Amid a day of record heat in Saugus, L.A. County Fire Department firefighters stopped a 67-acre brush fire at 6:31 p.m. Friday, according to Melanie Flores, a spokeswoman for the agency.
The “Plenty Fire” began burning in “light to medium fuel” just before 4 p.m. off of Powerline Road, north of Copper Hill Road. The initial radio dispatch indicated firefighters on the scene reported the blaze started from an empty truck that was “fully engulfed” and spread to nearby brush, north of Haskell Canyon Road.
L.A. County Fire Supervisor Fred Fielding confirmed reports six firefighters were taken to the hospital, all for heat-related injuries due to what he described as “extreme temperatures.”
Bryan Lewis of the Ventura office of the National Weather Service reported the Saugus station recorded an all-time high temperature of 118 degrees at 1:57 p.m. Friday.
The 1-acre blaze first reported at 3:53 p.m. had grown to 40 acres by 4:30 p.m., and radio dispatch traffic indicated a potential for 100 acres.
There was no information on possible structures threatened as of the initial publication of this story, but the traffic began to get somewhat more optimistic on the outlook as the progress began to slow due to firefighters’ efforts.
Aerial footage indicated a fire map that appeared to be a little more than 50 acres as of 4:50 p.m., according to an L.A. County Fire Department post on social media.
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials said they were standing by for possible instructions on potential evacuations as of 4:30 p.m. Those orders were not deemed necessary as of 6:30 p.m.
A command post was set up at Copper Hill Road and Power Line Road, with U.S. Forest Service resources joining the effort as of 4:45 p.m., according to officials.
Ambulances were called to the fire’s command post after a pair of first responders initially reported feeling weakened and dizzy from the heat, more than an hour into the incident response.
Firefighters were also being assisted by Chinook helicopters through an L.A. County Fire Department partnership called the Quick Reaction Force, Fielding said.
The partnership with Southern California Edison allows the department access to the copters, which can deliver up to 3,000 gallons of water per drop.
