'Crown Fire' forces residents in Southern California to evacuate homes

July 30, 2010

, California &mdash; A huge wildfire that has been burning in the of  since 2:00 pm (2200 UTC) yesterday continues to threaten residents in the city of  in the Antelope Valley region of the  this afternoon. Mandatory evacuation orders have been set in place, affecting 2,000 homes.

The fire is one of three that ignited yesterday in the and. The first was a 30- fire that began to the west of in the Fairmont area. It was contained and suppressed by mid-afternoon, but the other two fires ignited while firefighters were battling the first. The second fire, the "Briggs Fire", began shortly after 2:00 pm near 8334 Soledad Canyon Road and Briggs Road, south of the freeway. It burned 500 acres south of the, but the (LACFD) now has it contained, and firefighters are hopeful that it will burn itself out as it edges closer to the 160,577-acre burn area of last year's. The third fire, the "Crown Fire", broke out at around the same time as the Briggs Fire on the northern side of the 14 Freeway near. The Crown fire has so far burned 13,000 acres and has been heading north into and.

Over 800 firefighters are now tackling the Crown Fire on the ground, and  fixed-wing aircraft have taken to the skies to drop  slurry (a red powdery fire retardant that is a mixture of mostly water and fertilizer, and doesn't evaporate) on the fire, and modified  helicopters known as "Firehawks" are making water-drops. As well as LACFD, firefighters from, (Cal Fire) are also helping to battle the fire. Weather conditions and topography have hindered their efforts, as temperatures rose to 98 degrees Fahrenheit today, with windspeeds of 25mph. Tonight, the predicts winds will reach as high as 50mph.

The fire burned down a Los Angeles County Sheriff Department communications tower, forcing Lancaster and Palmdale-based deputies to set up mobile operations bases and coordinate their efforts using cell phones and computers. Last night, the acted as a barrier to the fire.

Residents of Leona Valley,, Ritter Ranch, Rancho Vista, Ana Verde and Palmdale received telephone calls last night alerting them of mandatory evacuations. Many of the evacuation orders were lifted this morning as the spread of the fire decreased. However, as winds picked up in the afternoon, fire embers were carried across the aqueduct and the fire is now heading towards a highly-populated area of Palmdale. Residents who were allowed back into their homes were re-evacuated to Red Cross shelters set up in local schools and parks.The fire is also threatening five high-voltage power lines that supply electricity to much of Southern California. 21 customers in the immediate vicinity have been without power since yesterday.

At 5:00 pm, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, police and fire officials held a press conference. The governor said that the fire was 20% contained and had burned 13,000 acres. It is thought that the fire began when workers in caused sparks by hammering the bolts when they were removing a tire from a rim.