Brush fire threatens homes in Granada Hills
GRANADA HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- Los Angeles County firefighters quickly contained a wind-driven brush fire in the Knollwood section of Granada Hills Monday afternoon.
The "Highwater Fire" was reported at about 11 a.m. near the 12300 block of Highwater Road.
A total of about 200 firefighters and one helicopter crew were assigned to fight the fire, which threatened at least 10 homes and burned about 40 acres of grass and brush in hilly terrain. The residents of the homes were safely evacuated.
"It was moving pretty fast. It was going in all different directions, up the hill, down the hill. It was even burning towards us and we had strong winds," said resident Bob Wirffel.
Gusts estimated at 40 mph scattered embers far and wide.
"Actually, my brother was the first to scramble and then he got all his stuff ready, and I was thinking the same thing. I was like, 'Boy do I need to start packing,'" said resident Kelly Flores. "The first thing you saw, obviously, was just the black smoke everywhere. You couldn't really even see the flames at first until a gust of wind would blow the smoke and that's when you saw all of the flames there.
St. Euphrasia School was also evacuated due to the brush fire, and parents were asked to pick up their kids immediately.
City Fire spokesman David Ortiz urged residents to stay indoors as firefighters worked to contain the bulk of the fire. The blaze was mostly contained at about 12 p.m., LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey said. No injuries were reported.
Los Angeles police officials requested that the California Highway Patrol close all on- and off-ramps for the 118 Freeway from Reseda to the 405 Freeway during the fire attack.
The fire was caused by a homeowner clearing brush with a power tool, LAFD later said. A neighbor told Wirffel he had been weed-whacking at his property near Nugent Drive and Mahony Place.
At about 12:45 p.m., a second brush fire erupted on Department of Water and Power property near the Los Angeles Reservoir off Woodley and Gothic avenues in Mission Hills. The blaze was confined to two acres of grass and no injuries were reported.
