Anh Do, Victoria Kim and James QueallyContact Reporters
Orange County fire officials have evacuated at least 1,000 homes as a fast-moving fire in the Anaheim Hills spat smoke into the air and scorched several structures early Monday afternoon, according to fire officials and television footage.
The fire raced up a ridge and hit a tract homes at the top of a hill. Several caught fire, and firefighters were trying to prevent the fire from spreading further into the subdivision.
Firefighters sprayed homes with water, but it was too late for several structures that were fully involved.
Canyon fire No. 2 broke out around 9:20 a.m. near the 91 Freeway and Gypsum Canyon Road, and quickly leapt the California 241 toll road, according to Sgt. Daron Wyatt, a spokesman for the Anaheim Fire Department.
As of 2 p.m., the fire had grown to approximately 2,000 acres, fire officials said. In a video posted to the Anaheim Fire Department’s Facebook page, Wyatt said he had received “unconfirmed reports” of one firefighter suffering a minor injury and five structures sustaining fire damage.
At least 200 firefighters from multiple fire task forces are battling the blaze. Television footage showed several homes on fire early Monday afternoon.
Evacuations were ordered south of the 91 Freeway, west of the 241 toll road, north of Nohl Ranch Road and east of Serrano Avenue. The eastbound 91 Freeway was closed, with small spot fires reported along the roadway.
Several elementary schools in the area were evacuated as well, with students moved to Canyon High School. Several regional parks have also been closed and strong winds were pushing smoke into Orange and Santa Ana areas.
The fire comes as a series of wildfires claimed one life and destroyed 1,500 homes in Northern California, and just weeks after another blaze forced the evacuation of at least 1,500 homes in the Corona area.
At a strip mall downhill from the evacuated neighborhoods, a line snaked out from a nearby gas station. Residents of an assisted living facility were filing into buses, and ambulances could be seen transporting residents away.
Families cast concerned glances up toward the smoke-covered hills, over which helicopters were ferrying water from a reservoir. Some used the area as a rendezvous point.
By the time Eric Schmidt, 48, had driven home from his job at Disney on Monday morning, police wouldn't let him back into his neighborhood. Parents frantic to pick up their children at a nearby elementary school had taken to abandoning their cars and going to grab their children on foot.
Schmidt’s wife, Marigold, left their home with only their three dogs. His son Ethan walked from his high school and the family reunited at the strip mall parking lot.
"It came so fast you couldn't even grab anything," said Schmidt, who added his family didn't even have a change of clothes. A neighbor at the end of the cul-de-sac had told him the flames were up in his back yard. Houses lower on the hill were burning. For the moment, though, he could see his home was safe based on the image from the doorbell cam app installed on his phone. It was the second time he's had to evacuate from a wildfire in 18 years of living in the neighborhood.
"With the Santa Ana winds, the fire just funnels out from the canyon," he said.
John Carmona, a retired welder in his early 60s, had to race out of his duplex near State College Boulevard and Ball Road as the smoky odor from the blaze "became worrisome.”
“This intense wind doesn't help. It's only going to get worse. I have no choice but to walk away," he said.
Carmona got to safety, but he had to leave behind his cocker spaniel, Cali, after he was unable to find the dog’s collar and leash.
Late Monday morning, Wyatt, the Anaheim fire spokesman, said the fire had jumped the California 241 toll road and was threatening approximately 1,000 homes. An evacuation order has been issued for all homes east of the intersection of Weir Canyon Road and Serrano Avenue, Wyatt said. Evacuations were also underway in Orange as well as much of the Orange Park Acres area.
“You need to be prepared to evacuate and now is the time to do so,” Wyatt said in a video posted to the Anaheim Fire Department’s Facebook page. “Take everything that you can that will sustain you for the next couple of days.”
As of 1 p.m., Wyatt said the fire was moving toward the Orange Park Acres area of Orange. City officials there had issued evacuation orders to all of their residents who live east of Serrano Avenue, he said. Fire officials asked evacuees to go to the Anaheim Downtown Youth Center at 225 Philadelphia St.
Bob Hill said his trip to the pharmacy to pick up cold medication was cut short by a text message from city officials warning him of the fire on Monday morning. He immediately contacted his wife.
"Get out. Get the pictures and get out,” he wrote in a frantic text.
Hill, 66, said he already lost a home in Chatsworth during a 2008 wildfire, adding that the trajectory of Monday’s blaze gave him a sinking feeling as he tracked its movements via TV images. His neighborhood near Weir Canyon and Serrano Road is full of pine trees that can catch fire "in a flash," he said.
"All we can do is wait," he said as other evacuees monitored the television at the Anaheim Downtown Community Center.
Outside, the cloud cover took on a muddy quality as residents young and old made their way into the downtown gym, where workers distributed water and set up extension cords for people to recharge their phones.
Hill, whose wife escaped the fire’s path and had stopped at an area Mormon church to volunteer, managed to remain calm despite the risk of seeing another of his homes destroyed
"I've faced this before,” he said. “What else can I do?"
Several elementary schools in the area were evacuated as well, with students moved to Canyon High School. Several regional parks have also been closed and strong winds were pushing smoke into Orange and Santa Ana areas.
The fire comes just weeks after another blaze forced the evacuation of at least 1,500 homes in the Corona area.
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UPDATES:
2:20 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from evacuees in the Anaheim area.
1:10 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information about evacuation orders and structure damage.
12:25 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information about the advance of the fire and the amount of structures threatened.
This article was first published at 11:40 a.m.
Copyright © 2017, Los Angeles Times
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