Winds Blow a Heap of Woes on Southland : Weather: Gusts drive brush fire in Sylmar foothills before it is contained, down power lines and create blizzard-like conditions in the mountains.

Winds gusting up to 70 m.p.h blasted across Southern California Friday, driving a brush fire through the Sylmar foothills, knocking out power for tens of thousands of customers and causing blizzard-like snow conditions that clogged mountain roads.

Downed power lines kept fire and utility crews scrambling throughout the day, and scattered outages left several thousand residents from Rolling Hills to Studio City without electric power late Friday night.

“It’s been just constant,” said Stacy Geere, a Department of Water and Power spokeswoman. “We make repairs in one area and another is affected.”

Earlier, for the second time in five days, a wind-whipped fire marched across tinder dry hills above Sylmar, skirting residential areas but causing little damage before being contained.

The fire was believed caused by an illegal campfire in a brushy area above Polk Street and the Foothill Freeway in the San Gabriel Mountains. It was reported about 10:45 p.m. Thursday, and burned an estimated 140 acres of brush in the rugged area before being extinguished shortly after dawn Friday.

There were no injuries and no damage to structures, but the fire burned to within 50 feet of structures in the White Hawk Ranch development.

“We decided to stay, but it got scary,” Raul Ortiz said of his family. The blaze burned to a fire break behind the family’s back yard on Bermax Avenue. Ortiz watched as firefighters ran hoses down both sides of the house and helicopters made three water drops on the hillside in back to keep the flames from his property.

“The fire people kept telling us we were OK,” Ortiz said. “But when it finally hit and the flames behind the house were going 30 feet up, it really got . . ., like I said, scary.”

U.S. Forest Service spokesman Bob Liebershal said the blaze was ignited from a campfire that was abandoned or got out of control in May Canyon, an area above Polk Street that is not designated for camping. The people who started the fire could be held accountable for the cost of extinguishing it, but they have not been found, he said.

“In that area, campfires are illegal year-round,” Liebershal said.

Ortiz said neighbors reported seeing several teen-agers run from the hillside and drive away in a car with no lights on shortly before the fire was spotted. However, Liebershal said, it was not known if the teen-agers were responsible for the fire.

The fire was the second scare for Sylmar residents this week. Early Monday morning, a brush fire about three miles west of Friday’s blaze burned 750 acres and damaged trailers and sheds on two ranches. Its cause remains under investigation. Witnesses told investigators they saw sparks falling from a power line before that fire began, but utility companies have said their equipment showed no signs of such malfunction.

Five helicopters and about 500 firefighters from the city, county and Forest Service battled Friday’s fire, which initially moved south through May Canyon and then split into fronts going west toward Olive View Hospital and east toward Veterans Memorial Park. Firefighters, initially hampered by 30 to 40 m.p.h. winds, contained those flanks before the fire came close to threatening either of those locations.

As the gusts picked up in the afternoon and evening, spokesmen for the DWP and Southern California Edison reported 20,000 customers in a dozen neighborhoods were without power at various times. Several hundred Studio City residents spent much of the night in the dark.

High winds coupled with unexpected snow caused a series of accidents on State 38 near Big Bear in San Bernardino County, the California Highway Patrol said.

The normal holiday weekend congestion came to a standstill in some areas because of accidents, high winds and snow, said Steve Munday of the CHP’s traffic operations division. “You’ve got cars in the bank here, cars in the bank there,” he said.

“People hit the ice and snow and just slid into each other,” said another CHP spokeswoman in San Bernardino.

In the seas off El Segundo, lifeguard rescue boats pulled a 33-foot sailboat with a crew of three to safety after eight-foot, wind-driven seas disabled the craft. Lifeguard officials said the gusts of up to 50 knots had ripped the boat’s sails and lines had fouled its propellers. No injuries were reported.

Gale warnings were issued through tonight for coastal waters from Point Conception to the Mexican border.

The CHP urged those driving high-profile vehicles to use caution, particularly in mountain passes.

The National Weather Service forecast mostly sunny skies today and Sunday, with gusty winds continuing, particularly below passes and canyons. Highs will be in the mid-60s, but nights will be chilly, dipping to the mid-40s.

In the neighborhood along Polk Street, heavy smoke and ash filled the air, but fire officials said there was no need to evacuate and most residents stayed put. After the initial threat of the blaze was headed off by firefighters, many residents even went to bed.

“I am shocked--so many people rested easy,” said Deborah Marcuse, whose family did not leave their Polk Street house but spent a sleepless night waiting out the fire.

“We packed a truckload of our things in case it got bad,” she said. “But it never did.”

The lack of a mass evacuation was in contrast to Monday morning’s blaze when officials estimated that hundreds of residents left their homes as fire threatened homes on Saddle Ridge Road and the 600-unit Oakridge Mobile Home Park.

“We felt we had good control of the fire and it did not require a formal evacuation,” L.A. Fire Deputy Chief Rey Rojo said of Friday’s fire.