1,000 residents flee L.A. fire

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1,000 residents flee L.A. fire
Mandatory evacuations in rugged foothills

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for people in about 400 houses in the foothills above Sierra Madre and Arcadia, and 35 members of a mountaintop wedding party had to be flown out via helicopter around an unusual springtime brushfire Sunday.

The fire started along a popular trail and creek in Santa Anita Canyon Saturday afternoon, and had grown to between 350-400 acres by midmorning Sunday, said Sierra Madre city spokeswoman Elisa Weaver. More than 1,000 residents were ousted from the danger zone.

The fire continued to chew through rugged foothills all Sunday, burning west from the ignition point and keeping residents west towards Pasadena and Altadena on edge. But firefighters said winds were light, and no red flag warnings were posted because humidities were relatively moderate despite an offshore flow more typical of autumn.

The wedding party may have spent the night at a campground at Chantry Flats, and was never closer than 3.5 miles from the fire, said Sierra Madre spokeswoman Alissa Weaver. She said winds were blowing the fire away from where those people were taking shelter.

Sierra Madre volunteer rescue teams helped the stranded wedding guests to board Los Angeles sheriff's helicopters for rides down to their cars.

On the fire's southern flank, another 200 houses were evacuated west of Santa Anita Canyon today. That order came after 200 homes in the canyon were ordered emptied Saturday.

Mandatory evacuation orders now blanket the area generally north of Grandview Avenue and east of Santa Anita Avenue. "This is a mandatory evacuation, we do not want people to wait until the last minute and then have to leave as fire trucks are moving up the roads," Weaver said at a midmorning news briefing.

No return date was set for evacuees, and Weaver said it could be 4-5 days before the fire is fully contained. Evacuees were directed to Hart Park House, 22 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. and the Congregational Church at 170 W. Sierra Madre Blvd.

As of midday Sunday, only one shed had burned, and 400 firefighters were both stationed around houses and working with hand tools on fire lines in the rugged foothills along Santa Anita Creek.

Three water-dropping airplanes and two helicopters were dropping water and fire retardant on the blaze. The early-morning estimate that the fire was about 5 percent contained as of 7:45 a.m., according to fire officials.

The 400 firefighters working on the blaze were to be bolstered tonight by fire crews arriving from Santa Barbara County, including engines from Lompoc, Santa Maria and Santa Barbara.

No injuries were reported. It was unclear how the fire started, but Santa Anita Canyon is popular with picnickers and weekend hikers.

The blaze started about 3 p.m. Saturday amid Santa Ana conditions in the canyon between Chantry Flats and Arcadia's northern flank. The canyon and its creek is a popular picnicking spot, and was reportedly crowded with people Saturday.

Smoke from the blaze was visible and causing traffic delays on the Foothill (210) Freeway, three miles south of the incident.

This fire about two miles from a fire last weekend that threatened houses near the Whispering Pines subdivision in Arcadia.