Woolsey fire is 5% contained, with strong winds expected Sunday

Nov. 10--The massive Woolsey fire remained at 70,000 acres Saturday evening as crews reached 5 percent containment, but officials warned that harsh winds are expected to return Sunday.

Firefighters planned to work through the night to keep the flames from spreading.

"Don't be lulled by a false sense of security," Ventura County Fire Department Chief Mark Lorenzen said. "We know that tomorrow mother nature will turn her fan back on again."

Crews on Saturday took advantage of lighter winds, focusing on setting up a perimeter around the edges of the blaze. Firefighters were focused on the Eastern side of the fire, along Bell Canyon and the 101 Freeway, and the South end at Malibu Canyon. The crews dropped retardant in canyon ridges, while others were cutting lines for containment -- the perimeter beyond which firefighters do not believe the flames will move. They also focused on hot spots, said Chief Daryl Osby of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Los Angeles City Firefighter Charlie Taggart, who along with other members of his crew worked 30 hours straight battling the flames in the canyon, said the sheer size of the fire left their equipment spread thin.

"The wind was whipping, the fire line was pretty intense," Taggart said. "Unfortunately we lost some homes."

Taggart recalled at one point seeing four homes in flames at once.

"Trying to fight that with three or four engines is impossible," he said. "When the houses were going up, the wind was howling at 30 to 50 miles per hour, it was almost knocking my helmet off. Fire was jumping house to house."

Within the Bell Canyon neighborhood itself, more than a dozen homes were burned to the ground, with only stonework and brick remaining. At least one car was completely destroyed, its hubcaps melted down to the pavement. Nearby gas lines shot off flames.

Other homes escaped the blaze with little damage, with some residents staying behind to risk their lives to protect their property.

Mark Leiss, 49, stayed behind when his wife and two daughters left their home, using a water hose, and later buckets when the water pressure died, to keep flames at bay.

"I don't think I've ever been as scared in my life," Leiss said. "It's the flames, its the heat and the speed of the wind coming at you. It blew me backward."

Fire officials planned to have crews in fire corridors Sunday morning and planned to have helicopters flying at first light, Osby said. He added aircraft would be deployed if conditions were safe enough to do so.

Crews battling the blaze nonstop since it began got some relief on Saturday.

"They'll be fresh for (Sunday's) firefight," Osby said.

And more relief was on its way. Officials said 153 engines from out of state were making their way to help in the battle. All days off have been canceled.

Hundreds of firefighters have been assigned to the blaze, but state resources are stretched with a deadly fire also burning in Northern California.

Another round of strong Santa Ana winds are expected on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, giving firefighters a short window to make progress before the gusts that originally drove the fast-moving fire return. A red flag warning -- marking the dangerous combination of low humidity, high temperatures and gusty wind -- was scheduled to go into effect across Southern California on Saturday night.

The likelihood of stronger winds coming back, likely until Tuesday, had L.A. authorities unable to provide a timeline for when evacuees can return or roadways re-open, though some people Saturday night were allowed back to their homes in parts of Simi Valley in Ventura County.

"Quite frankly, it's still not safe," Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Chief John Benedict said. "When we ask you to evacuate, please heed that warning."

California Highway Patrol Lt. Kevin Kurker said the agency planned to reopen the 101 Freeway at some point Saturday night.

President Donald Trump unleashed a tweetstorm of reactions on Saturday when he threatened to withhold federal payments to California, blaming the "massive, deadly and costly forest fires" on poor "forest management" and threatening to withhold federal funds. His tweet drew heated reaction, including from Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, who tweeted "People are dying, property is being destroyed, and our firefighters are in harms way," and singer Katy Perry who tweeted, "This is an absolutely heartless response."

Firefighters said the raging brush fires did not originate in forests.

"This is not about politics, this is about people," Henry Stern, D-Canoga Park, said at an evening press conference. "I beg the president to pursue a major disaster declaration and not make this a political incident."

Two bodies were discovered on Friday within the fire's footprint in the Malibu area, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials. Officials said on Saturday evening that the bodies were found severely burned inside a stopped vehicle in a long, narrow driveway. No further details were given.

Law enforcement in both Los Angeles and Ventura counties are keeping an eye out for potential looters, authorities said. Two people already have been arrested in Ventura County. No other arrests were made by Saturday evening, officials said.

See fire map and evacuation centers here

The flames have burned out of control for two days since breaking out near the former Rocketdyne site south of Simi Valley. The fire has prompted waves of evacuations, sending residents fleeing approaching flames from portions of Westlake Village, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Malibu.

On Saturday, 250,000 residents were reported evacuated from some 75,000 homes.

At least 150 homes across Southern California have been torched, including Malibu mansions belonging to the rich and famous.

Snarled traffic and road closures, as well as heavy smoke, have hindered travel though portions of Southern California over the last couple of days. The 101 freeway was closed in both directions from Valley Circle to Reyes Abobe.

The fire burned onto part of the Pepperdine University campus in Malibu on Friday into Saturday, before the arrival of Los Angeles County fire strike teams and water dropping aircraft. No permanent structures were lost, as those on the campus were ordered to shelter-in-place. Video taken at the campus showed a vehicle and several bicycles that had been scorched by the fire.

The Hansen Dam and Pierce College, which had been accepting evacuated animals, were at full capacity by Saturday afternoon, according to Los Angeles County Animal Care officials. The Antelope Valley Fairgrounds was still sheltering large animals.

In Bell Canyon, where flames tore through the gated community on Thursday and Friday, crews focused Saturday on knocking down hot spots, while residents awaited word on the condition of their homes.

Leiss, as well as others who remained behind, spent Saturday morning driving around and checking on homes for those who had left the evacuation zone. As of late morning, he had already broken the news to five people that their homes were gone.

"I'll be here again," Leiss said of his plans for Saturday night and Sunday. "I have to. I've gone this far."

Tyler Lachman, 28, said he used a garden house, shovel and fire extinguisher to battle the flames. At one point, Lachman said, a chicken coop on his property caught on fire, forcing him to quickly extinguish it before his home could ignite.

"If I had let it go it would have burned my house down," Lachman said.

Adrienne Janic, 44, said firefighters were at one point using her home as a makeshift command post due to the view it provides higher up in the canyon. She opted to stay overnight with her husband, son and two dogs, but grew worried after the firefighters left the home and her neighbors residence became engulfed in flames.

"It basically came up and around my house," Janic said of the fire. "There were flames running up toward my door. For a split second I thought "I should have left."

For updated information on evacuation centers, animal shelters, road closures and wildfires, visit: https:lacounty.gov/woolseyfire/

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