Residents return to devastation

LOS ANGELES – Stacks of charred bricks, blackened shells of cars and burned tree trunks were all that remained Monday in much of the community some residents once called the “Beverly Hills of mobile home parks.”

The mostly retired residents returned to see what was left of their homes at Oakridge Mobile Home Park, where winds with hurricane intensity blew a wall of fire through hundreds of manufactured homes and set them ablaze so quickly that even firefighters had to drop their hoses and run.

“It looks like a war zone – no trees, no buildings,” said Michele Warneck, 54, who burst into tears after returning from the park. She had watched her two-bedroom house burn on the television news. “Everything that was porcelain just blew up.”

The inferno destroyed 484 homes in the park Saturday. Firefighters were able to save about 120 homes, but many were badly damaged and the park is flattened except for charred trees with blackened branches bent in one direction by the hot winds. Twisted metal foundations and pipes are all that is left of many homes.

The fire was one of three in Southern California that have destroyed about 1,000 homes and apartments and burned 41,000 acres, or 64 square miles, forcing thousands to flee.

Most evacuation orders were lifted by Monday, when clear skies and calm winds allowed firefighters to make some gains, but officials warned of another bad air day and classes were canceled at dozens of schools near fire zones in Orange County.

In Sylmar, scores of residents stood in line outside a high school gymnasium for tours of the charred mobile home park.

Those whose homes were destroyed were shuttled through the neighborhood in a black van. Authorities were still investigating the fire, so people weren’t allowed to get out and sift through the ashes for scraps of their belongings.

A separate set of white police vans ferried residents whose homes were still standing so they could gather medication and other essentials.

Elsewhere, the largest of the fires has burned more than 28,000 acres in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties and has destroyed more than 250 homes and apartment units. San Bernadino became the fourth county declared a state of emergency.

Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Frank Garrido warned residents returning to their homes in the Diamond Bar area to watch for snakes, mountain lions and other wildlife that fled the flames into more populated areas.

In the Orange County suburb of Yorba Linda, residents returned to find more than 100 homes destroyed. The first of the wildfires broke out in the Montecito area of Santa Barbara County, about 90 miles northwest of Sylmar.

The causes of all three fires were under investigation, although officials labeled the Santa Barbara-area fire “human-caused,” said Doug Lannon, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Lannon said the fire started in a Montecito landmark known to be a popular hangout for teenagers.