George Stebbins <<email>> writes:

This from the SHGA web site:

Kagel is CLOSED by Marek Fire October 13, 11:00 AM

There is a NOTAM that closes airspace including the Kagel launch and LZ for fire fighting until further notice. The Marek fire that started at 2:00 AM Sunday burned the area between Trash and Lances yesterday, and is burning Kagel today. The hang-2/3 LZ burned, but the glider storage units are safe, and the LZ is now a staging area for firefighters. The 210 freeway is closed, as is Little Tujunga Road.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/us/14fire.html?hp

The Santa Ana winds swept through the San Fernando Valley in Southern California today, sparking embers that left a trail of full-scale wildfires north of Los Angeles and caused one death even as they intensified throughout the day.

This morning, 65 mile-per-hour winds reinvigorated the so-called Marek wildfires, named for Marek canyon, which started Sunday evening 20 miles north of Los Angeles. The fires announced themselves as a potent, unpredictable force when they jumped eight lanes of the Foothill Freeway early this morning.

“It is a blowtorch we can’t get in front of,” Frank Garrido, a fire inspector for Los Angeles County, said, according to the Associated Press.

http://www.latimes.com/

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-wildfire14-2008oct14,0,860012.story

Two massive fires were burning out of control in the San Fernando Valley, devouring nearly 6,000 acres, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents, closing freeways and causing at least two deaths.