Page 16 - DESPA

A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 7 december 2017

Another wildfire joins the siege across Southern California

By MICHAEL BALSAMO cast a hazardous haze
BRIAN MELLEY over the region. About
Associated Press 200,000 people were un-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A der evacuation orders. No
wildfire erupted in Los An- deaths and only a few inju-
geles’ exclusive Bel-Air sec- ries were reported.
tion Wednesday as yet an- From the beachside city
other part of Southern Cali- of Ventura, where rows of
fornia found itself under homes were leveled, to the
siege from an outbreak of rugged foothills north of
wind-whipped blazes that Los Angeles, where stable
have consumed multimil- owners had to evacuate
lion-dollar houses and tract horses in trailers, to Bel-Air,
homes alike. where the rich and famous
Hundreds of homes across have sweeping views of
the L.A. metropolitan area L.A. below, fierce Santa
and beyond were feared Ana winds sweeping in
destroyed since Monday, from the desert fanned the
but firefighters were only flames and fears.
slowly managing to make “God willing, this will slow
their way into some of the down so the firefighters
hard-hit areas. can do their job,” said
As many as five fires have Maurice Kaboud, who ig-
Homes stand along the beach as the sun is visible through thick smoke from a wildfire Wednesday, closed highways, schools nored an evacuation or-
Dec. 6, 2017, in Ventura, Calif. A dramatic new wildfire erupted in Los Angeles early Wednesday and museums, shut down der and stood in his back-
as firefighters battled three other destructive blazes across Southern California.
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) production of TV series and yard with a garden hose at
the ready.
Air tankers that were
grounded most of Tues-
day because of high winds
went up on Wednesday,
dropping flame retardant.
Firefighters rushed to at-
tack the fires before the
winds picked up again.
They were expected to
gust as high as 80 mph at
night.
Before dawn Wednesday,
flames exploded on the
steep slopes of Sepulve-
da Pass, closing a section
of heavily traveled Inter-
state 405 and burning at
least four homes in Bel-Air,
where houses range from
$2 million to $30 million.
Firefighters hosed down a
burning Tudor-style house
as helicopters dropped
water on hillside homes to
protect them from the 150-
acre (60-hectare) blaze.
Bel-Air was the site of a cat-
astrophic fire in 1961 that
burned nearly 500 homes.
Burt Lancaster and Zsa Zsa
Gabor were among the
celebrities who lost their
houses.q