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LOS ANGELES-A respite in Santa Ana winds allowed firefighters to beat back flames that continued to whirl dangerously close to homes Wednesday morning along the city's northwestern suburbs.Fire crews spent Tuesday night unleashing loads of water on hot spots of the more than 20-square-mile blaze charring slopes above the San Fernando Valley communities of Porter Ranch and Granada Hills. Flames also pushed west into Ventura County and threatened homes in Simi Valley.The fire, one of three major blazes that have burned 34 square miles of Southern California, was 20 percent contained late Tuesday night. Firefighters hoped for winds to remain calm through Wednesday."This was a preview of coming attractions," William Patzert, a climatologist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge told the Los Angeles Times. "Now we're in a race with Mother Nature. What comes first? More Santa Anas or rain?""This is just the beginning. We're 10% through the season," he said. "People forget that Santa Anas are normal, natural and part of the history of Southern California."In a hectic start this week to the wildfire season, blazes have destroyed dozens of homes, forced thousands of people to evacuate and caused two deaths. One man died in the flames, and a motorist was killed in a crash as a fire neared a freeway.But for some residents in the northwestern suburbs, the flames seemed more of a curiosity than a danger. One man spent Tuesday night on the trunk of his car outside his home and watched firefighters battle a blaze that had already burned down nearby slopes.In another neighborhood in Simi Valley, Gabriel Viola and Gheith Effarah stood outside Viola's house, chatting about the fire. They had gathered valuables and documents just in case, but neither seemed worried about the fire spreading."You don't want to be completely dumb," Effarah said. "I've been living here eight years and this is the third time we've gone through this. The firefighters seem to be on the ball. It calms you down."Fifteen homes and 47 outbuildings were destroyed in the Porter Ranch area, and six more homes were damaged, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Ron Haralson. Evacuation orders for several neighborhoods, including large parts of Porter Ranch, were lifted Tuesday night, but Haralson warned that the situation could quickly change along with the winds. Warnings for critical fire weather conditions were to remain in effect until Wednesday night.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
