PALMDALE, Calif. — A huge wildfire in the high desert wilderness north of Los Angeles jumped an aqueduct Friday, rushing toward hundreds of houses as firefighters also tried to keep flames from damaging power lines that carry electricity to Southern California.
About 2,000 structures were threatened and 300 homes were evacuated, said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Winds apparently carried embers across the wide concrete channel, with flames rapidly spreading to backyard fences at the edge of Palmdale. Plumes of smoke streamed across the city of 139,000 as a predicted afternoon increase in winds finally arrived.
Helicopters dipped buckets into the aqueduct to make rapid water drops. No homes immediately appeared to have been damaged. Numerous fire engines were in the area. A Boeing 747 supertanker arrived over Palmdale to join the battle.
“As you see, we are deploying everything that we’ve got,” Schwarzenegger said at the fire command post.
Sustained winds of 10 to 20 mph were reported, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Matt Levesque.
Most of the homes in the area are of recent construction with fire-resistant roofs, stucco walls and boxed eaves and are landscaped with fire-resistant vegetation, he said. Evacuations weren’t ordered but were recommended.
Temperatures neared 100 degrees with single-digit relative humidity, and the National Weather Service predicted gusts in the area up to 50 mph Friday night. The fire, which has burned more than 20 square miles since erupting Thursday afternoon, was 20 percent contained, Schwarz- enegger said.
Elsewhere in the battle, aircraft bombarded flames on ridges above the Antelope Valley on the southern edge of the Mojave Desert, while 1,370 firefighters working in high heat sought to outflank the blaze no matter which way it moved.
“We want to pinch it off and call it done,” said fire Capt. Andrew Olvera.
Deputy Fire Chief Michael Bryant said an investigation into the cause of the fire was centering on workers who were hammering on some bolts to remove a tire rim. The workers were cooperating with the investigation.
