Brush fire along northbound I-5 near Castaic snarls traffic
Los Angeles County firefighters are making progress on a grass fire that started Thursday afternoon with a car fire on the side of the 5 Freeway in Castaic.
The blaze was 30 acres large and 75% contained by 2:45 p.m., a fire department spokeswoman said.
A car fire on the side of northbound Interstate 5 at Templin Highway ignited the adjacent drought-parched hills.
The blaze is entirely inside the Angeles National Forest and initially was spreading at a rate of about 5 mph, the spokeswoman said.
The California Highway Patrol shut down the two right lanes of the freeway’s four-lane northbound side. There was no estimate of when the lanes would reopen, the CHP said. The closure has created a bottleneck for northbound drivers.
Authorities have asked Southern California Edison to power down high-tension wires in the area.
No injuries have been reported from either the car fire or the resulting hillside blaze.
For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna.
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