June 14--Los Angeles County fire crews quickly contained a 15-acre brush fire Saturday afternoon on a hillside on the northbound side of the 5 Freeway near Castaic.
Callers reported a blaze north of Lake Hughes Road about 2:40 p.m., said Inspector Randall Wright, of the county Fire Department. Shortly after 3 p.m., the first company on the scene saw smoke and fire spreading quickly uphill and requested reinforcements. According to news reports, the California Highway Patrol briefly shut down a portion of the freeway.
Four helicopters and about 115 firefighters eventually joined the battle. On the ground, crews used hand tools to make a control line around the fire. From the air, helicopters took in water from nearby Castaic Lake -- at a rate of 90 gallons per second -- and dumped it on the flames.
"It knocks it out," Wright said, adding that the fire was 90% contained by 3:50 p.m.
He credited favorable weather conditions -- temperatures in the 80s, relatively high humidity, and low winds -- for firefighters' rapid progress. No structures were threatened or damaged, and no injuries were reported.
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