About 23,000 homes -- involving roughly 100,000 people -- have been told to evacuate in the northern Los Angeles area because of the Saddleridge Fire, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Friday.
At least 25 homes, many in the Porter Ranch area, have been damaged, Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said.
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"I saw people firsthand (in evacuation zones) attempting to fight the fire with garden hoses," far outmatched by the flames, he said. "Those individuals placed not only themselves in imminent peril," but also first responders "because of our need and desire to try to rescue them."
Besides burning in northern Los Angeles, the fire also is moving north toward the city of Santa Clarita, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Deputy Dave Richardson said.
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A fast-growing, wind-driven wildfire swept into the northern Los Angeles area overnight, forcing hurried evacuation orders for tens of thousands of people, closing portions of at least three major freeways and sending firefighters scrambling to save homes.
The Saddleridge Fire, which started Thursday and exploded to 4,700 acres by Friday morning, jumped across the 210 and 5 freeways overnight as it spread into northern Los Angeles neighborhoods.
An undetermined number of homes have been destroyed, and mandatory evacuations were called for more than 12,000 homes -- often while occupants were sleeping -- in and near Los Angeles' Porter Ranch and Granada Hills neighborhoods, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
"When you're told to leave, we mean for you to leave," Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said early Friday. "If you stay in those areas, we cannot guarantee you that we'll be able to find you and rescue you if you're overcome by flames."
This is just one of the
several blazes in Southern California fueled by strong
Santa Ana winds, with gusts around 60 mph. Many parts of the region are under
red-flag warnings -- meaning high fire risk -- into Friday afternoon.
The Saddleridge Fire started around 9 p.m. ET and jumped the 210 and 5 freeways, and some parts those roads and the 405 were closed as orange embers lit up the night sky. By late Thursday it had gutted 60 acres; but some four hours later, it had grown to more than 4,000 acres, fire officials said.
Hector Landeros, who lives in northern Los Angeles' Sylmar neighborhood, said he heard fire trucks and police cruisers speeding through the streets Thursday night as the massive flames got closer.
"In some areas, the streets have started to empty but at the front lines people are watching, waiting on the sidewalk not really knowing what to do," he told CNN early Friday. "There are a lot of people trying to get into their neighborhoods."
Shaun Butch said he saw flames on both sides of the freeway while driving on Interstate 5.
"Everything was engulfed in smoke and visibility was so low it was hard to drive. Everyone on the Interstate 5 north was stopped and trapped. Still was able to barely get through on the Interstate 5 north."
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