Blazes Rage Across Southland

Wildfires raged across thousands of acres in Southern California on Monday, destroying at least one house in Riverside County, prompting the evacuations of dozens more homes in Orange County and blackening hills above the San Fernando Valley and Camp Pendleton Marine base in San Diego County.

Brisk breezes, 90-degree temperatures and one of the driest years in history hindered the efforts of the hundreds of firefighters.

Dozens of residents grabbed belongings and fled the advancing flames. In many cases, their exodus was slowed by heavy smoke and flames that snarled traffic.

The fire in Woodcrest, just south of Riverside, began about 4 p.m. in a patch of vegetation at the base of a small canyon.

“It just swept up the canyon,” said Rick Vogt, a captain at the California Department of Forestry.

“And when it shot up, it shot up like a blowtorch.”

The fire spread quickly to a house and three outbuildings containing vintage automobiles and motorcycles, burning all four buildings to the ground.

Two people suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to hospitals. The blaze was controlled before nightfall after charring about three acres.

A much larger fire erupted in Orange County shortly after 2 p.m. in Rancho Santa Margarita and spread rapidly to the north and east, scorching more than 1,100 acres within six hours. At least 200 homes were briefly threatened in the exclusive Wagon Wheel neighborhood near Coto de Caza.

As dusk approached, temperatures dropped and the winds abated. The efforts of ground crews and water-dropping tanker planes appeared to be succeeding, and the fire was about 80% contained by 9 p.m. Flames came within a few feet of some of the Orange County homes, but none of them burned, said Dave Romano, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority.

“That’s because the homes out there did an excellent job in preparing for a brush fire: They cleared the brush from within 100 feet of their homes, and what vegetation they did plant is all greenbelt,” Romano said.

The fire spread up the hill, “and that’s where we’re holding it off,” Trish Sysak, a Fire Authority spokeswoman, said late Monday. “It got very close.”

Mopping perspiration from his grimy face, firefighter Gordon Levine said: “It’s hot and dirty in there. It’s black as far as you can see. The brush is very, very dry.”

Sysak said the fire started about 2:45 p.m. in the unincorporated area of Las Flores, near Antonio Parkway and Meandering Trail. “We don’t know what caused it,” she said. “We have our investigators out.”

Two arson investigators placed small blue-and-white flags at three places about 50 yards apart, across Antonio Parkway from Tijeras Creek Golf Course. The officials said they are considering the possibility that somebody set fires at each spot.

Transportation officials closed about two miles of the Foothill toll road, as well as Antonio Parkway from Tijeras Creek to Meandering Trail and Oso Parkway at various points. “Traffic is being diverted,” said Officer Mark Reeves of the California Highway Patrol. “There’s a big traffic jam off Antonio Parkway.”

Abriana Valentine, 20, watched nervously from her window as fire approached within four miles of her Rancho Santa Margarita apartment. Her mother had already made arrangements for the family to stay the night in a hotel, and the two planned what to take with them should the fire shift and they be ordered to evacuate.

“We have it planned so we know where we will go and what we will do,” she said.

From the apartment window, Valentine saw layers of thick, black smoke and little else. “You can’t see the sky at all. It’s all smoke,” she said.

Andy Moreno, 41, watched the fire burn to within 500 yards of his large home on Coto de Caza Drive. “It is literally in front of our balcony,” he said.

But Moreno remained calm. “I had a house burn down in one of these firestorms. This is not a firestorm like I have seen in the past.”

The largest blaze, which blackened 4,500 acres in the Angeles National Forest north of Santa Clarita, was nearly contained Monday after an intense three-day air and ground battle. At its peak, more than 1,000 federal, state and local firefighters battled the blaze that began Saturday morning in Bouquet Canyon and quickly burned east and south.

The fire was 70% contained by Monday night after hand crews, aided by bulldozers, steered the flames into an area charred by a 3,000-acre October brush fire, said Capt. Brian Jordon of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Full containment was expected by tonight.

Two minor injuries were reported: One firefighter suffered a cut arm and another sustained a first-degree burn, Jordan said. He said the fire destroyed an outhouse and a shed.

A brush fire continued to burn Monday night in the northeast corner of Camp Pendleton after incinerating more than 1,000 acres of brush. Officials predicted full control by dawn today.

Officials said the fires could be a harbinger of what may be one of the most dangerous fire seasons in years.

Rainfall totals in some locations are 11 inches below normal, and meteorologists said the Southland could have its driest season in history.

In a normal year, the fire season starts in June and runs through year’s end. But some Southern California agencies, including the Forest Service, declared the season underway in mid-April.

*

Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Mike Anton, Andrew Blankstein, Tina Dirmann, Jessica Garrison, Evan Halper, Vivian LeTran, Eric Malnic and Dave McKibben.