Southern California sees second day of triple-digit highs as one man dies and hundreds of homes are evacuated due to a fire that is ‘not slowing down’

Wildfires burned out of control on Saturday in mountains north of Los Angeles and near Big Sur on California’s scenic Central Coast, posing a threat to some 2,000 homes, authorities said.

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Firefighters faced another day of triple-digit heat from a dome of high pressure over the region. While central coast temperatures were more moderate, conditions included winds and low humidity.

The fire in northern Los Angeles county grew to 20,000 acres, or more than 31 square miles, darkening skies with smoke that spread across the city and suburbs, reducing the sun to an orange disk at times.

The fire caused at least one death. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide detectives were investigating circumstances surrounding a man found dead in an evacuation area.

Media reported a resident was found dead in a burned car, citing a neighbor who said the man’s house has burned down.

The south coast air quality management district warned that at times air would reach unhealthy levels. Municipal pools in Pasadena and Glendale were closed because of smoke and falling ash.

The fire erupted on Friday afternoon in the Sand Canyon area near State Route 14 as the region was gripped by high heat and very low humidity. About 300 homes were under mandatory or voluntary evacuations, but none had burned.

Hundreds of county and Angeles National Forest firefighters battled the blaze, aided by three dozen water-dropping helicopters and retardant-dropping airplanes.

“It just continues to move. It’s not slowing down,” county fire inspector Joey Marron said late Friday.

“I got all my tenants out of the RV park and for the people that weren’t there and still have dogs, I broke into their trailers and got their dogs out,” Kurtis Bell, manager of River’s End RV Park, told KCAL-TV.

Metrolink train service in the area was halted on Friday and on Saturday was subject to delays.

About 300 miles up the coast, firefighters battled a nearly three-square-mile blaze in rugged mountains north of the majestic Big Sur region.

The blaze five miles south of Garrapata state park posed a threat to 1,000 homes and the community of Palo Colorado was ordered evacuated, Cal Fire said. A middle school in Carmel-by-the-Sea was readied as an evacuation center.

More than 300 firefighters were on the lines. Highway 1 and businesses in the Big Sur area, a major summer tourist destination, remained open.

For a second day, triple-digit highs were forecast for many regions of southern California. On Friday, the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles topped out at 111F (44C) while Palm Springs recorded 115F (46C), and even San Diego and beaches hit the 80s. It reached 106F (41C) in Santa Clarita, just north of Los Angeles.

Driven by 20mph winds, the fire near state route 14 quickly enveloped more than five square miles of brush. Huge flames leapt on ridgetops and smoke could be seen miles away in downtown Los Angeles.



“You could see the fire [on] the top of that mountain, the tops of all these mountains, 20ft up in the air,” Bell said. “It absolutely looked like the apocalypse.”

Night-time images showed long glowing lines on the ridges, topped by soaring swaths of flames and walls of smoke.