15,000 Acres, 7 Homes Burned

The largest brush fire to hit Southern California since the disastrous Malibu fires of 1993 roared out of control for a second day Tuesday, while a San Fernando teenager said he touched it off on a random impulse, sheriff’s officials said.

The fire, which began about 12:30 p.m. Monday, had consumed more than 15,000 acres--more than 23 square miles--in a lightly populated mountain area north of Castaic by late Tuesday. It destroyed or damaged at least seven residences and dozens of vehicles and outbuildings, firefighters said.

Three firefighters have suffered minor injuries and a donkey trapped in a corral was singed.

Officials had no estimate on when the blaze--named the Marple Fire for the canyon where it started--would be contained. The fire sent up an ominous smoke cloud that towered into the sky high enough to be seen from the San Fernando Valley, 50 miles to the south.

The Golden State Freeway was open to traffic Tuesday after being shut down Monday, a closure that bottled up travelers for hours. But the Old Ridge Route, which parallels the freeway, remained closed Tuesday to provide working room for crews repairing Southern California Edison power lines damaged by the fire.

The California Highway Patrol continued to maintain a command post along the heavily traveled route in case the fire threatened to cross back to the highway.

By late Tuesday the fire had moved into Angeles National Forest south of California 138, where no major fire has burned since 1968 and an area providing plenty of fuel, said Fred E. Coe, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. The last big fire in that area consumed 55,000 acres.

Several crews attempting to stop the northern advance of the blaze were forced to pull out Tuesday and just let the fire burn, officials said.

The acreage burned was the greatest in Southern California since the Malibu-Calabasas fires of 1993 charred 16,000, Inspector Greg Cleveland of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

Firefighters were hampered in efforts to stem the blaze early because much of Southern California’s state and federal firefighting equipment and manpower was deployed to other blazes in the state, Cleveland said. “There’s been a real competition for resources,” he said.

A 15-year-old San Fernando youth was arrested on suspicion of arson shortly after the fire began Monday.

Sheriff’s deputies said the youth, who had been missing from home overnight in his father’s car, told authorities the car had broken down on the Golden State Freeway north of Castaic. He told investigators he was walking along the steep interstate highway in an unpopulated area in 100-degree heat when he suddenly decided to set the fire for no particular reason, said Sgt. Heidi Clark of the sheriff’s Arson Investigation Bureau.

He was quickly picked up by CHP officers as he walked away from the flames. The youth is expected to be arraigned today at Sylmar Juvenile Hall, where he is being held.

The youth’s parents reported the teenager missing Monday morning, just hours before the blaze began, Clark said. The parents told investigators that their son, who is not licensed to drive, had borrowed the car Sunday to run a quick errand and never returned.

Officials said they cannot reveal whether the teenager has a history of trouble.

Meanwhile, more than 750 firefighters from federal, state and county agencies continued to battle the blaze in isolated, rugged terrain in the northern Los Angeles County area, said Dave Crall, a spokesman for the county Fire Department. The fire crews were backed by six water-dropping helicopters and seven fixed-wing air tankers.

At least four mobile homes were destroyed and three other dwellings, including a ranch house, have been damaged.

Firefighters injured include one who suffered from heat exhaustion, another treated for a twisted ankle and a third with a cut hand, officials said.

The donkey was burned on its head and body when it could not escape the flames, officials said. The animal is expected to survive.

By late Tuesday, about 60% of the fire had moved into the forest area, where firefighters were having trouble navigating the steep terrain. “The county has almost all of their half of the fire under control, and the reason they could do that is they have roads. We don’t have roads in the national forest,” said Coe of the U.S. Forest Service.

Greg Olson, who fought heavy traffic to get to his home on the Old Ridge Route late Monday, said he found that his wife had packed their belongings into a pickup as the fire raged within 100 yards of the house. “I noticed my fishing gear wasn’t in there, but my son’s Legos were,” he said.

Electric power transmission on two major Pacific Intertie lines was interrupted late Monday after insulators were contaminated by oil-like soot from the burning chaparral. Power in the lines was partly restored by noon Tuesday and full capacity was expected by nightfall Tuesday, said Millie Paul, spokeswoman for the utility.

Edison workers switched to other power sources to make up for the loss and no customers were affected, Paul said.