As fires raged throughout the Los Angeles and Ventura counties,
Glendale and Burbank firefighters were battling their own blaze
Friday in the Verdugo Mountains above Burbank that burned 1,200 acres
by the late afternoon.
The cause of the brush fire remained under investigation as more
than 350 firefighters were on the scene in and around Wildwood and
Stough canyons to extinguish the brush fire.
Communications towers on the top ridge were in jeopardy from the
fire.
"The flames were licking right at them and the helicopters came in
with multiple water drops," Burbank Fire Capt. Ron Bell said Friday.
"I can still see them but whether they are damaged, I cannot tell."
On Friday afternoon, the flames were moving toward the north and
to the ridge of the mountains, Bell said.
"But it's strictly a brush fire. No homes are in jeopardy," he
said.
The fire broke out at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the luau grounds
of the Castaway Restaurant and eventually drew more than 100
firefighters from neighboring departments and helicopters from the
Los Angeles City and County departments.
The Burbank Fire Department considers the fire to be suspicious,
Bell said.
"If a fire starts somewhere where it shouldn't, that's
suspicious," he said.
A state of local emergency was declared Thursday for the city by
disaster preparedness coordinator Rich Baenen.
There were hopes that the fire could be contained to 30 acres but
when the flames jumped one of the canyons it continued to spread,
Burbank City Councilman Todd Campbell said.
The Glendale Fire Department sent out 10 engines and about 40
firefighters to help fight the flames.
"There is some threat [to Glendale], due to the fact that its
right next door," Glendale Fire Capt. Bill Lynch said. "It's in
extremely steep and rugged terrain. But at this point there are no
evacuations, no structures threatened in the city of Glendale, and
hopefully the large amount of air support we are utilizing to attack
the fire will minimize any threat to Glendale."
A voluntary evacuation was ordered as a precaution in the event
that the wind shifts overnight and threatens the homes along Country
Club Drive, a narrow winding road that goes into the hills.
"We're at the whim of Mother Nature," Bell said.
Country Club Drive resident David Shafer had his son Clark clean
dead leaves from the garage roof and clip off tree branches but was
otherwise staying at his home.
"They have this all dialed in on an evacuation and how to attack
