Late night blaze strikes Bouquet Canyon’s Big Oaks Lodge

More than 100 firefighters battled a late night blaze at Big Oaks Lodge in Bouquet Canyon late Saturday evening into Sunday morning. The first alarm fire was first reported at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday on the 33000 block of Bouquet Canyon Road about four miles north of Santa Clarita city limits. Crews first to the scene found a two-story restaurant fully involved with flames and smoke, according to Dispatch Supervisor Michael Pittman of the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Command and Control office.

Flames quickly spread to surrounding brush, and the response was augmented to include additional resources to fight a potential wildfire. County fire and Angeles National Forest crews controlled the 50-foot by 100-foot brush fire within minutes, Pittman said. The Big Oaks Lodge restaurant continued to burn until 1:15 a.m. when fire crews officially declared knockdown, a term referring to the point in time when the more vigorously burning parts of a fire are extinguished, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Much of the 84-year-old building was visibly destroyed by the blaze. No injuries to firefighters or bystanders were reported, Pittman said. Arson investigators were dispatched to the scene as part of standard procedure, according to Lt. April Carter of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. No evacuations were issued in the area because the fire was contained to the restaurant, Carter said.

The incident remains under investigation. Signal photojournalist Cory Rubin contributed to this report.