View from 1 of 2 @LACoFireAirOps Firehawk helicopters engaged in structure protection in Soledad Canyon #SandFire pic.twitter.com/QHBfGqsmdZ
— LACoFireAirOps (@LACoFireAirOps) July 24, 2016
A fire raging in Los Angeles County destroyed at least 18 homes and killed one person, whose body was found outside of a home in Santa Clarita, according to local media reports.
Thousands of homes remain threatened as the Sand fire doubled in size from Friday to Saturday. Officials had planned to lift evacuation orders for some threatened neighborhoods, but changed their minds after an unexpected wind event, according to updates on inciweb.com.
Drones have also caused problems for firefighting efforts on the Sand fire, according to a posting from the incident management team on inciweb.com. Local media reported that a drone flying in the Bear Divide area of the Angeles National Forest suspended flight operations on Sunday for 30 minutes.
On Friday, a similar incident shutdown fire operations in Montana.
Some quick facts about the Sand fire:
- Started: July 22, around 2:15 p.m. PST
- Cause: Undetermined
- Total personnel: 1,673
- Size: 22,000 acres
- Resources: 122 engines, 39 hand crews, 15 helicopters and 8 dozers.
