Residents failing to evacuate in a timely fashion for the massive Sand fire raging in the Santa Clarita area have endangered the lives of public safety officers at times and may have contributed to the destruction of 18 homes, authorities said Monday.
More than 10,000 homes – or an estimated 20,000 people – were under evacuation orders in parts of the Santa Clarita Valley, including the Fair Oaks Ranch and Sand Canyon areas, Acton and Agua Dulce, unincorporated Palmdale, and Little Tujunga in the San Fernando Valley, authorities said. Many of these residents were allowed to return home Monday night.
Nearly 3,000 firefighters were contending with extreme fire weather Monday in an effort to control the 33,117-acre blaze, which was still 10 percent contained as of about 7 p.m.
But not everyone is evacuating their loved ones and their animals quickly enough.
When a strike team was reassigned from one part of the Sand fire to another to protect additional homes, “they were surprised to see citizens there,” L.A. County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said at a news conference Monday. “The citizens were there trying to evacuate, trying to get animals out at the same time they’re trying to go in and protect homes.”
Firefighters were saddened that some structures were lost, he said, but “felt they lost additional structures because they had to stop what they were doing to help citizens evacuate.”
One man, who has yet to be identified, was found dead Saturday night in a charred car in the driveway of a home in the 26700 block of Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita. While the cause of death had yet to be determined, it appears the man died as a result of being burned, said Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.
Los Angeles County Fire Department Deputy Chief John Tripp said firefighters likely saved at least 2,000 homes that were directly in the path of the fire.
A top priority is to get evacuated people back into their homes but first firefighters need to make sure there are no embers, or anything else, that could flare up, Tripp said.
He urged residents in the area to stay on top of the latest devel
opments by watching media, social media and emergency alerts.
“If you see smoke coming in your direction, don’t wait for a policeman, firefighter or deputy to say go,” he said.
Among the homeowners who refused to evacuate were Michael Salmon, 30, and Alyssa Alvarez, 23, of the Sand Canyon neighborhood. They were out at a Food 4 Less in Santa Clarita Monday afternoon and feared they might not be let back into their home.
“They said ‘we can’t force you out,'” Alvarez said. “But if you stay you have to sign a paper. We did sign the paper. But everything has went well.”
Her husband, however, called it a “nightmare” largely because of the large amount of smoke surrounding their home.
“It’s hard to breathe around it,” Salmon said.
California Highway Patrol Sgt. Kevin Pack said by the time road closures are established in the area, it is too late for residents to drive back toward their homes if they have not evacuated.
Deputies and officers are stationed at various traffic points because fire or law enforcement officials need to be in that area so they can do their job safely, he said.
“We’ve had deputies and officers almost run over by people trying to get into their homes” after roads were closed, he said. “That’s not going to help.”
People also need to drive with diligence and care to make sure they don’t “become an impediment” to fire-fighting efforts “or a casualty yourself,” he said.
“It’s not worth it,” Pack said.
Evacuation centers were at Hart High School in Santa Clarita, at Lake View Terrace Recreation Center in Lake View Terrace and at Highland High School in Palmdale.
Staff Writers Wes Woods II and Greg Wilcox contributed to this report.
