Firestorms

Very bad time, first at the wildland/urban interface, then into communities:

"Prepare yourselves for the worst," Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told the crowd of frightened, exhausted people who had been evacuated early Saturday from Sylmar's Oakridge Mobile Home Park. "I don't have good news."

As some of the 200 evacuees wept nearby, Ruda held up a charred, tattered flag. "Let this American flag be a sign of hope," he said, choking up.

But by day's end, that hope was hard to cling to, as 501 of the park's 600 mobile homes had been destroyed and at least 40 more had suffered significant damage.

The park was a scene of devastation, where 50-foot flames had leveled street after street of homes and melted hastily dropped fire hoses into the pavement after even the firefighters were forced to flee. With rare exceptions, only ash and twisted metal remained.

The blaze tore through the mobile home park so fast that firefighters barely had time to rouse people from bed and urge them to safety. Several residents were put into fire engines and rushed out of the neighborhood, in some cases dropped off under freeway overpasses, the nearest safe location, before crews raced back to the battle.

Fire officials said that by early Saturday, the winds had whipped to 50 mph and firefighters reported towering flames and zero visibility. Water mains had run dry or lacked adequate pressure. The conditions became so dangerous that crews, at least for a while, were ordered to evacuate.

"We realized it was a losing battle," veteran firefighter Steve Marotta said.