The Jasper Fire was mapped at about 36 acres and encroached upon the Chiquita Canyon Landfill property Thursday afternoon after a fire training exercise caught on nearby brush, according to first responder radio dispatch traffic.
According to the city of Santa Clarita’s Instagram page, forward progress was stopped on the Jasper Fire at approximately 3:20 p.m.
Fire Department officials were unavailable Thursday afternoon and into the evening to confirm the time the fire was stopped.
Firefighters were dispatched to the 28100 block of Chiquito Canyon Road near Val Verde at 1:10 p.m. and were recorded to be on the scene at 1:11 p.m., according to Geovanni Sanchez, spokesman for the Fire Department.
Firefighters at the scene stated the point of origin was the L.A. County Fire Department Del Valle Regional Training Center, according to radio dispatch traffic.
Shortly after the fire broke out, it jumped Chiquito Canyon Road, according to radio dispatch traffic.
At approximately 3:20 p.m., firefighters were able to map the fire and reported it to be about 36 acres, confirmed Sanchez.
Earlier estimates described the fire as being as large as 100 acres.
At 1:54 p.m., firefighters at the scene stated they had a 100-acre working fire, mostly on the west side of Chiquito Canyon Road, according to radio dispatch traffic.
Kaitlyn Aldana, spokeswoman for the Fire Department, said the fire was holding at 100 acres according to estimates as of approximately 2:30 p.m., based on reports at the scene.
She said that no structures were reported to be threatened, and no evacuations had been ordered.
Sanchez added that there were no injuries reported.
Firefighters at the incident stated via radio dispatch that there was a potential for growth of 10 more acres toward the Chiquita Canyon Landfill and had requested a health hazmat team to respond to the incident as a precaution.
At 2 p.m., firefighters at the scene communicated that the Jasper Fire had begun to burn into the Chiquita Canyon Landfill property, via radio dispatch traffic.
Personnel at the scene emphasized that keeping the fire out of the landfill was their highest priority, according to radio dispatch traffic.
“Chiquita Canyon is working in close coordination with L.A. County Fire Department and its oversight regulators in response to the Jasper Fire which has now reached more than 36 acres in size,” wrote John Musella, spokesman for the landfill, in an emailed statement.
He wrote that the Chiquita Canyon Landfill has implemented the facility’s emergency fire safety protocols at the site. While the fire crested the ridgeline of the landfill property, the fire was not on the waste mass.
California Highway Patrol Newhall-area officers issued a closure of Chiquito Canyon Road, said Officer Carlos Burgos-Lopez, public information officer for the CHP Newhall-area.
He said that the road was open to exit if needed but no one would be allowed to drive on the road until further notice.
