Brush Fires

As the Station fire spread Sunday, lives were lost; homes and dense forests were destroyed. There were other consequences as well. Here is a look at three: Air quality The fire reduced air quality to hazardous levels in foothill communities of the San Gabriel Valley and San Fernando Valley, officials said Sunday. The cities of Altadena, La Cañada Flintridge and La Crescenta were directly affected by the smoke, as were the Los Angeles communities of Tujunga and Sunland.

For three days, I couldn't find my fire on TV. And that's a problem -- before and after -- you've been evacuated from your La Crescenta home as I, my husband and my three children were in the early morning hours this weekend. As a television critic, I have spent hours watching endless news loops of Octomom coverage, Tim Russert memorials and the Sarah Palin watch. Less than two months ago, I sat through at least an hour's worth of overhead shots of a freeway emptied in anticipation of Michael Jackson's memorial procession.

Executives at several local television stations defended their coverage of the Station fire over the weekend after Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and some viewers complained that the fire, despite evacuations and threats to homes, did not receive the continuous coverage given previous large blazes. Antonovich on Monday accused television news stations of being negligent in failing to provide comprehensive fire coverage. "There were a large number of evacuations taking place, people and animals were in danger, and people had no information of where to go," Antonovich said in an interview.

As firefighters continued to battle flames from the Station fire Monday, founders of an exotic animal reserve north of Los Angeles attempted to evacuate hundreds of tigers, bears, lions and other animals as similar facilities in Acton have chosen to keep their beasts in place. At the Wildlife Waystation, workers and a stream of volunteers worked late Monday night to evacuate more than 200 animals sheltered at the refuge in Little Tujunga Canyon. In media interviews throughout the afternoon, staff pleaded for trucks to help evacuate the animals as flames raged nearby.

Reporting from Los Angeles and The Angeles National Forest -- Everything that has made the Angeles National Forest wildfire so fierce and intractable -- extreme heat, treacherous terrain, bone-dry conditions left by years of drought -- seems to have converged on the lonely hilltop where Ted Hall and Arnie Quinones died. Hidden in the forest, high above the Antelope Valley to the north and Los Angeles to the south, the hilltop is a hostile place now. By Monday, the flames had reduced the bluffs in every direction to a blackened moonscape, interrupted only by boulders, plumes of smoke and downed power lines draped like bunting from the gnarled limbs of charred trees.

For 32 years, Jim Lewis has lived and worked in the middle of the Angeles National Forest, flipping burgers and making sandwiches for hunters, bikers and commuters at his family's Hidden Springs Cafe. He has watched fires come and go, each one skirting the serene, punch bowl-shaped canyon where the cafe is located. The only sound is often the nearby stream and the rustling of deer, coyote and the occasional mountain lion. But early Monday, Lewis found himself listening to freeway traffic near his sister's Burbank home, unable to sleep as he thought about the wall of flames he saw closing in on Hidden Springs just before he fled.

Ash-gray cars filled the lanes at Crescenta Valley Car Wash on Sunday, waiting their turn to reclaim whatever shine they had before the wildfire danced in the foothills above La Cañada Flintridge. A week ago, towering flames were visible from this parking lot. But now, the smoke is clearing along this strip of shops and restaurants on Foothill Boulevard, and a normal weekend is almost visible through the haze. "I'm sorry to say that after the fire, we've had very good business," said manager Ed Isagholi, pointing to the line of customer-packed benches.

Fire crews battling the Station fire continued to focus their efforts Sunday on its eastern edge in the San Gabriel Wilderness, with air tankers swooping into the ravines above Monrovia in an effort to keep the blaze from crossing California 39. The fire, which had consumed 157,220 acres by Sunday, seemed to be taking its time, settling into canyons and burning through vegetation it had skipped earlier. But it remained a safe distance from populated areas. "The fire is moving slowly through the wilderness area," said Nathan Judy, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

When Clint Watson returned home to La Cañada Flintridge, the wildfire evacuee was relieved to find that the flames had spared his neighborhood. Today, however, the 21-year-old is working feverishly to protect his home from a new menace: mudslides. For nearly two weeks, Watson has been laboring in his backyard, staking sheets of door-sized plywood into the earth. He hopes the barriers will save the house he shares with his mother and grandmother by diverting any debris flows to a nearby street.

Manure becomes volatile as it decomposes. Gases, including methane and hydrogen sulfide, are naturally produced as the animal waste breaks down. As weather becomes hotter, methane becomes highly combustible, which can cause the manure to spontaneously explode and sometimes catch fire. Since methane is lighter than air, it builds up on top of unvented areas, such as in closed pits. It is recommended that all areas with manure be ventilated to prevent explosions. Figures showing how many brush fires have been caused by manure explosions are not available, said Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Tom Kruschke.