heeheeheehee...'bushfire'....heeheeheehee...
'californica' hoohoohoo...
maybe the Governator can blow it all out with one mighty exhalation...

"Uncle Wally 's nice 'n' comfy cozy HOOROO corner cabin ;-)T"
<stargatedecember2012@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:1128059447.508617.292060@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

WEBSITE:

www.ctv.ca/


Hundreds evacuate as Los Angeles fire grows


The Los Angeles County Fire Department says more than 700 firefighters
are working the fire.

Firefighters protect homes in Simi Valley, Calif., from the Chatsworth
fire. (AP / Los Angeles Daily News)

Fire personal back away as a flame shoots towards them in the
Chatsworth section of Los Angeles. (AP / Mike Meadows)

CTV.ca News Staff

Updated: Thu. Sep. 29 2005 11:33 PM ET

Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate their homes in northwestern
Los Angeles Thursday after a 17,000-acre wildfire fuelled by hot Santa
Ana winds grew rapidly along the northwestern edge of the city.

Some 3,000 firefighters fought to protect ridge top houses along the
Los Angeles-Ventura county line, west of the San Fernando Valley.

The hot zone is near the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks. Flames
broke out Wednesday afternoon and the affected area has more than
quadrupled in size.

Officials said the stubborn blaze was only 5 percent contained. And
numerous homes in nine areas had to be evacuated.

The Red Cross reported 600 people had signed up to stay at five of its
shelters.

While at least one home and five other structures were destroyed by
fire, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said firefighters
saved some 2,000 buildings.

"We are guardedly optimistic, if the weather cooperates, if the public
cooperates," he said. "This may end well for all of us, but weather is
unpredictable in these parts and everyone needs to be on guard."

Conditions are expected to move in firefighters' favour, as scorching
temperatures -- currently in the high 90s -- are expected to drop over
the next few days while humidity rises.

"For the firefighters, it's actually pretty decent news," meteorologist
Joe Sirard of the National Weather Service in Oxnard told the
Associated Press. "It will be much more favorable for containing this
fire."

Officials reported that one firefighter was taken to hospital after
being struck on the head by a 40-pound boulder.

Helicopters began dropping water on the flames at daybreak as the blaze
threatened canyon homes in the San Fernando Valley, creeping west
toward dwellings near Thousand Oaks in Ventura County.

Past wildfires fuelled by Santa Ana winds have roared south to Malibu,
the tony community about 16 km away, and firefighters fear this blaze
could follow the same trail.

As of Thursday, officials were not sure how the fire began.

According to Bloomberg news agency, the fire started Wednesday
afternoon near the intersection of the westbound 118 freeway and
Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth, about 48 km from downtown Los
Angeles.

Meanwhile, a fire blazed Thursday in Riverside County, spread over
1,160 acres between the cities of Redlands and Moreno Valley, about 113
km east of Los Angeles.

According to the CDF, about 25 per cent of the fire was contained
Thursday.

While it's not believed there were any human casualties in the
Riverside County fire, it destroyed three coops that were believed to
house between 70,000 and 90,000 chickens.

According to the U.S. National Interagency Fire Center, wildfires have
charred 8.16 million acres nationwide, up from the same time last year
with 7.74 million acres.

According to the Los Angeles Times, fire departments had been warning
for months that the near-record rains Southern California experienced
last winter contributed to thick growths of brush, creating conditions
for a prolific fire season.

Record rainfall in January has lead to strong growth of bush on the
ground, providing fuel for what's could be a bad fire season.