In L.A. County, a new blaze threatens homes in the vicinity of Valencia and Stevenson Ranch. Southern California’s firestorms showed no sign of abating this afternoon as yet another fast-moving blaze was posing a threat to northern Los Angeles and Ventura counties and the toll of evacuations, charred acreage and lost structures mounted reports the Los Angeles Times.
The newest challenge developed in the Stevenson Ranch and Valencia area’s near Magic Mountain, where an afternoon brush fire quickly spread to 1,000 acres threatening a high school and homes and forcing evacuations.
Near Stevenson Ranch, Ava Raich was busy packing valuables when a sheriff’s deputy arrived to warn residents to leave. Raich, who has five children, said she gathered computers, important family papers and photographs.
“I packed each of the younger kids’ special blankets,” she said. “I also packed my grandfather’s WW II Marine uniform and his purple heart. It’s that kind of stuff you can’t replace.”
About 1,600 prisoners at the nearby Pitchess Detention Center were being moved to another part of the sprawling jail complex because smoke was filling buildings.
Dubbed the Magic fire, the flames were moving west at dusk through hilly terrian toward the Ventura County into the hills northeast of Porter Ranch and Simi Valley. Officials were concerned that shifting evening winds could drive the blaze toward.
Read it here: Southern California’s Fires Rage on into the Night