Fire crews get upper hand as California weather helps out

Monday, Oct. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Cooler weather and dying winds helped firefighters tame two infernos and carved away at others that turned more than 100 homes and 40,000 acres of California brushland to ash.

The weeklong seige of fires dwindled Sunday to mop-up operations, although pre-dawn winds sparked a handful of new blazes.

The largest fire still burning out of control was in Northern California's scenic Big Sur region. The 4,430-acre blaze in Los Padres National Forest was only 40 percent contained Sunday night. Full containment was predicted by Thursday, said Sharon Sprouse, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.

In Malibu, to the south, a 13,010-acre fire that destroyed six houses and two mobile homes was contained Sunday evening, said county firefighter Lawrence Beals.

A Glendale firefighter burned in the Malibu fire when flames engulfed his fire truck remained in critical condition at Sherman Oaks Hospital.

William Jensen, 52, was the most seriously injured of six firefighters overtaken by flames last week.

Near the U.S.-Mexico border, the 14,720-acre Otay Mountains fire also was surrounded by fire lines. Full control was expected today.

Feared Santa Ana winds that gusted to 40 mph early Sunday diminished by nightfall. Cooler, calmer weather was forecast today, with a chance of rain through Tuesday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Dedric Walker.

Two homes were damaged in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles by a fire that flared at 1 a.m. Sunday when power lines fell and turned a row of palm trees into Roman candles that dropped burning fronds onto their wooden roofs. Three firefighters were treated for minor injuries.

Sixty miles east, some San Bernardino neighborhoods were evacuated because of a 600-acre fire started by an illegal campfire at around midnight. The blaze was 50 percent surrounded by nightfall and full containment was expected today.

Firefighters had trouble at first as high winds kicked the flames into a twisting mini-tornado.

"The problem in the initial attack was that the winds just made the fire walk across the brush," said Steve Stump of the U.S. Forest Service.

A videographer working for the Riverside Press-Enterprise hurt his back while trying to flee the fire. He was treated at a hospital and released.

In adjoining Riverside County, a fire in the Rubidoux area burned about 175 acres of low scrub and grass before it was contained. Authorities believe a burning vehicle touched off the fire north of state Highway 60.

A fire in Ventura County burned less than 200 acres of land. A reserve firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion. Authorities said the fire was suspicious.

In Santa Rosa, about 50 miles north of San Francisco, a fire charred 250 acres before it was contained Sunday evening. Flames threatened about 40 structures -- mostly homes -- and residents were temporarily evacuated.

The blaze began at about midnight when winds gusting to 50 mph knocked a tree onto a power line, said Brian Barrett, a California Department of Forestry spokesman.

Meanwhile, a week after flames raced through the Lemon Heights area of suburban Tustin, damaging or destroying 49 homes, firefighters were called back to the neighborhood when mudslides threatened a home in the area. A broken water main on a hillside may have been the culprit, authorities said.

Fire crews sandbagged the home and were keeping a careful eye on the hillside.

"Our concern is that we'll have further slope slippage," said Orange County fire spokesman Scott Brown.