Blaze destroys home, business

Powerful winds that remained intense throughout the day Wednesday created havoc around the Southland, causing at least one serious injury and feeding a fire that scaled a 200-foot hillside near Cal State L.A., destroying a business and a home in its path.

The winds, which gusted in spots at more than 50 mph, toppled a 50-foot tree in Anaheim onto a parked van, critically hurting a man inside.

Elsewhere in Orange County, a 25-foot sailboat was driven into a Newport Beach jetty, leading authorities -- who, late into the night, still didn’t know whether anyone was aboard -- on a frantic search for possible survivors. And, at Disneyland, a teenager on the Jungle Cruise ride suffered minor injuries when a banana tree blew over.

The National Weather Service in Oxnard issued gale warnings and small craft advisories all along the Southern California coast as well as wind warnings inland. The high wind warnings were centered in the mountains of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

The Los Angeles fire erupted shortly before 6 p.m. and destroyed Y Tire Sales, an 18-employee warehouse and retreading facility at 1941 N. Marianna Ave. in the El Sereno area west of Cal State L.A. Embers from the fire blew east past low-rise apartment buildings up the hillside to the 1900 block of Seigneur Avenue, a street of modest one-story stucco homes.

The fire was extinguished within 90 minutes but not soon enough to save the home owned by Ken Kramer, an animal control officer. Surveying the smoldering ruins, he shook his head and said, “I went to the store, came back and my house is gone.”

He added, “One of my two dogs is missing, and everything inside my house is destroyed.” Kramer said he bought the home in June and was in the midst of a remodeling project. “I’m 47; I had lots of pictures,” he said, as he began trembling and his voice trailed off.

One neighboring house sustained exterior damage, and the fire burned household items in the yard of another home. No injuries were reported, however, and although some residents fled, there was no evacuation ordered.

At least 130 Los Angeles city firefighters battled the blaze. Authorities said they were still investigating the cause but that they did not suspect foul play.

The fast-moving fire was spread by strong winds. Thick black clouds of smoke were visible over much of the Eastside.

A wind-fanned brush fire in the Castaic area grew to 15 acres Wednesday afternoon, threatening some structures before being brought under control about 4 p.m.

More than 100 firefighters and three helicopter crews were sent to the scene.

In Orange County, the first reports of the boat incident at the Wedge near Newport Harbor came in about 3:45 p.m.

“We’re trying to determine whether anyone was aboard,” said Jennifer Schulz, a spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Fire Department.

A search failed to find any survivors. Late Wednesday, officials said it was still unclear whether anyone had been aboard the boat when it went into the rocks.

“It’s extremely windy, and the water is rough,” Schulz said.

The craft, she said, began breaking up on the rock jetty, then was partially submerged. Debris was scattered as far as Crystal Cove State Beach about a mile to the south.

Police and harbor patrol officials, Schulz said, were trying to contact the boat’s owner to determine whether -- and how many -- people may have been on board as the search for survivors continued.

Across the county in Anaheim, the winds blew down a 60-foot ficus tree, smashing the roof of a parked van in which a maintenance man was taking a break. The accident occurred about 4:30 p.m. in the 300 block of Archer Street.

“It fell right on top of him and crushed his head against the roof,” said Phil Aguilar, a pastor who lives down the street.

“I ran over to him and said, ‘Are you alive?’ He said, ‘Yes, but I can’t breathe.’

“I prayed with him for the next few minutes until the firemen arrived. By the time they got him out, he couldn’t speak or move his fingers.”

Mary Sabol, a spokeswoman for the Anaheim Fire Department, said the man, whose name was not released, was cut out of the van with an air chisel before being airlifted to UCI Medical Center in Orange with “very serious, life-threatening” injuries.

The Disneyland incident occurred about 12:40 p.m. when the wind blew a banana tree over, and one of its fronds struck a 17-year-old girl aboard the Jungle Cruise ride.

She was hospitalized with minor neck injuries.

“She wasn’t hit by the full force of the frond,” Sabol said. “We believe the boat’s railing broke its fall.”

The attraction was shut down two hours for inspection, a Disneyland spokesman said.

louis.sahagan@latimes.com

david.haldane@latimes.com

Times staff writers J. Michael Kennedy, Dave McKibben, Charles Proctor and Stuart Silverstein contributed to this report.