Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Smoke from wildfires near Joanna Nelson’s clothing store in a foothill community north of Los Angeles has cast a shadow over her business, just as she thought the recession was lifting.

“Since Wednesday of last week, business has been zero, nonexistent,” Nelson, 39, said of her shop, Frockx, in the city of La Cañada Flintridge. “Everyone’s left town.”

The so-called Station fire has displaced residents of 4,300 homes since Aug. 26, according to the U.S. Forest Service. As the blaze in the Angeles National Forest enters its second week, a lack of customers, along with the blanket of ashes, has hurt businesses along Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge.

At R.R. “Pat” Harris Plumbing, a provider of repairs and home filtration systems, business is off by about 25 percent in the past week, said Garry Ackerman, 71, who runs the supply store. With access to residential areas restricted by police, “We cannot get up to jobs,” he said.

Customers also don’t want workers in their homes while they’re concentrating on the fire, Ackerman said. “Business has been bad and this adds to it.”

Residents who have been evacuated may not be able to return until after the weekend, which ends with the Labor Day holiday in the U.S., the Forest Service said.

Most of the business owners in the area have homes that have been threatened, said Melinda Clarke, 42, marketing director of Extremebootcamp, an exercise club that has military- style training featuring trail runs in the mountains.

Sending Customers Away

Clarke’s home in neighboring La Crescenta is covered with two inches of ash, she said.

Residents should avoid physical activity in areas such as La Cañada Flintridge and La Crescenta where fine particles of smoke are in the air, the South Coast Air Quality Management District said in an advisory posted yesterday to its Web site. Air quality ranges from unhealthy to hazardous.

Extremebootcamp has an orientation for a new outdoor session scheduled for the weekend, Clarke said.

“We’re hoping it will be over by Saturday,” Clarke said. “We will delay it if we have to.”

The Station fire has scorched about 128,000 acres and is 22 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry.

It may not be fully under control for two weeks, said Bob Brady, a spokesman for the Forest Service. To date the fire has destroyed 62 structures, including homes, barns and other facilities, he said.

‘Still Selling Homes’

Business goes on for real estate agent Ruth McNevin, 63, who worked on closing a deal yesterday at Re/Max Tri-City Realty on Foothill. She said she’s been through both fires and recessions in 22 years in the business.

“We’re still selling homes,” McNevin said. “We’ve got a lot of repressed demand.”

The blaze is burning underbrush, which reduces the risk of larger fires in future years, said McNevin, who said she evacuated from her home in La Crescenta on Aug. 29 and didn’t expect to move back for a day or two.

Nelson, who has owned Frockx for three years, said she’s been hoping the recession would end and was looking forward to the Christmas holiday selling season. Now the fire has damaged back-to-school sales, and it’s threatening to ruin the outdoor fashion show she plans in back of the store on Sept. 26.

“I hope the fire is over by then,” Nelson said. “I cannot have ashes falling on my models.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter J. Brennan in Los Angeles at pbrennan3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 2, 2009 00:00 EDT