5 residents trapped in Los Angeles fire zone

September 01, 2009 02:04:21 PM

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Five people who ignored an evacuation order were trapped in a mountain region encircled by a wildfire raging north of Los Angeles, officials said Monday.

Fire officials and police said efforts were underway to reach the five people at a ranch in the Angeles National Forest in a region north of the community of Lake View Terrace.

However one of the men at the location denied requesting help from the fire department and said they were not in danger.

"It's been like this for four days, and if we were in immediate danger, we would get out immediately," Mark Underwood said, adding that he planned to stay at the location to care for dogs at the facility.

Los Angeles Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore earlier accused the five of putting fire crews' lives at risk.

"Those people were told to get out two days ago, and now we are putting our people in danger to get them out," Whitmore said.

"They are within the fire and now they call us and say, 'We need to get out,'" Whitmore said. "What were they thinking?"

The wildfire blazing on the outskirts of Los Angeles doubled in size overnight and had grown to 105,000 acres (43,000 hectares) by midday Monday. More than 2,500 firefighters have been deployed to tackle the blaze.