By Katherine Quezada, Habeba Mostafa and Susan Monaghan
Firefighters were called to a second-alarm brush fire that broke out at the 6800 block of Soledad Canyon Road in Acton, dubbed the Crown Fire, and quickly grew to over 280 acres as evacuation orders were issued on Friday, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Forward progress was stopped at 4:07 p.m., according to Kaitlyn Aldana with the L.A. County Fire Department. As of 6 p.m., 345 acres were burned at 25% containment. All mandatory evacuations have been lifted.
As of 2:45 p.m. Friday, the fire was reported to be 20% contained, with low rates of spread and minimal numbers of structures threatened.
After the fire interrupted service on its Antelope Valley line earlier in the afternoon, Metrolink announced on its website that tracks between Vincent Grade/Acton and Vista Canyon had been reopened. The closure delayed one train to Lancaster by 30 minutes, according to an alert on the website issued at about 3:20 p.m.
First responders were notified about the brush fire in an open space described to be light to medium fuels at 11:23 a.m. near the intersection of north Crown Valley Road and Soledad Canyon Road in Acton, according to Aldana.
As per the Watch Duty application at 1 p.m., the fire had grown to at least 250 acres, and the following evacuation orders were issued according to the Genasys app’s evacuation map:
- Mandatory: Zone LAC-E087: Evacuation Order – Level 3 – Go.
- Warning: AGD-AIRPORT-A; AGD- BRIGGS-A; AGD-ROCKS-A; LAC-E038; LAC-E040; LAC-E086; LAC-E089: Evacuation – Level 2 – Set.
A Nixle alert from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Information Bureau at about 3:20 p.m. added LAC-E088 and LAC-E040 to the Level 2 – Set evacuation warning.
“If you’re unable to copy the zones from your phone, please manually enter ‘LAC-E0’ followed by the remaining zone ID into the search bar to find your area,” according to a Nixle released by the bureau.
L.A. County Fire initially dispatched at least one aerial unit to perform water drops on the flames, according to Aldana. As of 1 p.m., two additional large air tankers were requested. The fire at that time was reported to be moderately spreading, with a potential of 600 acres, according to Watch Duty and first responder radio dispatch traffic.
One outbuilding was reported as having burned to the ground, according to radio dispatch traffic.
L.A. County 5th District County Supervisor Kathryn Barger issued a statement urging residents to stay vigilant and to comply with commands.
“Firefighters and first responders are actively engaged on the ground, working to protect lives, property, and surrounding communities,” the release read. “I urge all residents in impacted and nearby areas to remain vigilant and to closely follow all instructions issued by our first responders and emergency management officials. If you receive an evacuation order or warning, please take it seriously and act immediately — these directives are issued for your safety.”
Initially, the fire quickly grew to an estimate of over 30 acres, Fire Department spokesperson Saadullah Sheikh said in a follow-up with The Signal, before it was reported that the fire had grown to 80 acres, per first responder radio dispatch traffic. He also stated evacuation orders were in the process of taking place.
The first unit arrived at the scene a little over 10 minutes after it was reported, and the fire was estimated to be 5 acres at that time, Aldana added. It was declared a second-alarm fire, which means more resources are dispatched to assist with the incident.
According to first responder radio dispatch traffic, four houses were reported to be within 100 feet of fire spots along Soledad Canyon Road, with two of them already evacuated soon after the fire broke out. That information has yet to be confirmed by officials.
Acton was under a wind advisory until 2 p.m. Friday, with expected winds of up to 50 mph as of the publication of this story, according to the National Weather Service.
This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available.
California Highway Patrol officers monitor a road closure at the intersection of Soledad Canyon Road and Crown Valley road as firefighters work to contain the Crown Fire on April 3, 2026. Katherine Quezada/The Signal
