Firefighters battling the deadly Woolsey Fire in Los Angeles and Ventura counties endured the return of dangerous Santa Ana winds Sunday that were expected to drive the blaze farther as they work to save lives and homes.
“The winds have returned. This is a wind-driven event,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Chief John Benedict said Sunday.
Several flare-ups in the Malibu and western San Fernando Valley areas were reported throughout Sunday as winds started to kick up. Forecast to peak at up to 50 miles per hour, they are expected to be blowing for the next three days, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said.
Cal Fire officials said the fire had grown to 83,275 acres and was 10 percent contained by lines of cleared vegetation.
“Our firefighters worked all night putting out hot spots,” Osby said.
The badly burned bodies of two people were found inside a vehicle in a long driveway in the 33000 block of Mulholland Highway.
Three firefighters were injured battling the fire, but a Cal Fire media representative would not disclose the extent of the injuries, or say where the injured firefighters were from.
A total of 57,000 structures were threatened and 177 were destroyed, with hundreds more likely.
Malibu City Councilman Skylar Peak said more than 50 homes have been lost in the Point Dume area and over half the city was without electricity. Officials said City Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner was recuperating at a local hospital from conditions related to his efforts to save his home on Friday night during the Woolsey Fire.
The fire — which began Thursday afternoon — has forced the evacuation of at least 75,000 homes and an estimated 265,000 people in both counties as it indiscriminately consumed multimillion-dollar mansions and mobile homes. The cause remained under investigation, Cal Fire said.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Curt Kaplan said Sunday that the winds will steadily increase to 50-60 mph in the mountains with gusts of up to 70 mph. A Red Flag Warning remained in effect for Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Tuesday.
Kaplan was optimistic the winds would be weaker than they were Thursday and Friday and will be strongest in the mornings and early afternoons through Tuesday, giving firefighters a nightly reprieve.
Mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect in the city of Malibu and communities including Hidden Hills, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Topanga, Westlake Village, Oak Park and Bell Canyon. Other mandatory evacuation areas include Liberty Canyon west to Decker Canyon and south to Pacific Coast Highway; Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon east to Decker Canyon and west to PCH; south of Highway 101, east of Reino Road, north of Potrero Road, East to the Los Angeles/Ventura County Line; West Hills, west of Valley Circle Boulevard with border to the north at Roscoe Boulevard and to the south at Vanowen Street; in Thousand Oaks, Thousand Oaks Boulevard north to Sunset Hills, from Oak Park west to Highway 23; and west of Highway 23, south of Olsen Road, north to Pederson Road.
Evacuation centers are open at the following locations. (The centers in Camarillo and Newbury Park will allow evacuees to bring small animals in crates)
— Canoga Park High School, 6850 Topanga Canyon Blvd.;
— Camarillo Community Center, 1605 E. Burnley St.;
— Borchard Community Center, 190 Reino Road, Newbury Park;
— Palisades High School, 15777 Bowdoin St., Pacific Palisades;
— Pierce College, 7100 El Rancho Dr., Woodland Hills (entrance off Desoto Ave.)
— Rancho Santa Susana Recreation Center, 5005 Unit C Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley;
Taft Charter High School in Woodland Hills has reached capacity, along with three evacuation centers in Thousand Oaks in Ventura County, including Goebel Senior Adult Center, Thousand Oaks Teen Center and Thousand Oaks Community Center.
Pacific Coast Highway remained closed to all traffic from the Ventura/Los Angeles County line to Sunset Boulevard. The Ventura (101) Freeway was closed between Reyes Adobe and Valley Circle. The California Highway Patrol was hoping to reopen the freeway in both directions sometime Sunday, however Malibu officials said off=ramps from Reyes Adobe to Parkway Calabasas will remain closed.
Law enforcement and fire officials, as well as elected officials, urged people in the fire area to heed all evacuation orders.
Pepperdine University in Malibu, which lifted a shelter-in-place order that had been in effect Saturday, announced Sunday that the school’s Malibu and Calabasas campuses would remain closed through Thanksgiving.
All Malibu schools in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District will remain closed until at least Thursday, the district announced.
The City of Malibu reported that all mandatory evacuation orders remain in effect and no one will be permitted to re-enter Malibu until further notice. Active fires were still burning in Malibu, and the city said there will likely be intermittent power outages due to weather and fire conditions.
Malibu also has established a website to update fire information at www.malibucity.org/woolsey.
The superintendent of the Las Virgenes Unified School District in Calabasas said district leaders would meet Sunday to assess air quality and overall safety issues before issuing a district-wide email to families about the school schedule for the rest of the week.
A town hall for residents will be held Sunday at 5 p.m. at Taft Charter High School in the 5400 block of Winnetka Avenue in Woodland Hills, where attendees will have a chance to question various authorities about the fire fight.
The expected return of the winds led to the re-imposition of the Red Flag Parking Restriction Program, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart, who warned that illegally parked vehicles will be towed. Motorists should look for “No Parking” signs posted in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. For a map of those zones, go to www.lafd.org./news/woolsey-fire.
The Los Angeles City Fire Department sent more than 25 fire companies to battle the Woolsey Fire, Stewart said. The U.S. Forest Service has dispatched two crews numbering 32 people to assist, according to the department.
Orange County Fire Authority officials say they have sent 20 engines to assist with the fires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and firefighters have come in from off time to ensure that every OCFA fire station is adequately staffed.
Crews from other agencies, including Arizona, were also assisting in battling the massive blaze, helping to evacuate residents and providing traffic control.
Los Angeles County fire strike teams and water dropping aircraft were working to contain the flames on or around the Pepperdine campus. No permanent structures have been lost, but video from the campus showed at least one vehicle and several bicycles scorched by flames.
Evacuation centers for animals were opened Friday at Hansen Dam, 11770 Foothill Blvd. in Lake View Terrace, and Pierce College in Woodland Hills, but both reached capacity. A large animal evacuation center was established at the Zuma Beach parking lot in Malibu. Industry Hills Expo Center in the San Gabriel Valley was also offering shelter for horses from fire-affected areas. In Ventura County, Borchard Community Center at 190 Reino Rd. in Newbury Park was accepting dogs and cats.
The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Services was on site assisting as well.
Those who need assistance with large animals were advised to call (805) 388-4258.
Meanwhile, firefighters were reporting progress on the much smaller Hill Fire north of Malibu and south of Simi Valley. That wildfire was 70 percent contained and consumed 4,531 acres with two structures destroyed and no other structures threatened. No civilians or firefighters were killed or injured and full containment was expected Wednesday.
Governor Jerry Brown, responding to the Southern California fires and the Camp Fire in Northern California that has burned more than 100,000 acres and killed at least 23 people, announced Sunday that he is requesting a “major disaster declaration” from President Donald J. Trump, in addition to an earlier emergency declaration signed by Trump that will provide federal funds to help firefighters.