EARTHQUAKE: DISASTER BEFORE DAWN : 100 Mobile Homes Engulfed in Fires Fed by Gas Lines : Blazes: At least one person is badly burned, although there are apparently no fatalities at three Valley trailer parks. ‘It just looked like an inferno,’ one resident says.

Within minutes of Monday’s massive earthquake, the orange glow of fires ringed the pre-dawn sky. Throughout the day, more than 30 blazes--several of them major--were reported, most in the San Fernando Valley from Granada Hills to Santa Clarita.

At least one person suffered serious burns, but no deaths were attributed to any of the blazes, fire officials said.

The officials said it was not surprising that the temblor that buckled buildings and freeways would rip apart the gas lines believed to have sparked many of the blazes. An estimated 100 mobile homes at three San Fernando Valley trailer parks were destroyed by fires believed sparked by broken gas lines or ruptured propane tanks. In Sylmar, 64 trailer homes in a single lot went up in flames, apparently fed by a ruptured gas line. In Granada Hills, five homes were lost when natural gas was apparently sparked by a motorist who tried to start his truck. And in Pacoima, thousands of gallons of crude oil from an underground line spilled onto a street and ignited, sending parallel walls of flame racing down the block and consuming parked cars.

“It just looked like an inferno,” resident Luisa Grimaldo said as she stood near Wolfskill Street in Pacoima. “It all just exploded.”

As of Monday evening, firefighters said at least 30--and perhaps as many as 50--blazes had been reported in the Valley. Fires continued into the night. An apartment complex in the 16000 block of Chatsworth Street in Granada Hills caught fire shortly before 6 p.m. and burned out of control for several hours. Water-dropping helicopters were called in to help battle the flames.

Overwhelmed by thousands of calls and with their resources stretched thin, fire officials at Downtown headquarters were unable to determine the exact location of each fire. Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis said the earthquake had knocked out the department’s computer system, preventing the officials from tracking the fires. “It’s just a mess,” he said.

With thousands of miles of natural gas lines crisscrossing below the city, it was inevitable that a powerful temblor would rip some of them apart, officials said.

“It takes quite a bit of force to cause a break in the line. But in this case, Mother Nature just gave a much greater blow to our underground pipe system,” said Denise King, a spokeswoman for the Southern California Gas Co.

Broken gas lines were not the only problem.

At the Tahitian Mobile Home Park in Sylmar, where 64 trailers went up in flames, low water pressure hampered firefighters. “It’s frustrating,” Battalion Chief Jerry Bowie said. “We were here early in the morning, and we couldn’t save it.”

As flames raced from one trailer to the next, ammunition stored in one mobile home exploded. The dull roar of an open gas main sounded in the distance.

“I have never seen such a war zone,” resident Keith Bedard said.

Although it suffered the most extensive damage, the Tahitian was only one of several Valley mobile home parks that erupted in flames. Less than a mile away, a fire at the Oakridge trailer park on Glenoaks Boulevard broke out after the quake ruptured gas lines. Fire officials had not determined how many trailers were lost in the blaze.

Fire also laid waste to the nearby Los Olivos mobile home park, where trailers were turned into twisted piles of metal.

Among the first residences set aflame after the quake were five homes on Balboa Boulevard in Granada Hills that burned when a 20-inch gas line ripped apart.

According to witnesses, a pickup truck stalled on a street flooded by a broken water main. When the driver tried to start the truck, he apparently ignited the natural gas, sending a massive fireball shooting down the street.

He appeared to be seriously burned and was taken to a local hospital, witnesses said. His condition was not immediately known.

“When that thing blew, those houses went up just like that,” resident Nancy Bunner said. “I was wondering if we were going to get out of here alive.”

Natural gas released into the air is a time bomb, waiting for a spark from matches or electrical conduits to set it off, fire officials said.

“If it ignites, it’s very bad,” County Fire Department spokesman Brian Jordan said.

On Wolfskill Street in Pacoima, where crude oil fueled the wall of flame, at least 10 cars and two homes were scorched. Frantic residents tried in vain to beat back the fire with garden hoses.

“It just came down on both sides,” Grimaldo said. “It was just too much.”