Crews battle brush fire near Castaic Lake as extreme heat grips SoCal, elevating fire danger
CASTAIC, Calif. (KABC) -- A brush fire erupted near Castaic Lake, prompting a response from the Los Angeles County Fire Department Tuesday evening, as an intense heat wave gripped the region.
Firefighters across Southern California have responded to a number of fires over the past few days amid the hot and dry conditions.
The most recent fire started near Lake Hughes Road at about 8 p.m., according to the Angeles National Forest.
The flames were burning at a moderate speed and were moving toward Castaic Lake. The blaze, named the Dry Fire, grew to at least 14 acres and was 50% contained as of 10:20 p.m. Tuesday.
Helicopters also helped battle the flames by scooping up water from the lake and dumping it on the blaze.
Firefighters were making "good progress" on the fire and there was a low threat to the community, the Angeles National Forest tweeted. Officials shut down Lake Hughes Road east of Castaic overnight.
No injuries were immediately reported.
Over in the Inland Empire, firefighters responded to multiple other fires that broke out Tuesday.
A small brush fire in Mead Valley spread to several small outdoor structures and abandoned vehicles on Tuesday afternoon, engulfing them in flames amid scorching temperatures.
Similar fires in size also erupted on the north end of Lake Elsinore and on the east end of Moreno Valley. Water-dropping aircrafts help in all those fights.
Battalion Chief Josh Janssen with CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department explained that one of the factors contributing to the heightened fire risk is all of the rain that we got this year.
"With all of that rain, we now have an abundance of grass. That grass is in excess of 6 feet tall, 8 feet tall. It is now dead and that grass is everywhere throughout the county," he said. "In fact that grass is in areas in the county that we haven't see in a very long time as well. So, as a result of that dead grass and the starts, we are now running multiple vegetation fires throughout the county every single day."
City News Service contributed to this report.
