Although strong Santa Ana winds and the threat of brush fires remain, fire officials were scaling back their efforts despite pushing to fully contain the Tick Fire, reporting 94% containment Wednesday morning.
Firefighting efforts along the northeastern edge of the Santa Clarita Valley approached a near full containment of the fire that destroyed nearly two dozen homes and damaged 39 others almost a week ago.
“We’re good as far as Santa Clarita goes,” and specifically for the Tick Fire, said Sky Cornell, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
“I’m working on the Easy Fire now,” he said, referring to the fire that began burning in the hills of Simi Valley.
Between 7 p.m. Monday and 7 p.m. Tuesday, the number of firefighters assigned to the Tick Fire was scaled down from 200 to 176, according to the latest figures.
The fire had threatened about 10,000 homes in the Santa Clarita Valley.
Firefighters still assigned to it remain on the scene knowing there are additional resources available to them if they need them. They continue to look for spot fires in the charred terrain with the hope of preventing any chance of the fire being rekindled.
“Until this fire is 100% contained, increasing fire behavior is always a potential risk,” officials wrote in their latest update.
Forecast Santa Ana winds have the potential, they said, to test containment lines.
And, overnight Tuesday, fire officials were bracing for the worst based on wind warnings issued by weather officials.
An extreme red flag warning went into effect at 11 p.m. Tuesday and is expected to remain in place until 6 p.m. Thursday.
Firefighters were warned of gusts reaching 65 mph.
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