Los Angeles, September 08: Just as firefighters were intensifying their efforts Monday to contain the flames menacing the foothill neighborhoods of the San Gabriel Valley, another part of the deadly fire in the Angeles National Forest flared up.
Fire officials canceled plans to burn out brush and create a buffer south of the ferocious fire to protect communities from Azusa to Pasadena.
Incident Commander Mike Dietrich said at a Monday night news conference that the weather — including 30-40 mph winds and 10 percent humidity — didn’t cooperate, and the aircraft needed to support and monitor the burnout operations were diverted to the fire’s northeastern flank.
The blaze was 56 percent contained and had blackened 157,220 acres, or 246 square miles, as it burned deeper into the wilderness in its 13th day, feeding off leaf litter on the ground, old growth and dead timber.
“Even the mountain goats won’t climb in there because it’s so steep and rugged,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman Nathan Judy said.
The flames have reached the bottom of the south face of Mount Waterman, which has a small ski area on its northern side.
The cost of the fire fight has climbed to $57.6 million, Dietrich said.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles County sheriff’s and fire investigators continued their homicide investigation into the fire. Officials have said the cause of the fire was arson but have released no findings.
Los Angeles County firefighters Tedmund Hall and Arnaldo Quinones were killed in a vehicle accident Aug. 30 while seeking an escape route for their inmate fire crew after flames overran their camp on Mount Gleason.
Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said the men’s vehicle was airlifted off a mountain and taken to a secure location Monday so investigators could analyze it. The examination of the site where the fire started near the Angeles Crest Highway wrapped up Monday, he said.
Fire spokesman David Ortiz said a firefighter fell and had to be airlifted out Sunday night, bringing the total number firefighters injured on the Station fire to 11.
Ortiz said 19 helicopters and eight fixed-wing aircraft are fighting the blaze. Plans to airlift hand crews into rugged parts of the San Gabriel Wilderness were also scaled back.
Damage assessment teams counted 78 homes, two commercial buildings and dozens of outbuildings destroyed by the flames. The fire is expected to be fully contained Sept. 15.
The temporary city that sprang up to house, bathe and feed about 4,600 firefighters will be relocated Tuesday from a large park in the Lake View Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles to another park near Irwindale to the east, closer to the active fire.
—Agencies