LOS ANGELES — Intense Santa Ana winds swept into Southern California Monday morning and whipped up an 8 square kilometre wildfire, closing a major freeway.

“This is what we feared the most,” said Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mark Savage. “The winds that were expected, they have arrived.”

The Foothill Freeway was closed in both directions for about a five-kilometre stretch, the California Highway Patrol said.

The fire, which began Sunday, led to the evacuation of hundreds of homes over the weekend. The blaze jumped a fireline early Monday in an area of Lopez Canyon in the eastern San Fernando Valley that had already been evacuated, Savage said.

Fire department helicopters took to the air at about 5 a.m. but were grounded amid the wild winds. The cause was under investigation.

Winds in the nearby Newhall Pass were about 69 kilometres per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

The blaze about 32 kilometres north of downtown Los Angeles began Sunday and sent about 1,200 people from their homes. All remained evacuated Monday morning.

Fire officials had warned that the fire could be a “sleeping giant.” The autumn’s strong Santa Ana winds usually mark the beginning of the region’s serious fire season.

The fire had burned through at least 836 hectares of rugged terrain in the Angeles National Forest, destroying a house, a garage, several sheds and three mobile homes. More than 1,200 people had evacuated and were advised not to return to their homes overnight.

“It jumped the ridge and came down like a madman,” said Barry Demeter, who told KABC-TV his home had burned as he led his horses away. “I left when the embers were falling around the house.”

The fire was 20 per cent contained and no serious injuries were reported.

A “fire weather watch” was declared through Tuesday for all of Southern California except the deserts.
Some 1,000 people were deployed to fight the fire.

The blaze threatened neighbourhoods around Kagel and Lopez canyons, forcing the evacuation of about 450 homes. Many displaced residents sought refuge at a shelter set up at nearby San Fernando High School.

“It burned right down to a couple of neighborhoods,” said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Stanton Florea.