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Santa Ana Conditions Prompt Wildfire Vigilance

• Winds Are Not as Strong as Last Week’s But Danger Is Still High •

BY ANNE SOBLE

The National Weather Service said a strong ridge of high pressure in the upper atmosphere along the West Coast and surface high pressure settling in the Great Basin were bringing hot, dry Santa Ana conditions to the Santa Monica Mountains and the rest of Southern California Wednesday and Thursday. Offshore winds gusted over 50 mph in a number of locations, according to the NWS.

Authorities posted warnings for high fire danger due to strong winds and low humidity for all areas from the mountains of Santa Barbara County southeast through Los Angeles County and the Inland counties to San Diego.

The strongest winds clocked in Malibu on Wednesday ranged from 25 to 30 mph, but winds ranging from 40 to 50 mph were reported in the Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley areas, which means that extra vigilance on the part of residents along the western coastline is required.

Malibuites are urged to remain on smoke alert and report suspicious activity or conditions in brush areas to 911.

Early Wednesday morning, a flareup occurred in smoldering vegetation within the Porter Ranch burn zone. It was brought under control in a little over an hour.

Several wildfires in San Bernardino County on Wednesday kept firefighters busy in that area. One of the blazes was reportedly caused by fireworks. Firefighters contained that fire and moved quickly to make short work of other small incidents that occurred.

Smoke from La Jolla Fire Drifts over Western Malibu

STRATEGY—Air assaults combined with efforts of the ground crews quickly brought the blaze under control.
AIR MOVEMENT—The smell of smoke from the La Jolla Fire was strong at Leo Carrillo and Encinal Beaches. There was never any danger of the fire heading southeast toward Malibu. MSN/Hans Laetz

• There Was No Local Danger from 32-Acre Blaze Quickly Brought under Control •

BY HANS LAETZ

Malibu got a dose of smoke from the west Wednesday when a fire, possibly set by a transient, burned a mountainside between La Jolla Canyon and Mugu Rock.
The fire caused the closure of Pacific Coast Highway for nearly four hours, and burned 32 acres, before being arrested by a fleet of helicopters, slurry bombers and about 150 firefighters.
Erratic winds helped the firefighters, at several points reversing course and blowing the fire back onto itself, said Ventura County Fire Capt. Alex Sanchez, who is based at Station 56 at County Line Beach.
The blaze was first spotted by a state parks lifeguard at Thornhill Broome Beach, and was burning up the west side of La Jolla Canyon, towards the cliff above Highway 1. The mountain looked like a volcano, with smoke trailing at to sea, by 9 a.m.
“It started out as a classic Santa Ana pattern but then shifted around on us," said Ventura County Fire Capt. Bob Schuett. After making a run at the ocean, the fire doubled back on itself, burning into wild country to the north and down the mountain alongside PCH.
Most of the fire suppression activity was on the northern front, where the La Jolla Canyon Trail was the only firebreak between the blaze and the Bony Ridge area, with houses near Little Sycamore Creek, the Cal State University Channel Islands campus, and subdivisions along Portero Road lying ahead.
"If it had gone over the next hill, there would have been nothing to stop it from hitting Potrero Road and into the university possibly,” said Sanchez.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Erickson SkyCrane, and two Ventura County sheriff’s helicopters sucked up ocean water offshore, and dumped it on the fire’s northern flanks. Fire companies from Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, the Point Mugu Naval Base, National Park Service and Oxnard cut fire lines near the La Jolla Canyon waterfall, about three-quarters of a mile up the canyon.
The eastern flank of the fire was allowed to burn slowly down to the parking lot in the canyon. There, park rangers were seeking a transient who is known to inhabit the wilderness area.
The group campsite at the canyon bottom was not in use, and the handful of campers braving the recent Santa Ana Winds along the beach were not affected.
The fire was substantially out by noon, but fire lines were still being extended around the blackened 32 acres during the afternoon.
The closest structures to the fire were bathrooms at the trailhead, and they were not damaged.

Sport Plane Crashes in Ocean Off Carbon Beach

The battered Sky Arrow 600 Sport rests on the sand after the craft was pulled from the ocean. Photo/Frank Nielsen

Paramedics and lifeguards load one of two critically-injured men into an ambulance after their plane crashed into the Pacific 150 feet off Billionaire's Beach. The men were driven to a helicopter waiting at Pepperdine University, then flown to UCLA. Photo/Hans Laetz

BY HANS LAETZ

Two men were seriously injured when a small sport plane dived into the ocean 150 feet off Carbon Beach, also known as Billionaire’s Beach, on Tuesday.
The single-engine plane, a Sky Arrow 600 Sport, crashed at about 5:15 p.m. about a-half-mile east of the Malibu Pier.
Lifeguards rushed Baywatch Malibu and two other boats to the scene, removed the men from the wreckage, and brought them to the Malibu Pier.
Deputies ordered several dozen people off the pier, as the men were placed in ambulances to be driven to a landing zone at Pepperdine University. From there, the men were helicoptered to the UCLA Medical Center in what was later described as critical condition.
The plane was apparently rented from a company at Santa Monica Airport. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the pilot was not in contact with air traffic controllers and no flight plan had been filed.
The Italian-made sports plane is one of a new breed of general aviation planes designed to be flown by hobbyists, and is smaller than a traditional light aircraft.
Gregor said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will conduct the investigation.
By sunset, the plane had sunk in about 25 feet of water, and sheriff’s deputies said federal authorities would recover the wreck. The shattered craft was later hauled out and rested on the sand to await transport.

Encinal Canyon Chase Ends with Suspect’s Arrest in the Valley

BY HANS LAETZ

Residents of the hills above Pacific Coast Highway near Encinal Canyon Road had a nervous early morning Thursday, when an armed and dangerous man bailed out of his car after being chased up the hill by sheriff’s deputies.
A helicopter, police dogs and numerous sheriff’s deputies in squad cars could not find the suspect, who had leveled a pistol at a Los Angeles Police Department officer in Chatsworth and then led county sheriff’s deputies on a wild chase from the San Fernando Valley to the hills above Malibu’s west end.
The man, Weslyn Dorner, eluded deputies in the steep canyon above Malibu and somehow got a ride back to Woodland Hills, and was dropped off a few blocks from his house.
Sheriff’s deputies said they arrested the man without incident as he walked down the street toward his residence at about 10:45 a.m. Thursday.
The long night began with an attempt by LAPD officers to pull over a 1996 Honda with paper license plates at Topanga Canyon Boulevard near Plummer Street at 11:35 p.m. Wednesday on a traffic violation.
“He blew through a red traffic light right in front of one of our units in the Valley, and we pursued him,” said Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station Lt. Rich Erickson.
A sheriff’s helicopter and several patrol cars chased the Honda south on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, and then west on the Ventura Freeway. At Kanan Road the suspect turned south, and fled over the mountains to Malibu with the helicopter overhead and black-and-whites on his tail.
After turning northwest on Pacific Coast Highway, the suspect drove past Zuma, Trancas and Broad beaches, then turned north on Encinal Canyon Road. At some point the gun may have been tossed onto a roadside, but deputies have been unable to find it, Erickson said.
At 12:20 a.m. Thursday, the car then rolled to a stop about 1-1/2 miles up the hill, and coasted backwards into the front of a squad car, Erickson said.
The suspect dashed into a brushy area and evaded arrest near several homes. Police dogs and the helicopter’s floodlights could not flush him out, and, by daybreak, the patrol cars were called out of the canyon, deputies said.
Further information about Dorner’s identity or record, or the nature of the charges to be filed against him, were not available Thursday