Canyon fire containment jumps to 78%

VAL VERDE — Firefighters made substantial inroads gaining control of the 5,370-acre Canyon fire with containment growing Sunday night to 78%, up from  from 47% on Saturday night.

“Firefighters made significant progress today, addressing small flare ups, strengthening control lines and conducting extensive mop-up operations,” Cal Fire noted late Saturday. “Structure defense efforts remained in place, while suppression repair teams worked to identify and mitigate environmental impacts caused by firefighting operations.”

Further, all evacuation warnings in Los Angeles and Ventura counties were lifted as of 5:18 a.m. Sunday.

Damage assessment teams Saturday confirmed the fire has destroyed two single residences and five outbuildings.

At least one firefighter was injured Friday when a white fire pickup truck overturned. The firefighter was ejected near the fire. Aerial footage depicted a rescue operation for the severely injured firefighter, who was conscious and alert before being transported to a hospital.

Some 391 firefighters from the Los Angeles and Ventura county fire departments were attacking the blaze with assistance from Angeles National Forest and Cal Fire.

“Firefighters will continue to enhance, monitor and patrol existing control lines, addressing heat sources as they occur while providing structure defense for residences in the affected areas,” fire officials said Saturday.

LACFD officials said helicopter crews made water drops on the fire through the night Thursday into Friday, taking advantage of diminished winds. The strategy proved effective, helping to jump-start containment efforts.

The fire — straddling the Los Angeles-Ventura county line near Val Verde west of Castaic — started at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, and quickly grew to a second alarm as it burned in a remote area east of Lake Piru. The flames spread rapidly through the brush. Initially estimated at about 30 acres, within two hours, the fire had burned through 1,051 acres of brush. By late Thursday its size neared 5,000 acres.

With the fire advancing, evacuation warnings were issued in the Val Verde area. That warning was later elevated to an evacuation order and expanded to include the Hasley Canyon and other areas, while additional neighborhoods were placed under additional warnings..

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. .

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the area and chairs the Board of Supervisors, issued a local emergency proclamation Thursday afternoon in response to the fire aimed at ensuring all resources are made available to fight the blaze.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant that will reimburse a large share of local agencies’ firefighting costs.