Firefighters retreat as the Powerhouse fire bears down on them them during a fast run toward Lake Hughes on June 1, 2013 south of Lake Hughes, California. The 19,500-acre wildfire destroyed numerous homes overnight. Nearly 1,000 firefighters have been working in hot dry conditions to establish containment lines around 20 percent of the fire so far. David McNew/Getty Images/AFP
LOS ANGELES — A wildfire that destroyed at least six homes, damaged 15 others and threatened hundreds more grew quickly as it triggered evacuations for nearly 3,000 people and burned dangerously close to communities in the parched mountains north of Los Angeles.
The blaze had burned about 40 square miles (103 sq. kilometers) of very dry brush in the Angeles National Forest mountains and canyons, some of which hadn’t burned since 1929. The fire was growing so fast, and the smoke was so thick, that it was difficult to map the size, U.S. Forest Service Incident Commander Norm Walker said.
“This is extremely old, dry fuel,” Walker said at an afternoon news conference.
The fire, which was 20 percent contained, appeared to be the fiercest of several burning in the West, including two in New Mexico, where thick smoke covered several communities and set a blanket of haze over Santa Fe on Saturday. Crews fighting the two uncontained wildfires focused Sunday on building protection lines around them amid anticipation that a forecast of storms could bring moisture to help reduce the intensity of the fires.
The fire raging in Southern California had crews fighting the fire on four fronts, with the flames spreading quickest northward into unoccupied land, authorities said. But populated areas about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of downtown LA remained in danger, with more than 2,800 people and 700 homes under evacuation orders in the communities of Lake Hughes and Lake Elizabeth, sheriff’s Lt. David Coleman said.
They wouldn’t be allowed to return home until at least Monday and possibly Tuesday, Coleman said.