Containment Of North Fire, Which Threatened Homes In Castaic, Increases To 97%

CASTAIC (CBSLA) — A brush fire that has burned at least 552 acres in Castaic was 97% contained Saturday.

The North Fire was first reported as a one-acre brush fire burning uphill in the 29000 block of The Old Road at 1:34 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The blaze quickly grew, and within several hours, it had exploded and was threatening residential neighborhoods.

The fire was initially reported to be about one acre in light to medium fuels, but quickly spread to at least 650 acres late Wednesday.

It was downgraded slightly to 640 acres on Thursday morning after infrared mapping, the fire department reported.

The fire was further downgraded to 552 acres at about 7:40 p.m. Thursday due to updated mapping, according to CalFire.

Moderate winds pushed the flames east, and the blaze narrowly missed an apartment complex. A large plume of smoke could be seen by drivers on the 5 Freeway.

Firefighters at the scene reported Wednesday that they slowed their response to the fire due to its proximity to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department explosives-disposal site in the area.

At around 6:30 p.m., mandatory evacuation orders were issued for several areas, including residents north and west of West Hills Drive, north of Iron Village Drive, north and west of Tesoro Del Valle and north of Copper Hill Drive.

L.A. County Sheriff's deputies went through neighborhoods with loudspeakers, asking people to leave.

"The flames were probably about 600 yards from my home, within two minutes they were like right outside my home," resident Mark Preeze told CBSLA Wednesday night. "And the police were advising everybody to evacuate. And we did, we just grabbed a bag, and we ran."

However, by 10 p.m., forward progress on the North Fire was halted and all evacuation orders were lifted, the fire department reported.

No homes had been damaged as of early Thursday morning. There was no word of any injuries.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.