LOS ANGELES _ Orange County fire officials have evacuated at least 1,000 homes as a fast-moving fire in the Anaheim Hills spat smoke into the air and scorched several structures Monday, fire officials said.
The fire had grown to nearly 5,000 acres in size by late Monday afternoon, and as many as 4,000 area residents had been impacted, said Sgt. Daron Wyatt, a spokesman for the Anaheim fire and police departments.
Canyon fire No. 2 broke out around 9:20 a.m. near the 91 Freeway and Gypsum Canyon Road, and quickly leapt the California 241 toll road, Wyatt said.
As of 3 p.m. Pacific time, the fire had grown to roughly 2,500 acres, Wyatt said. At least six structures had been damaged or lost, and one firefighter had to be treated for smoke inhalation.
The fire raced up a ridge and hit tract homes at the top of a hill. Several caught fire and continued to burn even as firefighters sprayed the structures with water.
Fire crews had not been able to contain any portion of the blaze as of 3 p.m., Wyatt said, and strong winds were making it difficult to figure out where the flames might jump next.
"With the wind-driven event, this fire can change behavior very rapidly," he said during a news briefing.
At least 500 firefighters from multiple fire task forces are battling the blaze. Steven Beach, an incident commander with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said he expected that figure to grow to more than 1,000 by Tuesday morning as crews continued to battle the wind-fed blaze.
Evacuations were ordered south of the 91 Freeway, west of the 241 toll road, north of Nohl Ranch Road and east of Serrano Avenue. The eastbound 91 Freeway was closed, with small spot fires reported along the roadway. By Monday afternoon, firefighters were going door to door to make evacuations in some areas, fire officials said.
The blaze comes as a series of wildfires claimed 10 lives and destroyed 1,500 homes in Northern California, and just weeks after another blaze forced the evacuation of at least 1,500 homes in the Corona area.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, though Wyatt said the blaze began in the same area as the first Canyon fire, which prompted evacuations last month.
Santiago Canyon College in Orange was evacuated as the fire continued to grow, and Tustin police also ordered residences north of Jamboree and Tustin Ranch roads to evacuate.
Several elementary schools in the area were evacuated as well, with students moved to Canyon High School in Anaheim. Several regional parks have also been closed and strong winds were pushing smoke into Orange and Santa Ana areas.
At a strip mall downhill from the evacuated neighborhoods, a line snaked out from a nearby gas station. Residents of an assisted living facility were filing into buses, and ambulances could be seen transporting residents away.
Families cast concerned glances up toward the smoke-covered hills, over which helicopters were ferrying water from a reservoir. Some used the area as a rendezvous point.
By the time Eric Schmidt, 48, had driven home from his job at Disney on Monday morning, police wouldn't let him back into his neighborhood. Parents frantic to pick up their children at a nearby elementary school had taken to abandoning their cars and going to grab their children on foot.
Schmidt's wife, Marigold, left their home with only their three dogs. His son Ethan walked from his high school and the family reunited at the strip mall parking lot.
"It came so fast you couldn't even grab anything," said Schmidt, who added his family didn't even have a change of clothes. A neighbor at the end of the cul-de-sac had told him the flames were up in his back yard. Houses lower on the hill were burning.
For the moment, though, he could see his home was safe based on an image from a doorbell camera app installed on his phone. It was the second time he's had to evacuate because of a wildfire in 18 years of living in the neighborhood.
John Carmona, a retired welder in his early 60s, had to race out of his duplex near State College Boulevard and Ball Road as the smoky odor from the blaze rose.
"This intense wind doesn't help. It's only going to get worse," he said. "I have no choice but to walk away."
Carmona got to safety, but he had to leave behind his cocker spaniel, Cali, after he was unable to find the dog's collar and leash.
Wyatt said the fire had jumped the California 241 toll road and was threatening about 1,000 homes. An evacuation order has been issued for all homes east of the intersection of Weir Canyon Road and Serrano Avenue, Wyatt said. Evacuations were also underway in Orange as well as much of the Orange Park Acres area.
"You need to be prepared to evacuate and now is the time to do so," Wyatt said in a video posted to the Anaheim Fire Department's Facebook page. "Take everything that you can that will sustain you for the next couple of days."
The fire was also threatening the Orange Park Acres section of Orange, Wyatt said. City officials there had issued evacuation orders to all residents who live east of Serrano Avenue, he said. Fire officials asked evacuees to go to the Anaheim Downtown Youth Center at 225 Philadelphia St.
Officials had also set up a refuge for large animals at the Orange County Fairgrounds, and a specific staging area for horses can be found at Yorba Regional Park in Anaheim. Evacuees needing a place to stay overnight were being directed to an American Red Cross staging area in Orange.
Bob Hill said his trip to the doctor's office to pick up cold medication was cut short by a text message from city officials warning him of the fire Monday morning. He immediately contacted his wife.
"Get out. Get the pictures and get out," he wrote in a frantic text.
Hill, 66, said he had already lost a home in Chatsworth during a 2008 wildfire, adding that the trajectory of Monday's blaze gave him a sinking feeling as he tracked its movements via TV images. His neighborhood near Weir Canyon and Serrano Road is full of pine trees that can catch fire "in a flash," he said.
Hill, whose wife escaped the fire's path and had stopped at a Mormon church to volunteer, managed to remain calm despite the risk of seeing another of his homes destroyed.
"I've faced this before," he said. "What else can I do?"
