By Alex Dobuzinskis
The Daily News of Los Angeles
Copyright 2006 Tower Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. — The Day Fire has burned more than 27,100 acres — roughly the size of Simi Valley — and remains just 25 percent contained, with no predictions Wednesday of when it could be fully controlled.
The fire has burned since Labor Day in an area southwest of Pyramid Lake. It’s unusual for wildfires in Southern California to last longer than a week, but because of the steep and rugged terrain, firefighters have struggled to contain the fire.
Authorities expect the fire to burn southeast to at least Canton Canyon northwest of Castaic. And so firefighters plan to make a stand a little farther south from the canyon, at a “contingency line” two miles north of homes in Romero and Hasley canyons.
“We’re just going to get ahead of it because we can’t defend it,” said Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, incident commander for the California Interagency Management Team.
The fire has not burned any homes, but firefighters were concerned about Paradise Ranch mobile home park, east of Interstate 5 and less than two miles from the fire’s southeastern flank.
The I-5 was shut down on Monday, and then again on Tuesday, as firefighters worked to keep flames from crossing the freeway.
has remained at 25 percent containment. In addition to tough terrain, the fire is also advancing through areas of chaparral, oak trees and scattered timber that haven’t burned for decades.
“There’s parts in here that haven’t burned since the 1920s, and that doesn’t help us any,” Pincha-Tulley said.
The high temperatures and low humidity that have helped propel the fire in recent days could start abating today, said Stanton Florea, information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
The fire has so far made little encroachment on territories inhabited by endangered arroyo toads, California red-legged frogs and California condors.
Other species that live in the forest include black bears and mountain lions. The animals scatter when smoke approaches, but some might have been caught in the flames.
“If the fire moves fast enough, it can definitely happen,” said Sue Teresa, a biologist with the Angeles National Forest.