BRUSH FIRE BLACKENS 1,000 ACRES.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County's largest brush fire so far this year erupted Wednesday in the rolling hills Rolling hills are like a mountain chain, only a "hill chain" of hills that roll on and on continually. You will often find them in between plains and mountains, near major rivers, or randomly anywhere. The only places without rolling hills are deserts and flood plains. north of Lake Elizabeth Lake Elizabeth may refer to
Started around 11 a.m. by a four-wheel-drive vehicle on a ranch and fanned by winds gusting up to 30 mph, the fire came close to five homes, blackening black·en v. black·ened, black·en·ing, black·ens v.tr. 1. To make black. 2. To sully or defame: a scandal that blackened the mayor's name. 3. an area estimated at up to 1,000 acres by late Wednesday afternoon. ``It's blown out several fire lines,'' said fire inspector Jerry Meehan. ``When we came on scene it was at five acres. Five minutes later it was at 20 acres.'' Thirty fire engines, four bulldozers, five helicopters, four air tankers, 12 camp crews and a about 300 firefighters were deployed to fight the flames. After threatening a home on Petersen Ranch, where it started, the fire burned north to Johnson Road. The flames spread east and west along the road before jumping it and continuing north toward the California Aqueduct The California Aqueduct is a 444 mile (715 km)-long[1] aqueduct in the United States that carries water from Northern California to Southern California. . Flames came within 100 yards of four homes along Johnson Road. ``We have engines stationed at the homes,'' Meehan said at the height of the fire. ``Our objective is to hold it south of the aqueduct.'' The fire started when weeds sticking up from a cattle guard cattle guard n. A grid, usually of parallel metal bars, set at ground level in a road or gateway as a barrier to cattle while allowing the passage of vehicles and pedestrians. Noun 1. on the Petersen Ranch - owned by magazine publisher Robert Petersen Robert Petersen can refer to:
catalytic converter In automobiles, a component of emission control systems used to reduce the discharge of noxious gases from the internal-combustion engine. on a four-wheel-drive vehicle, officials said. Robert and Debi Cowan were doing yard work with their two sons at their home on Johnson Road when they saw the flames. ``It started right behind our house,'' said Robert Cowan Robert Cowan (died 1737) was a British colonial administrator and the British East India Company's Governor of Bombay from 1729 to 1734. He was also a collateral ancestor of the Marquesses of Londonderry through the marriage of his sister, Mary Cowan, to Alexander Stewart, father . ``It was building up behind in the hills behind our garage. All you could see is a red glow.'' Kim Inman, 33, came home early from her Santa Clarita job after she heard about the fire. Her husband, a Los Angeles County firefighter, was out fighting another fire in Lancaster. As the fire approached her home, she set up an emergency generator and water pump and hooked the pump to the 1,500-gallon water tank outside their home. ``My husband gives me a pump drill every month,'' she said. ``Now it's my turn to show him what I can do. They (fire officials) didn't think it'll come this far, but it's very close. But I'm ready.'' Maintenance mechanic Clarence Fomby, 58, and five other state Department of Water Resources employees had to be evacuated from where they were working near the California Aqueduct. Flames came within 20 feet of them. ``We couldn't see,'' Fomby said. ``We didn't want any of our equipment to catch on fire.'' Fomby and the others drove across the street, where they stayed for about an hour until firefighters quelled the flames near their work site. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (color) A firefighting air tanker makes a retardantdrop Wednesday on burning brush near Johnson Road. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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