Campgrounds closed due to hot spots from Mount Wilson fire

MOUNT WILSON, Calif. (KABC) -- After a 30-acre brush fire seared through the hillsides of Mount Wilson, authorities issued closures for nearby campgrounds.

The U.S. Forest Service issued the closures and said they would go into effect Friday.

The following areas are closed:

• Echo Mountain
• Henninger Flats
• Mount Lowe Campground
• Valley Forge Campground
• West Fork Campground
• Devore Campground
• Spring Camp Campground

All of the trails and roads within those closure areas would also be shut down, according to the Forest Service.

A brush fire erupted around 4 a.m. Tuesday above Altadena, Arcadia and Pasadena near the Mount Wilson Observatory. The observatory was evacuated, although it was unclear how many people were inside at the time.

The blaze had started near the top of the mountain and inched slowly toward communication towers near the observatory. Crews battled the flames with water drops and helicopters overnight and into the morning hours, getting a handle on it.

On Thursday, a charred body was discovered by search and rescue teams who were looking for a missing 18-year-old man named Matthew Huerta. Authorities said Huerta may have been in the area around the time of Tuesday's fire.

The burned body, which has not been identified, was found by a Montrose search team around 2:30 a.m.

If Huerta was in the location of Mount Wilson Tuesday morning, that was just about the time the fire sparked.

The cause of the fire remains unknown. However, investigators called the blaze suspicious.