“The island is on fire”

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Prospective island visitors received the bad news at the Catalina Express counter with a terse message: ‘The island is on fire.’

Among those anxiously waiting to board the last boat out of San Pedro was Karin Sharafi, 48, who was concerned about the fate of her family’s 1,000-square-foot, 99-year-old home on Sumner Avenue in Avalon. The wood house survived a major fire in 1915 that destroyed much of the city, Sharafi said.

‘I was just going over there today to relax,’ said the Torrance Police Department computer specialist. ‘Now I’m just hoping they can keep the fire away and that the wind blows in another direction.’

-Louis Sahagun