officials estimate they will have the fire under control today.

Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Stephen Braun, Nieson Himmel, John H. Lee, Darrell Dawsey and Amy Pyle in Los Angeles; Lori Grange, Doug Smith and Phil Sneiderman in Glendale; Mack Reed and Joanna M. Miller in Santa Barbara, and Jim Carlton and Matt Lait in Orange County.