RAQUEL MARIA DILLON and JULIET WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writers

LOS ANGELES — A wildfire in California threatened up to 12,000 homes on Monday, a day after two firefighters were killed when their vehicle was overrun by fast-moving flames and rolled down a mountainside.

An essential communications centre in Los Angeles County and an astronomy centre were also in danger. On the blaze's northwestern front, the two firefighters were killed Sunday on Mount Gleason near the city of Acton.

"We ask for your understanding, for your patience as we move through this difficult time, and please, prayers for the families of our two brothers that we lost," county Deputy Fire Chief Mike Bryant said through tears at a Sunday news conference.

The department identified the victims as Fire Capt. Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County, and firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 35, of Palmdale. Authorities did not give a cause for the crash.

Hall was a 26-year veteran, and Quinones had been a county firefighter for eight years.

"Our hearts are heavy as we are tragically reminded of the sacrifices our firefighters and their families make daily to keep us safe," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

The blaze was only about 5 per cent contained late Sunday and had scorched 71 square miles (184 square kilometres) in the Angeles National Forest. Mandatory evacuations were in effect for neighbourhoods in Glendale, Pasadena and other smoke-choked cities and towns north of Los Angeles. At least 18 homes were destroyed in the fire and firefighters expected to find many more, authorities said.

"Our neighbours sent us photos of all the other houses that are lost," said Beth Halaas, who lost her house in Big Tujunga Canyon, one of the many communities under mandatory evacuation. "We've heard as many as 30 houses burned."

On Mount Wilson, crews cleared brush and sprayed retardant in an attempt to ward off flames approaching the transmitters of more than 20 television stations, many radio stations and cellphone providers, U.S. Forest Service Capt. Mike Dietrich said.

Television stations said if the antennas burn broadcast signals would be affected but satellite and cable transmissions would not be.

Two giant telescopes and several multimillion-dollar university programs are housed in the century-old Mount Wilson Observatory. The complex of buildings is both a historic landmark and a thriving modern centre for astronomy.

The fire has been growing steadily, doubling in size on Sunday. Dietrich said it was possible it would double in size yet again over the next few days.

A slight dip in temperatures was expected Monday, but temperatures in the 90s F (30s C) and low humidity would remain the norm.

The fire was the largest of many burning up and down California, including a blaze northeast of Sacramento that destroyed 60 structures, many of them homes in the town of Auburn. The fire had wiped out an entire cul-de-sac, leaving only smouldering ruins, a handful of chimneys and burnt cars.

The fire had blackened 275 acres (110 hectares) amid high winds and was 50 per cent contained Sunday night, CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant. The governor declared a state of emergency in the Sierra foothills area because of the fire, which began Sunday afternoon.
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Juliet Williams reported from Auburn, California. Associated Press writers Christopher Weber and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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