Station Fire in Los Angeles Claims 2 Firefighters, 74 Structures

The video's from KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Station Fire Grows to 105,000+ Acres."



But see also the Los Angeles Times, "L.A. County Fire Has Destroyed 74 Structures, Remains Out of Control":



The number of structures burned by the Station fire has surged to 74 as the out-of-control wildfire pushed west and north, officials say.



Fifty-three homes, mountain cabins and other buildings were destroyed when the fire swept through the hamlet of Stonyvale in Tujunga Canyon. Earlier officials had said 21 homes were lost, mostly in remote areas in Tujunga Canyon and south of Acton.



The fire showed little sign of slowing down this afternoon as it threatened 12,000 homes in suburban tracts and desert communities, along with a historic observatory and major array of television and radio transmission towers.



“The fire is headed just about anywhere it wants to,” L.A. County Fire Deputy Chief Mike Dietrich said. “This is a very angry fire. Until we get a change in the weather conditions, I am not overly optimistic.”

With afternoon winds picking up, the Station fire, the largest of eight burning in the state, was plowing through dense hillside vegetation and steep terrain toward residential areas of Sunland and Santa Clarita on the west.



As billows of white and black smoke danced ominously close, Chuck Horn ushered his family and his two prized collectors' automobiles out of his home in the Sunland-Tujunga area.



"We took pictures, tax returns, insurance forms, the dog, the chicken, and that's it," Horn, 61, a retired L.A. County public works employee, said as he prepared to drive away in his baby blue 1931 Plymouth three-window coupe. Horn was next planning on moving his black 1911 Buick Model 33 away from the blaze.



To the east, firefighters were hoping that a concerted effort to cut fire breaks and lay down fire retardant would save the Mt. Wilson Observatory and a key complex of communications towers.



Because of the intensity and unpredictability of the blaze, which continued shifting directions, fire crews had to pull out of the mountaintop area today and wait for the firestorm to pass.

More at the Link.



Plus, click on this: "Los Angeles Fire Map: Tracking the Spread of the Flames [Updated]."



And, "Fallen Firefighters Remembered for Their Courage."

Tedmund "Ted" Hall and Arnaldo Quinones