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10,000 Homes Threatened in Los Angeles FIres
The unstoppable Angeles National Forest fire threatened 10,000 homes Saturday night as it more than tripled in size and chewed through a rapidly widening swath of the Crescenta Valley, where flames closed in on backyards and at least 1,000 homes were ordered evacuated.
Sending an ominous plume of smoke above the Los Angeles Basin, the fire was fueled by unrelenting hot weather and dense brush that has not burned in 60 years.
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It took off Saturday afternoon in all directions, forcing residents out of homes from Big Tujunga Canyon to Pasadena, and reached toward Mt. Wilson.
Heavy smoke clung to the mountains and created a hot and massive convection column that limited the evening aerial fire fight.
Officials predicted that the blaze would continue its march toward homes and across hills through the night with flames that could reach as high as 80 feet.
Late Saturday, U.S. Forest Service officials said they were moving "several hundred firefighters" into the Acton area, where they expected the fire to reach this morning.
At midnight, crews were on alert for a wind shift.
The fire was headed toward Yerba Buena and Santa Clara ridges. El Dorado County Fire Capt. Larry Marinas said it was currently "probably bumping" against them, but all he could say for sure was that flames could reach those ridges "in 12 hours."
Article continues: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fire30-2009aug30,0,5964757.story
