Burbank Police Evacuate Homes As La Tuna Fire Spreads

The Latest: Brush fire forces Burbank residents from homes 

The Latest on wildfires burning in U.S. West (all times local): 11:50 p.m. The Los Angeles Fire Department has issued a mandatory evacuation order for residents in Burbank as a raging brush fire threatens their homes. Residents in the Brace Canyon Park area of Burbank were ordered to leave their homes Friday night. The fire department says approximately 50 homes are being threatened. An evacuation center has been set up for displaced residents. The brush fire north of Los Angeles also has shut down both sides of key freeway for holiday weekend travel. The fire department says the blaze is burning on both sides of Interstate 210. The closure of a 12-mile (19-kilometer) stretch is expected to last all night. ——— 6:45 p.m. Firefighters are battling a brush fire just north of Los Angeles that has shut down both sides of a key freeway for holiday weekend travel. The Fire Department says high heat and shifting winds helped the fire surge to 500 acres on Friday. Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart says the fire is burning on both sides of Interstate 210. The closure of a 12-mile stretch is expected to last all night, which will cause serious traffic trouble for Labor Day weekend travelers. Subdivisions full of houses are within a mile of the flames, but officials say none are immediately threatened. About 200 people have voluntarily evacuated. Huge flames are burning on hilltops and smoke is visible for miles around. A plume is looming over an Ikea store and crowded shopping centers in nearby Burbank, and is visible from Griffith Park and northern Los Angeles. ——— 5 p.m. A lightning-sparked wildfire was burning within 16 miles of Burning Man but officials say there's no threat to the counter-culture festival underway in northern Nevada. Bureau of Land Management spokesman John Gaffney told the Reno Gazette-Journal on Friday that the fire had burned 83 square miles and was spreading in all directions, fueled by volatile cheat grass. Though 110 firefighters had not contained the blaze, Gaffney says there's no immediate threat to the thousands of free spirits who erect a makeshift city and celebrate art and music on the dusty ancient lake bed on the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Reno. Seven ranches and a geothermal plant remain threatened. Firefighters are working to keep open the main route for the festival that culminates Saturday night when a towering effigy is burned. —— 4:15 p.m. California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency for another wildfire as scorching temperatures complicate firefighters' efforts to extinguish blazes. The declaration for Butte County came Friday as a fire near Oroville spread to thousands of acres after destroying 20 homes and threatening 500 others. It has also damaged power lines and closed roads north of Sacramento. A day earlier, Brown declared a state of emergency for a wildfire in Trinity County. Cal Fire said on its website that the fire near Oroville had consumed nearly 6 square miles (15 square kilometers) and was 30 percent contained. The temperature in Oroville hit 108 degrees (42 degrees C). ——— 12:45 p.m. Federal officials say one of the worst wildfire seasons in the U.S. is likely to continue scorching western states and blanket large swaths with smoke until cooler weather patterns with rain or snow arrive later in the fall. Forecasters at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise on Friday released the four-month outlook that predicts September will continue hot and dry with above normal fire potential in northwestern states, Nevada and California. The 10,600 square miles (27,500 square kilometers) that have burned at this point rank the 2017 wildfire season as the third worst in the last decade. The center says more than 25,000 firefighters and fire support personnel are spread out across the Western U.S. fighting 56 large uncontained wildfires, 21 of them in Montana and 17 in Oregon. ———— 8:52 a.m. Fire officials say a wildfire burning near the Northern California town of Oroville has destroyed 20 homes. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the blaze about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Sacramento had consumed nearly 6 square miles (15 square kilometers). It's threatening 500 homes. Fire crews increased containment to 30 percent overnight ahead of a statewide heat wave. But officials say the fire's location in steep and rugged terrain plus hot and dry temperatures are complicating firefighters' efforts. More firefighters are joining the more than 1,600 already battling the fire. The blaze is one of many wildfires across the U.S. West, including fires in and around California's Yosemite National Park that have closed a popular road into the park prompted evacuations of nearby towns.


