A fast-moving brush fire that broke out east of Interstate 5 near Gorman prompted an evacuation order for the Hungry Valley area and evacuation warnings in other zones near the fire as the blaze grew to nearly 1,000 acres on Friday afternoon, according to the Watch Duty app.
The fire had grown to a three-alarm blaze by 4:30 p.m. and forced the closure of Interstate 5 both north and south of its junction with State Route 138.
The blaze, dubbed the Ridge Fire, was first reported at approximately 2:38 p.m. near the 39565 block of West Goman Post Road, according to the PulsePoint app. It immediately turned into a second-alarm brush response, which means more resources were dispatched to battle the blaze. By 4:30 p.m. first responder radio traffic indicated a third alarm had been requested.
As of 3:37 p.m., the fire grew to approximately 100 acres in size, and prompted evacuation warnings for the following areas in both the Kern and Los Angeles counties: GOR-E001-A, GOR-HUNGRYVALLEY-A, KRN-545 on the maps at protect.genasys.com.
By 4:38 p.m., the warning for GOR-HUNGRYVALLEY-A had been elevated to an evacuation order, and evacuation warning was issued for zone GOR-HUNGRYVALLEY-B.
No closures of Interstate 5 were initially reported south of State Route 138, according to CHP Officer Trejos, a traffic management center spokesman.
However, by 3:54 p.m. the I-5 northbound lanes had been closed at Smoky Bear Road and traffic was being diverted back onto the southbound lanes, according to the SigAlert app.
Heavy traffic delays ensued. By 7:10 p.m., lanes had been reopened southbound at Frazier Mountain Park Road, but northbound lanes heading out of the Santa Clarita Valley were still expected to remain closed for an unknown duration.
According to first responder radio telecommunications, one structure was threatened and resources were setting up for structure protection along Gorman Post Road.
By 5:26 p.m., the fire had been mapped at 999.6 acres and all air tankers, helicopters and night helicopters were released or canceled by 7:35 p.m.
This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available.
