No Holiday From the Heat

At the unofficial end of summer, the season’s most uncomfortable elements combined Monday for a sweltering, smoky, gridlocked close to the Labor Day weekend.

Most frustrating for vacationers was a pesky brush fire near Castaic that forced the temporary shutdown of the Golden State Freeway, California’s primary north-south artery. Named the Freeway fire, the blaze burned about 1,000 acres and backed up traffic as much as 10 miles for several hours during the day. Fire authorities said the fire was 90% contained Monday night, with full containment expected by this morning.

As holiday travelers crept home, the National Weather Service issued warnings about the excessive heat, which may have caused a death on Sunday.

Another brush fire, in the Angeles National Forest near Azusa, still wasn’t contained Monday. Officials said someone apparently set the blaze, but they were uncertain if it was deliberate.

Thermometers soared over 100 degrees for the second day in many cities. By midafternoon, it was already 106 degrees in Van Nuys and 104 in Ontario. By contrast, the normally sweltering desert communities of Palm Springs and Thermal reached 102 and 100, respectively.

Also roasting Monday--at least in historical terms--was the Bay Area, where Oakland reached 90 degrees, breaking a record of 87 for the date that was set in 1975. Coastal Monterey hit 87, breaking a record for the date set in 1955.

The inland heat wave, caused by a lingering high-pressure area over the West Coast, produced a near-record demand for electricity to run air conditioners, causing isolated power outages.

Cooling should begin today. According to the National Weather Service, Southern California temperatures will drop several degrees and even more Wednesday, when clouds and instability could bring showers and thunderstorms from Santa Barbara to Orange County.

The triple-digit temperatures on Labor Day did not shrink crowds at popular holiday gathering spots, however. Rangers at Frank G. Bonelli Park in San Dimas had to close the gates shortly before noon after an estimated 3,000 picnickers, swimmers and boaters filled the San Gabriel Valley recreation area.

Many people fled to the waterfront, where the largest crowds of this summer were reported. On the beaches from Marina del Rey to San Pedro, an estimated 300,000 visitors cooled off in gentle breezes measuring in the high 70s and low 80s.

“We’ve stretched lifeguards as far as we can stretch them,” said county lifeguard Capt. Dave Story.

The region’s brush fires only worsened the late summer heat. Near Castaic, Geri Castillo watched her backyard thermometer soar from 110 to 125 degrees as the Freeway fire and its winds advanced toward the mobile home park where she lives.

“All the kids and their parents were in the pool trying to cool off,” Castillo said. “We’ve had fires that were close before, but the heat wasn’t as intense as it was this year.”

The Freeway fire had not damaged any structures by Monday evening, and no firefighters were seriously injured. Firefighters expected to fully contain the blaze by Monday night and have it mostly extinguished by later today. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

“We’re in the beginning of really the worst part of our fire season,” said Los Angeles County fire spokesman Roland Sprewell.

The real effect of the Freeway fire was felt along the Golden State Freeway, where portions from Gorman to Castaic were closed several times Monday and drivers pulled off to wait for the interstate to reopen.

In Valencia, just outside the entrance to Six Flags Magic Mountain, cars had parked in every space at a Chevron service station and were lined up three-deep for gas. Several drivers were filling their overheated cars with water and extra coolant. Inside the convenience store, the line for the cashier snaked through the aisles as customers took advantage of a 2-for-1 special on bottled water and asked the clerks for advice on how to get around the miles-long traffic jam. Both directions of the freeway were open by about 6:30 p.m.

“It’s going to be a long drive,” said Julie Zavala, who woke up at 4 a.m. Monday to travel from her vacation spot in Mexico to her home in Contra Costa County. Zavala and her family had been diverted during other trips because of fires. “But this--we’ll be home tomorrow.”

Several highways popular on holidays were shut down in the Angeles National Forest, where several hundred firefighters struggled to box in the 11,500-acre Curve fire that threatened two sensitive wilderness areas.

It had forced about 8,000 weekend campers and visitors to evacuate on Sunday

“You’re getting heat from both sources. With the fire heat and the extremely hot temperatures over 100 degrees, you almost can’t absorb enough liquids to handle it,” said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Gwen Smith.

Only two structures, including an abandoned ranger station, were confirmed destroyed in the blaze, but officials were still assessing potential damage to several remote cabins.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Flames, which roared through brush-covered terrain along California 39 on Sunday to the Crystal Lake campground, slowed by Monday afternoon.

Full containment of the fire was not expected for several days because of the inaccessibility of many hot spots, Smith said.

Erratic winds could still whip the fire up and push it into nearby wildlife preserves, including a big horn sheep habitat to the east.

In addition to California 39, which is closed indefinitely, a portion of Angeles Crest Highway normally traveled by hundreds of Labor Day visitors was shut down Monday.

The effort in the San Gabriel Canyon was being aided by reinforcements shifted from another forest fire near Wrightwood, which was more than 60% contained.

No structures were threatened and only minor injuries to several firefighters were reported.

On Sunday, a hiker from Orange County died on a trail in the Cleveland National Forest, where the temperature was 109.

The body of Michael Curtin, 38, of Lake Forest was discovered by a mountain biker on a trail in Modjeska Canyon. The biker, a physician, could not revive Curtin.

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Times staff writers Stanley Allison and Carol Chambers contributed to this report.