Burbank Police Evacuate Homes As La Tuna Fire Spreads 

UPDATE 6:21 PM PST: Garcetti has declared the La Tuna Fure a local emergency. The L.A. mayor tweeted the announcement along with the following statement: In addition, LADWP tweeted that 2100 of their customers in the Tujunga area have lost power. They expect to have the situation restored within the hour. UPDATE 3:21 PM PST: A smoke advisory is in effect today, with poor air quality from the La Tuna Fire affecting all individuals in the areas of direct smoke impacts and unhealthy air quality in portions of West San Gabriel Valley, East San Fernando Valley, East San Gabriel Valley, San Gabriel Mountains, Glendale area, San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted a link to the Los Angeles County Public Health Dept. advisory. Earlier today, Garcetti described the blaze as the largest the city had ever experienced (watch his video message below). In the advisory, Los Angeles County Interim Health Officer Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser urges all individuals in these areas, or areas where there is visible smoke or the odor of smoke, to avoid unnecessary outdoor exposure and to limit physical exertion (whether indoor or outdoor), such as exercise. “It is difficult to tell where ash or soot from a fire will go, or how winds will affect the level of dust particles in the air, so we ask all individuals to be aware of their immediate environment and to take actions to safeguard their health,” said Gunzenhauser. “Smoke and ash can be harmful to health, especially in vulnerable individuals, like the elderly, people with asthma or individuals with other respiratory and heart conditions.” The Los Angeles  Fire Department also posted a tweet with an evacuation map for those living in the Sunland and Tujunga areas of Los Angeles.   Earlier today, Garcetti said the La Tuna blaze “is perhaps the largest fire we’ve ever experienced in the city of Los Angeles.” He noted that no injuries had been reported. The city of Burbank is allowing residents to temporarily drop off pets at the Burbank Animal Shelter, for as long as the evacuation orders last. This morning police issued an evacuation order for parts of Burbank due to the wildfire in the Verdugo Mountains area north of Los Angeles. Road closures and animal drop-off information were being posted and updated on the Burbank Police Department Twitter page here. Evacuation orders began Friday night for approximately 200 homes in the Brace Canyon Park area and Castleman Estates. The fire was first reported Friday afternoon near La Tuna Canyon Road, forcing the shutdown of a 12-mile stretch of Interstate 210 freeway. Earlier today, the Los Angeles Fire Department tweeted a statement containing details of the areas then affected by the fire and evacuation orders. Evacuation centers have been established at Sunland Recreation Center in Sunland-Tujunga An evacuation center was set up at Sunland Recreation Center in Sunland and McCambridge Park in Burbank. Police have estimated that some of the evacuation orders will be in effect until at least into tomorrow afternoon. Burbank-area studios and facilities such as Warner Bros., Universal and Disney/ABC are under no immediate threat from the La Tuna blaze.


Evacuations Ordered in Burbank As Fire Grows to 3,000 Acres 

Burbank officials issued a mandatory evacuation as a 1,500-acre reached Burbank on Friday. Over 300 firefighters battled the blaze. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 11 on Friday, Sept. 1, 2017. (Published Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017) A brush fire threatened homes in the Sun Valley area Friday, scorching 3,000 acres by Saturday morning, forcing evacuations and shutting down a nearly 13-mile stretch of a major freeway as hundreds of firefighters struggled to bring it under control. Firefighters were using night vision goggles to make overnight water drops on the blaze, said Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department, which was working in unified command with the Burbank Fire Department. There were no reports of injuries or structure damage as of 9 p.m., but around 50 homes were threatened and another 200 had been evacuated in the Reverie Canyon and Haines Canyon areas, Stewart said. Authorities issued a mandatory evacuation for Brace Canyon Park and Stough Canyon Nature Center as the fire reached Burbank. The DeBell Golf Course at 1500 E. Walnut Ave. in Burbank was also evacuated, according to the Burbank Police Department, which reported portions of Walnut Avenue and Harvard Road were closed. Burbank police directed evacuees to McCambridge Park at 1515 Glenoaks Blvd. in Burbank and an additional evacuation shelter was established at Sunland Recreation Center at 8651 Foothill Blvd. in Sunland. Stewart said pets were also welcome in the shelters. An evacuation shelter also was established at Verdugo Hills High School but was later moved to the Sunland Recreation Center at 8651 Foothill Blvd. in Sunland. Stewart said pets are also welcome. The blaze broke out for unknown reasons about 1:25 p.m. near the 10800 block of La Tuna Canyon Road, just south of the Foothill (210) Freeway, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. About a half-acre of medium brush was on fire when the first crews arrived. Wind-blown embers sparked a spot fire on the north side of the 210 and by 4 p.m., firefighters were battling flames on both sides of the freeway as the fire raced up a hillside of the Verdugo Mountains in the direction of Burbank. An LAFD official said an area of concern was homes above the freeway from Honolulu Avenue to Crestline Drive in the Reverie Canyon area. An evacuation shelter was established at Verdugo Hills High School, 10625 Plainview Ave., in Tujunga. Crews on scene reported the blaze had the potential to scorch 2,000 acres as thunderstorms in the area mountain caused erratic winds. The temperature at the scene was 106 degrees at 5 p.m., according to the LAFD's Margaret Stewart. The fire prompted the shutdown of the 210 Freeway eastbound at Sunland Boulevard and westbound at Lowell Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol. The freeway was likely to remain closed through the evening. Around 500 firefighters were battling the blaze, according to Stewart. About 260 of those were from the LAFD, she said. The Los Angeles County, Angeles National Forest, Glendale, Pasadena and Burbank fire departments also sent units to help with the air and ground fire attack and structure protection. The fire follows a weak of excessive heat as the National Weather Service issued an extended warning of a heat wave. Triple-digit temperatures were reached throughout Southern California as storms slammed through cities and homes were affected by power outages.  Torrid temperatures continued to broil the Southland today, and they'll persist through at least tomorrow, amid calls for residents to conserve electricity. The "dangerously high temperatures" that will prevail in the Southland into Saturday result from strong high pressure and weak onshore flow, according to the National Weather Service. As has been the case since Saturday, the hottest areas will be the mountains and valleys of Los Angeles County, with temperature highs in those areas ranging up to 112 degrees. Published at 2:30 PM PDT on Sep 1, 2017 | Updated at 5:38 AM PDT on Sep 2, 2017 Copyright City News Service