The Tick Fire, which led to what officials are calling the largest wildfire evacuation in Santa Clarita’s history, leaving 40,000 residents displaced, is now 25% contained with many of those residents now allowed to return to their homes.
In a Saturday morning update, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials report 4,615 acres burned. Though the exact number of destroyed homes has not yet been determined, the 7 a.m. incident update confirmed nine structures destroyed and another nine damaged.
Many of the evacuated areas were repopulated Friday evening, and at 8 a.m. on Saturday, fire officials announced all areas are to be repopulated with the exception of:
- Baker Canyon Road from Sierra Highway, north of Vasquez Canyon Road, to where it ends near 15142 Sierra Highway.
- Tick Canyon Road from Abelia Road to Summit Knoll Road.
“These areas will be evaluated throughout the day to determine when repopulation is safe,” read a joint press release issued by L.A. County Fire and Sheriff’s departments Saturday morning.
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies are expected to have a strong presence in both repopulated and evacuated areas for the next several days and will be checking identification during repopulation, according to sheriff’s officials.
All road closures were also expected to be lifted at 6 a.m. with the exception of Baker Canyon Road and Tick Canyon Road.
Another Santa Ana wind event is likely to develop Sunday and Monday, with the strongest winds expected late Sunday night into Monday morning, causing fire weather watch to remain in effect from Sunday evening through Monday afternoon, according to a fire watch press release issued by the National Weather Service Saturday morning.
While humidity levels are expected to rise going into Sunday, they are expected to “lower rapidly” Sunday night, which is a contributing factor to the return to critical fire weather conditions.
Firefighters plan to perform spot checks in burned areas to prevent any chance of flare-ups as the weather changes while continuing to build containment lines.
