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Crews Gain Upper Hand On Brush Fire In Lake View Terrace Area

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — About 500 firefighters knocked down a brush fire Wednesday afternoon in Lake View Terrace.

The fire broke out in the 11400 block of Kagel Canyon Street at around 2:30 p.m and charred 62 acres by 4:30 p.m.

Crews gained an upper hand on the blaze around 4 p.m., the LA Fire Department said. The fire was declared a knockdown shortly before 5 p.m.

Firefighters from a variety of agencies were at the scene.

The fire threatened some homes in the area earlier in the afternoon, fire officials said, but no homes were damaged.

KCAL9's Peter Daut reported from nearby Wednesday evening.

Strong winds in Lakeview Terrace posed a major challenge to firefighters. In fact, at one point a fire tornado was formed.

KCAL9 spoke to Marla Johnson who raced home from Burbank to try to gather up belongings and important papers.

"There's the insurance papers, where's my court papers, passport, pictures. I need to gather a whole lot." she said.

Sharon Washington was glad to see firefighters getting the upper hand.

"I'm glad it's over," she said, "the police and fire are doing a great job."

Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire. Some folks who live in the area told Daut they heard fireworks just before it started.

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