Fires in California Kill One and Destroy Buildings

Wind-whipped wildfires feeding on the driest brush in years erupted across Southern California on Sunday, killing one person, injuring four firefighters, destroying and damaging several homes and scorching thousands of acres.

By evening, a dozen fires had broken out from north of Los Angeles to the Mexican border, and firefighters strained to keep up and beat back flames that hurricane-force winds blasted over hills and through canyons.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in seven counties, where flames had burned 30,000 acres.

Thousands of homes in Canyon Country, north of Los Angeles, were threatened by a fire that had engulfed more than 10,000 acres in a few hours. By early evening, the blaze had already burned several homes and other structures and had led to the evacuation of 800 homes.

Residents battled the flames with garden hoses and shovels while others gave up and fled in their vehicles. Television stations showed images of fire descending on structures with little to stop it, and Los Angeles County rushed to shift firefighters there from another large fire in Malibu that had earlier seemed poised for large-scale destruction.

Chief P. Michael Freeman of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, speaking at the Malibu fire in the late afternoon, said state and local resources “are trying to deal with all these fires, and we are thin.”

Officials have warned for months that the driest year on record has made brush, grown thick from previous wet years, especially susceptible to fires.

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