LOS ANGELES, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A rash of massive wildfires that began during the holiday weekend in sultry Southern California continued into Wednesday when yet another fast-moving blaze forced the evacuation of several homes in the hills of the Leona Canyon area in northern Los Angeles County.
The robust late-summer fire that broke out Tuesday afternoon in the ranch country of Bouquet Canyon west of Palmdale, about 25 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, raced through nearly 4,000 acres of dry brush, consumed three homes and forced an unknown number of residents and their animals to hastily evacuate the area.
"The way this fire came in was so fast that it created a wind that was unbelievable," a still obviously shaken Tony Siro told television station KCAL Tuesday night.
Siro's home was saved, but his neighbors did not fare as well as the flames burned their houses to the ground in minutes and forced both residents and emergency crews to beat a speedy retreat.
"It turned into chaos," he said. "We thought we were all doomed."
As the flames tore through the dry brush, some firefighters pitched in to help residents and animal control officers collect skittish horses and frantic pets -- including one llama -- and transport them to an evacuation center at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.
Nightfall Tuesday had forced helicopters and air tankers to land, but more than 700 firefighters from the Los Angeles area planned to remain on the scene to extend their 35-percent containment as humidity rose and temperatures that had been near 100 cooled off.
"Night time is when we seek to get an advantage on the fire," said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Edward Osorio. "We usually take advantage of the conditions and put our crews as close to the fire as possible."
The Bouquet Canyon fire was the latest fast-moving brush fire to break out during a heat wave that sent temperatures in the area into triple digits.
A 1,000-acre blaze near Castaic closed northbound Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles during the weekend, but was fully contained Tuesday.
The largest fire continued to burn near Azusa Tuesday after forcing around 8,000 campers in the Angeles National Forest to cut their mountain vacation short.
The Curve Fire was nearly 15,000 acres in size Tuesday and only 10 percent contained. Smoke filled the surrounding mountains and neighborhoods with smoke, and Los Angeles television station KNBC noted that some residents were leaving the area in order to seek fresher air in, of all places, Los Angeles.
