Lake View Terrace-area wildfire jumps containment lines
A death may be linked to the 3,700-acre Marek fire, which shut down the 210 Freeway and the eastbound 118 at Glenoaks Boulevard. About 1,200 residents have to evacuate.
Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
A 3,700-acre wildfire driven by intense Santa Ana winds in the foothills near the Angeles National Forest is 5% contained, jumping containment lines after burning down mobile homes and industrial buildings in the Lake View Terrace area.
Authorities were also investigating a death possibly related to the blaze. The coroner's office was sending a team to the fire area but didn't provide further details.
The so-called Marek fire had been 20% contained Sunday night, but the number was downgraded to 5% this morning as 65 mph winds sent flames shooting 200 feet into the air.
Porter Ranch fire: A caption accompanying a photo of the Porter Ranch fire in Tuesday's Section A misspelled the name of the mountain where the Sesnon fire started Monday morning. It started on Oat Mountain, not Oak Mountain.
"As predicted, the Santa Ana winds did indeed come up, and it blew the fire out of our containment lines," said L.A. County Fire Chief Michael Freeman.
Fire officials were doing a damage assessment this morning to determine how many structures had been damaged or destroyed, but they did confirm the fire whipped through a mobile home park. Winds had calmed down during a 9 a.m. news conference at the command post at Hansen Dam Recreation Center.
"We do have a lull right now, and we're trying to take advantage of that lull," Freeman said. "We're getting ready for the next onslaught."
At least 220 fire engines were on the scene, and seven strike teams from Northern California were helping local firefighters battle the blaze. Another six teams were on their way.
Fueled by 65 mph winds, the fire also forced the closure of the 210 Freeway and several area schools and prompted the evacuation of 1,200 residents.
Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Ron Haralson could not say how many structures were burning or how many had been destroyed, but a mobile home park and various industrial lots in the Lake View Terrace area and the city of San Fernando were visibly ablaze.
County Fire Inspector Frank Garrido said the acreage burned had grown from 2,100 Sunday night to at least 3,700 after the so-called Marek fire had jumped a fire line about 4:30 a.m. in an area of Lopez Canyon.
The 210 is closed in both directions between the 118 Freeway and Interstate 5, and the eastbound 118 Freeway is closed at Glenoaks Boulevard, according to the California Highway Patrol.
An evacuation order for the eastern San Fernando Valley remains in effect as the fire burns in a southwesterly direction toward homes and major freeways northwest of Lake View Terrace, Garrido said. The evacuation area now stretches west from unincorporated Olive View to Lake View Terrace.
