Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 29, 1990 TAG: 9006290272
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. LENGTH: Long
A U.S. Forest Service firefighting helicopter crashed in San Marcos Pass northwest of Santa Barbara, and the pilot broke his leg. The aviator was taken to a hospital, said Santa Barbara County spokesman Bill Douros.
The National Weather Service said a return of gusts that fanned flames Wednesday was unlikely. Hot, dry winds had fanned the flames, which scorched 14,000 acres of brush in a four-county area north, east and south of Los Angeles.
Fires also burned in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Utah and Texas.
A destructive blaze in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale was contained after destroying or damaging 55 hillside homes Wednesday.
No deaths were immediately reported. One person was severely burned in Santa Barbara and three firefighters were seriously injured in Riverside County, authorities said.
Santa Barbara County, where rugged brush-covered hills rise sharply from the coastline, was hit hardest. A 3,500-acre arson fire that broke out late Wednesday near Santa Barbara and the nearby town of Goleta was one of the worst on record there. It continued to burn Thursday afternoon, and firefighters would offer no estimate of when it might be contained.
"The fire is incredible. It came down from the mountains. It spread everywhere. It burned everything in its path," said county Sheriff's Department spokesman Tim Grasey.
The fire destroyed neighborhoods; in other cases, it leaped over houses and left them standing improbably amid ruins.
Desert winds up to 60 mph pushed the fire through the hills Wednesday night, giving some residents little time to flee.
"You're just lucky to have your life," said Kay O'Brien, who fled her home with her husband carrying only family pictures and a retirement watch. The home and all their possessions were lost.
"We woke up this morning and wanted to brush our teeth, but we didn't even have a toothbrush," she said.
The toll in the Santa Barbara area was put at about 500 homes and other buildings. Bill Wallace, a county supervisor, said the homes alone were worth $190 million.
Firefighters controlled blazes in Utah and at Yellowstone National Park in Montana, but other fires raged unchecked in Arizona, Texas and Colorado. In Arizona, where six firefighters died Tuesday, a lightning fire in the Tonto National Forest destroyed a cabin built in the 1920s by Western novelist Zane Grey.
Two units of specially trained Wyoming Air National Guard firefighters have been ordered to California to help fight the wildfires raging out of control near Santa Barbara, said John Cornelison of the Wyoming Adjutant General's office.
The soldiers will travel to the West Coast in two C-130 aircraft equipped with firefighting systems capable of dumping 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in less than eight seconds, Cornelison said.
California Gov. George Deukmejian toured Santa Barbara and Glendale and declared states of emergency to release additional state money and pave the way for federal assistance.
Deukmejian also authorized a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist.
Fire danger loomed high throughout Southern California, where the brush is parched by four years of drought. A heat wave entered its third day after setting record highs over 100 degrees in many areas.
In Glendale, residents of the hilly neighborhood struck by an arsonist sorted through the ashes, all that was left of many expensive homes.
"I guess we'll just tighten our belts and get on with life," said Dennie Gill, a produce wholesaler whose home was destroyed. "It was a nice house."
Witnesses said they saw one of two young men in a car toss a butane lighter into the brush off Verdugo Road, where the fire started, said Chris Gray, a battalion chief in the Glendale Fire Department.
In Riverside County, a controlled burn that got out of hand when winds unexpectedly changed bore down on the city of Corona after destroying 12 homes and charring 2,200 acres, said Corona police Sgt. Rick Bourgault.
"Some of the smoldering areas came right up to the back yards of houses," said Bourgault. "There's lots of smoke and hot spots. Some of the hot spots whipped up into pretty good fires."
An arson blaze in the Carbon Canyon area of San Bernardino County blackened 6,640 acres and destroyed at least 14 homes, with hundreds more threatened, said Orange County Fire Department spokeswoman Maria Sobal.
The fire was 50 percent contained and firefighters worked feverishly to beat rising winds, said California Department of Forestry spokeswoman Sharon Sellers.
"To make matters worse, fireworks go on sale today," she said. "We're not happy about that."
A man described as a transient was arrested for investigation of arson in the Carbon Canyon blaze. Authorities said he sparked the blaze while trying to make coffee with two campfires.
by CNB