By Caleb Lunetta & Jose Herrera
Signal Staff Writers
A brush fire broke out in Castaic on Wednesday, with the blaze initially burning a handful of acres and initially threatening structures, including the Castaic Animal Shelter, according to first responders.
The fire was reported near the northbound side of Interstate 5 and Lake Hughes Road at approximately 5:29 p.m., according to officials with the L.A. County Fire Department.
The fire was initially reported as being 3 to 4 acres in size and within 100 yards of the Castaic Animal Shelter, according to Supervisor Martin Rangel, a spokesman for the L.A. County Fire Department. However, there was no news on any evacuations as of 5:40 p.m., he added.
The fire was later estimated to have reached 40 acres by 6:50 p.m. and a command center was established at the Castaic Aquatic Center on the 31000 block of Castaic Road.
However, later Wednesday evening, officials at the Fire Department confirmed the blaze had been held to 50 acres and forward progress had been stopped.
At 6 p.m., radio scanner traffic from the scene indicated that the Quail Fire was reportedly moving northeast and away from the Animal Shelter, and the fire’s progress toward the shelter had been stopped.
Pat Downs, a youth baseball coach at the Castaic Recreation Center, said he and his team had been at the fields when the fire initially broke out. He said while the team might need to leave the fields if the smoke began to blow in their direction, the fields were not really in danger of being burned, in his opinion.
“I’ve seen quite a few of them (fires) in my time,” said Downs, adding that he had been a resident of Castaic for over four decades. “But you always have to be respectful of them because you don’t know which way it’s going to go.”
The fire was given the moniker of #QuaiIC. No structures had been damaged or destroyed as of the publication of this story and no injuries had been reported.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
