Valleys Feel Heat of Wildfires

Roads were closed, homes evacuated and classes cancelled in the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valley areas due to out-of-control brush fires fed by strong winds. The blaze in Agua Dulce north of Santa Clarita has charred 25,000 acres, burned down 25 homes and caused the evacuation of 800 homes, the Los Angeles Times reported. Mandatory evacuations were ordered in Vasquez, Bouquet and parts of San Francisquito, White’s and Soledad canyons. The fires in Malibu forced the closure of Topanga Canyon Boulevard from Mulholland Drive to the Pacific Coast Highway. Pierce College welcomed residents from the Malibu area arriving with their horses to escape the flames, the Daily News reported on its website Monday. More than 80 horses had been checked in to the Los Angeles County Equine Response Team command center at the college in Woodland Hills by late Sunday, the Daily News said. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared Los Angeles and Ventura counties as disaster areas