Deadly L.A.-area fire doubles in size overnight
134 square miles have burned; two firefighters die in truck accident
Dan Steinberg / AP
An air tanker and ground crews battle part of the fire in Angeles National Forest on Sunday, trying to protect a home in the hills near Acton, Calif.
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updated 1:20 p.m. ET Aug. 31, 2009
LOS ANGELES - A wildfire threatening 12,000 homes and a major communications center nearly doubled in size overnight, giving firefighters little time to rest or mourn two colleagues killed on Sunday.
The fire had burned 134 square miles of brush and trees in the Angeles National Forest by early Monday, up from 71 square miles on Sunday evening, officials said.
It was just a half-mile from Mount Wilson, a ridgetop center overlooking Los Angeles that includes many broadcasting antennas and an observatory.
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Despite the lack of wind, the fire surged without letup by running through steep granite canyons and feeding on brush that had not burned for 40 years to a century.
"It's burning everywhere," U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Dianne Cahir said. "When it gets into canyons that haven't burned in numerous years, it takes off. If you have any insight into the good Lord upstairs, put in a request."
Fire Incident Chief Mike Dietrich told NBC's "TODAY" show that two weeks of 100-degree temperatures and low humidity, combined with 10 years of drought, the lack of recent fires in the area and the steep terrain, made for "essentially the perfect storm" for an out-of-control wildfire.
At least 6,600 homes were under mandatory evacuation orders and over 2,500 firefighters were battling the flames and trying to build more than 100 miles of fire protection lines around communities just 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
Smoke mushroomed into huge clouds, some 20,000 feet high and visible from hundreds of miles away. The cause of the fire, which broke out last Wednesday, is under investigation.
Two firefighters killed
On the blaze's northwestern front, two firefighters were killed Sunday on Mount Gleason near the city of Acton.
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Fighting, fleeing
View images of crews battling the L.A.-area wildfire as well as some of the evacuees.
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Fire Capt. Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County, and firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 35, of Palmdale, were killed when their truck rolled off a mountainside. Authorities did not give a cause for the crash.
Hall was a 26-year veteran, and Quinones had been a county firefighter for eight years.
"Our hearts are heavy as we are tragically reminded of the sacrifices our firefighters and their families make daily to keep us safe," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
The blaze was only about 5 percent contained early Monday. Mandatory evacuations were in effect for neighborhoods in Glendale, Pasadena and other smoke-choked cities and towns north of Los Angeles. At least 18 homes were destroyed in the fire and firefighters expected to find many more, authorities said.
"Our neighbors sent us photos of all the other houses that are lost," said Beth Halaas, who lost her house in Big Tujunga Canyon, one of the many communities under mandatory evacuation. "We've heard as many as 30 houses burned."
TV, cell towers threatened
On Mount Wilson, crews cleared brush and sprayed retardant in an attempt to ward off flames approaching the transmitters of more than 20 television stations, many radio stations and cell phone providers.
Video
2 dead
Aug 31: Two firefighters are killed when their vehicle crashes as they battle the wildfires. NBC’s Miguel Almaguer reports.
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Television stations said that, if the antennas burn, broadcast signals would be affected but satellite and cable transmissions would not be.
Two giant telescopes and several multimillion-dollar university programs are housed in the century-old Mount Wilson Observatory. The complex of buildings is both a historic landmark and a thriving modern center for astronomy.
A slight dip in temperatures was expected Monday, but temperatures in the 90s and low humidity would remain the norm.
