LOS ANGELES _ Fed by strong Santa Ana winds, the Tick fire jumped the 14 Freeway in Santa Clarita early Friday morning, prompting more evacuations as it chewed through dry grass and brush.
The 14 was closed in both directions, northbound from Golden Valley and southbound from Escondido Canyon, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Additional mandatory evacuations are now in place south of the 14, east of Sand Canyon Road, north of Placerita Canyon Road and west of Agua Dulce Canyon Road. Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department are actively going through neighborhoods to evacuate residents.
About 3 a.m. Friday, the National Weather Service office in Oxnard _ which has a weather monitor in an area that would be representative of what the winds are like along the ridges in and around the Tick fire _ reported northeast winds of 33 mph with gusts of 54 mph.
"The strongest Santa Ana winds will continue to be focused across Los Angeles and Ventura counties Friday morning, with gusts of up to 65 mph," the weather service said in a tweet. Winds and gusts will be strongest in the mountains, the tweet said, and the weather brings with it "very rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior possible with new ignitions."
According to the fire department, the fire is being pushed southwest by a prevailing northeast wind.
The fire started Thursday afternoon and was almost 4,000 acres.
