Fire Casts Pall of Smoke Over Valley : Blaze: Wildfire started by a welder’s torch burns brushy area near Newhall. Porter Ranch residents feared repeat of 1988 inferno.

A late season wildfire sparked by a welder’s torch briefly threatened the Porter Ranch neighborhood Monday afternoon, darkening the sun behind a pall of smoke over much of the San Fernando Valley and raining ashes as far south as Westwood.

Starting shortly before noon in Ed Davis Park west of the Golden State Freeway, the blaze spread rapidly southwest through dry brush on the Santa Clarita Valley side of the Santa Susana Mountains, pushed away from populated areas by winds of 20 to 30 mph.

The fire burned nearly 1,000 acres of brush in a mostly uninhabited area of steep slopes and gullies.

By Monday evening, county fire officials declared the blaze 30% contained as it turned toward lighter brush north of Oat Mountain, reducing the threat to neighborhoods on the north slopes of the San Fernando Valley.

No structures were damaged, and no serious injuries were reported.

Pockets of fire continued to burn Monday night and fire officials said they would have to work at least through the night to clean up hot spots in the inaccessible terrain.

Los Angeles County fire officials were unable to explain Monday evening why a welder was working in the tinder-dry mountains during fire season or whether the welder was a public employee.

“This was an accidental fire,” said county Fire Department Engineer Mark Savage, adding that he had no more details.

About 500 county firefighters, including 15 hand crews, battled the blaze assisted by eight water-dropping helicopters and two SuperScooper aircraft that skim over open water to fill their 1,600-gallon tanks on the fly.

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City of Los Angeles firefighters waited south of the front in case it topped the mountain ridge and moved into the city.

It didn’t, but just the ominous cloud of brown smoke that billowed overhead brought back terrifying memories for Porter Ranch residents who lived through the December 1988 fire that whipped through their neighborhood, destroying 15 houses and damaging 25 others.

Dozens of residents in the suburb north of Granada Hills stood outside their houses or congregated on the streets, anxiously watching the approach of the smoke plume. Some watered down their houses, packed up animals and belongings and waited for orders to leave.

“I can’t believe this is happening again,” said Harriet Elias, who stood watch with her husband, Bob, fearing another blow to their hard-luck house.

“We just rebuilt after the earthquake and our house was wiped out in the first fire,” she said. “I’m just getting tired of all of this, fires and earthquake. I’m getting out of here.”

The fire sent Cal State Northridge student Ryan Miller, 19, whose parents lost part of their house in the 1988 fire, into a practiced routine.

“We just get the insurance papers out and grab the photo album,” said Miller, who rushed home when he saw the smoke. “We got the whole thing down.”

This time, though, the gravest danger was experienced by residents of isolated houses and ranches in the hills near The Old Road at Calgrove Boulevard where the fire started.

“I thought it was going to go,” said Glen Disesso of the ranch where he and his father, Moe, raise and train animals for roles in Hollywood movies.

“You’re like a little pebble compared to a mountain of flame. If the wind changes, we’ve had it.”

The Disessos packed their animals into about 100 crates and loaded them on trucks, ready to pull out if the fire managed to turn back down the hill to the west of their ranch.

By that time, though, his fear had subsided.

“With what has already burned, we’ve created a fire break,” he said motioning to the charred slope.

The rugged, nearly road-less, mountains presented ideal conditions to display the usefulness of the Canadian-built SuperScooper, which is undergoing its second test by the county Fire Department.

The two planes, based at Van Nuys Airport, reached the fire front within 16 minutes, said Assistant County Fire Chief Gary Nelson.

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Because of the high density and dryness of the brush coupled with moderate winds, even that quick response was too late to put out the fire in its early stages as officials had hoped, Nelson said.

But the aircraft proved beneficial anyway, Nelson said. Flying back and forth to Castaic Lake to refill, they dropped water at five- to 10-minute intervals, helping to block the fire at key points, Nelson said.

“The thing has been really useful in stopping the progress of the fire,” Nelson said.

The county Fire Department, with help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and California insurance companies, has leased the two planes for $1.4 million for the two-month test.

A prior test last year was inconclusive because the planes were not used often enough, fire officials said.

Smith is a Times staff writer and Kirka is a correspondent. Times staff writers Frank Williams and Julie Tamaki also contributed to this story.