AIR & GROUND WAR BATTLE TO CONTAIN INFERNO INTENSIFIES.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

Firefighters mounted an air and ground assault Monday on a wildfire that roared into the northwest San Fernando Valley and forced thousands to flee their homes.

A wall of flames threatened Box Canyon, the outskirts of Chatsworth and gradually moved east toward the massive Porter Ranch development, but nearly 1,000 firefighters fought back, sometimes door to door to protect life or property.

A heavy cloud of smoke shrouded the West Valley, drifting southward from the fire line at the Ronald Reagan Freeway. At dawn, the fire burst through to Rocky Peak after destroying more than a dozen homes over the weekend and charring 90,000 acres in the Simi Valley and Moorpark area.

Thousands of residents grabbed a few belongings, pets and valuables and fled.

``God help us!'' yelled one woman, speeding away from her Twin Lakes apartment complex in a Toyota Corolla containing a live chicken and a duck.

The Simi Valley Fire - apparently caused by an arsonist - was among 10 brush fires burning from the Mexican border to Ventura County, killing at least 15 people, destroying 1,100 homes and torching 400,000 acres. One of those blazes flared up again near Piru and added to the challenges in the Ventura County-north Los Angeles County area.

President George W. Bush declared much of Southern California a federal disaster area as more than 8,200 firefighters joined in the battle against what state officials call the most expensive brush fires in California history, with damage expected to run into the billions.

In all, some 30,000 homes were threatened across Southern California, but there was hope the Santa Ana winds that fanned the flames would die off and the temperatures in the 90s would cool today and Wednesday.

On Monday, fire crews set up a last-ditch defense on the 118 Freeway, dousing flames that hopped across two three-mile legs of the highway.

Exhausted firefighters sought to prevent the blaze from burning to the sea in brush parched by summer heat and lack of rain in recent years.

``Worst-case scenario - and that's the Simi Fire - this fire could spread to the west across Los Angeles County to Rocky Peak and into Malibu,'' California Department of Forestry Battalion Chief Thomas Foley said.

``We're ready to do battle,'' declared Los Angeles fire Capt. Rick Pearson, standing in the median of the 118 Freeway near Chatsworth. ``It's what we're here to do.''

Firefighters struggled in craggy terrain to stem the advance by lighting backfires and dropping thousands of gallons of water and fire retardant near homes costing upward of $15 million.

One of Simi Valley's most endearing landmarks, a giant happy face mowed into the brush north of the 118 Freeway, went up in smoke.

By nightfall, after the SuperScoopers and firefighting helicopters were forced to land, the winds had picked up and the fire had climbed to levels of 100 feet.

``We have two goals: Put the fires out and to put people's lives back in order,'' said Gov. Gray Davis at Santa Monica Airport, where he boarded a plane to see the devastation in San Diego.

``When it comes to putting the fires out, I am marshaling every resource this state has.''

Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said more than 100 firefighters were in position to guard Porter Ranch.

``At this time the fire has not yet threatened the area, but it is slowly moving toward it,'' Wells said. ``Our contingency is to stop it before it gets there. It all depends on the winds.''

Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the fire line outside Simi Valley and thanked Davis, Bush and the firefighters for their contributions.

``I want to thank (the firefighters) for all their hard work. These are the heroes, risking their lives,'' said Schwarzenegger to a crowd of firefighters and well-wishers in Moorpark.

``It's a huge disaster we're facing here - because of the good work of the firefighters, it hasn't spread further.''

The fire caused a logjam for commuters as the 101 Freeway became the only major conduit between Los Angeles and Ventura counties after the closures of the Ronald Reagan Freeway at Rocky Peak and of the 23 Freeway south of Moorpark.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said it looked like the Val Verde Fire - which swept from the Santa Clarita area Friday to spawn the Simi Valley Fire - was intentionally set.

``Those who start these fires are no better than domestic terrorists and should be dealt with as such,'' said Cooley.

Southern California Edison officials called upon residents to conserve power after damage to transmission lines from fires.

Early Monday, firefighters from Los Angeles and Ventura counties had fought to bulldoze a firebreak on Rocky Peak between Simi Valley and Chatsworth at the 118 Freeway, fire officials said. But at 5:40 a.m., the winds picked up and blew the fire across the freeway.

Residents of the Hopetown area east of Kuehner Drive were asked to evacuate at 8:30 a.m., followed by residents of Indian Hills Mobile Home Park, Twin Lakes, Lake Manor, and Box, Woolsey and Browns canyons. The Boeing Co. evacuated 250 workers from its sprawling Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

By early afternoon, a brush fire that aimed at Box Canyon - and eventually Thousand Oaks and Malibu - made an eastward turn toward Browns Canyon and Porter Ranch.

Residents ordered from their homes gathered at Red Cross evacuation centers at the Thousand Oaks Community Center, Granada Hills High School and Mason Park in Chatsworth.

Nancy Engh, 33, of Box Canyon was the first evacuee to arrive at the newly established center in the Granada Hills High School auditorium.

With two backpacks and a water jug in tow, Engh furiously talked on a cell phone, trying to coordinate the moving of her belongings should the fire get any closer.

``It's insane up there,'' Engh said. ``I came down here to get away from the smoke and danger, but I have everything in my house packed in rubber tubs. I can get out of there in a moment's notice if I have to.''

In Ventura County, some 3,000 horses were evacuated from the fires, said Kathy Jenks, the county's animal regulations director, many of them boarded at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

About 260 dogs - including 200 from a single shelter - were transported to the Ventura County shelter in Camarillo.

In Los Angeles County, dozens of horse trailers pulled up to Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Schools in Moorpark and Simi Valley were closed and businesses reported high absenteeism.

A 25,000-acre blaze that firefighters had earlier contained was rekindled and recharged Monday, and threatened the communities of Fillmore and Piru, where residents prepared to flee.

The Piru Fire started Thursday and has quickly swept over vast hillsides and climbed steep cliffs, threatening the communities, farms and fruit stands along Highway 126.

Despite early success at containing it, the blaze has proved resilient and temperamental.

``The fire's coming right down behind the station,'' said Don Stukey, a Ventura County Fire Department safety officer, as he pointed to a wall of flames on the hillside about a quarter-mile behind the Piru Fire Station. ``This fire has a lot of different fingers and it all depends on weather.''

Staff Writers Andrea Cavanaugh, Michael Gougis, Nicholas Grudin, Jason Kandel, Lisa Mascaro, James Nash, Ryan Oliver and Rachel Uranga, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) Two Ventura County-based C-130s from the National Guard come in to help fight the inferno in Browns Canyon on Monday.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

(2 -- color) A Los Angeles County strike team firefighter from Pico Rivera pauses as he helps try to save homes at Indian Springs Estate in Chatsworth.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

(3) Cars are rerouted from the westbound 118 Freeway near De Soto Avenue on Monday.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Map:

The Simi Valley Fire, which began Friday in Val Verde at the urging of Santa Ana winds, had by Monday destroyed 13 homes and 90,000 acres of brush in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

SOURCES: USGS; ESRI 

Daily News