It was a Sand Canyon fire that had firefighters jumping Friday, but was nowhere near the destructive and deadly Sand Fire witnessed more than a year ago.
Fast-acting firefighters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded quickly to fires reported in two spots off of the Northbound lanes of Highway 14 at Sand Canyon, a Fire Department spokesman told The Signal Friday.
The call came in to the Fire Department at 1:11 p.m. Firefighters were dispatched at 1:13 p.m. and were at the scene at 1:14 p.m., the spokesman said.
Initial calls reported the fire as covering a half acre in size, moving slowly uphill in a slight breeze.
“It was a half-acre, moving uphill slowly,” the spokesman said.
Firefighters arriving at the scene found two spot fires, he said.
The smaller of the two fires was “knocked down” by 1:40 p.m., allowing firefighters to focus their attention on the other one, he said.
The second, larger, fire was extinguished by 1:47 with mop up operations started shortly after that.
Officers with the California Highway Patrol shut down traffic in the slow lane – referred to as the #4 lane – while firefighters continued mopping up.
A SIG alert was issued for Lane #4 shortly after 1:45 p.m.
At least one firefighting crew was called back to the fire scene shortly after 2 p.m.
Last year’s Sand Fire, described by fire officials at the time as an incredibly fast-moving fire, began in the early afternoon of Friday, July 22, off of Highway 14 just northeast of Sand Canyon Road.
It burned at least 41,432 acres, killed one Sand Canyon resident, destroyed 19 homes, and prompted the evacuation of several SCV neighborhoods. According to the Angeles National Forest Fire Management, battling the fire involved 30 engines, 19 hand crews, 3 helicopters, 7 water tenders, 11 dozers, and 783 personnel.
It wasn’t until Nov. 7, 2016, at 6 a.m. that the fire was officially declared “out,” Seneca Smith, spokeswoman for the US Forest Service, told The Signal this month.
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