A fast-spreading brush fire north of Los Angeles forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes Friday, as firefighters struggled against triple-digit temperatures and erratic winds to contain the blaze, officials said.
Nearly 200 homes in Burbank, California, were evacuated late Friday, with police officers going door to door throughout the night to ensure residents had left the area. By Saturday morning, the wildfire – raging in the Verdugo Mountains to the north of Burbank – had grown to more than 5,000 acres, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott.
As of 7 a.m. PDT Saturday, the fire was 10 percent contained and there were no homes damaged or injuries reported, the fire department said. Video footage taken Saturday morning near La Tuna Canyon Road, over the hills to the north of Burbank, showed active flames and heavy smoke.
The La Tuna Fire was first reported about 1:30 p.m. Friday as a small, one-acre vegetation fire south of Interstate 210 near Burbank. Though firefighters quickly extinguished the bulk of that fire, high winds caused embers to jump across the highway, sparking a spot fire north of I-210, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart.
Within a few hours, more than 250 firefighters from multiple agencies had been dispatched to the fire, which had grown to 500 acres and shut down a portion of I-210.
By 9 p.m. Friday, the fire had tripled in size to 1,500 acres. Authorities soon ordered mandatory evacuations, street by street, for neighborhoods in Burbank closest to Verdugo Mountain Park. A surreal scene unfolded in Burbank as bright flames could be seen coming over the hilltops to the north of the city.
Just before midnight, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported that the La Tuna Fire was burning in four directions, including down over the hills toward Burbank as well as north through the La Tuna Canyon above I-210. The fire’s “erratic” spread was “driven by strong, gusting winds,” the agency said.
California has been experiencing a severe heat wave, expected to last through Labor Day.
Carol Smith, a National Weather Service meteorologist, told the Los Angeles Times that a combination of weather conditions were working against firefighters: temperatures of up to 106 degrees, 50-mph gusts of wind and unstable air.
“It just really stokes the fire,” Smith told the newspaper. “I mean, when it’s hot and the gusty winds, it’s been a bad mix of different things.”
As of Saturday morning, more than 300 firefighters are on scene, and a large portion of I-210 remains closed. Officials are cautioning residents in the area to stay indoors and avoid outdoor activities because of heavy smoke. Police expect mandatory evacuation orders to remain in place into Sunday afternoon.
