S. California wildfire growth ‘explosive’LOS ANGELES — A wildfire broke out Tuesday and spread at a staggering pace in every direction through drought-parched canyons east of Los Angeles, growing to 14 square miles in a matter of hours and prompting evacuation orders for more than 82,000 of people in mountain communities.A miles-long line of flames snaked along ridges, racing through chaparral that was dry as tinder after years of drought and days of dry summer heat in the 90s. Flames reached up to 80 feet in the air with tornado-like whirls coming off the main blaze reaching 100 feet, officials said.The growth was explosive, San Bernardino County fire spokesman Eric Sherwin said.The fire was roaring through the San Bernardino Mountains, heading generally north but also east and west above the Cajon Pass, and forced the shutdown of a section of Interstate 15, the main highway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, leaving commuters stranded for hours.Mandatory evacuation calls went out to 34,506 homes with more than 82,600 people affected, Sherwin said.Some buildings had been lost, Sherwin said. He had no details, but televised images from the fire scene appeared to show at least two homes on fire.“This fire is burning in significantly different terrains at multiple elevation levels,” Sherwin said.Evacuated areas included the ski-resort town of Wrightwood, where some 4,500 people live; canyon communities containing clusters of large, scattered ranches; and sprawling high desert communities on the opposite side of the ridges.

Father of boy killed thanks supportersKANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas lawmaker whose 10-year-old son was killed on the world’s tallest waterslide thanked supporters Tuesday, joining two others who were in the ill-fated raft in hoping that unfolding investigations prevent any such tragedy from happening again.Scott Schwab, in a statement released by the family’s lawyer, said “words will never convey the appreciation” the Schwabs have for the public outpouring since Caleb Schwab died Aug. 7 on the 168-foot tall “Verruckt” ride at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kan.“‘Thank you’ seems so inadequate to express our appreciation, but it is the only phrase we have. So, from the depths of our hearts, we thank you,” Schwab, a Republican from Olathe, Kan., said in the statement, first reported by the Kansas City Star.