18-acre brush fire burns through Burbank’s Wildwood Canyon, no danger posed to homes
As of Thursday morning, an 18-acre brush fire that burned through the Verdugo Mountains above Burbank late Wednesday afternoon was 85% contained.
Battalion Chief Ron Barone with the Burbank Fire Department said no structures were ever at risk, and about 50 firefighters remained on the hillside to manage any remaining hot spots and further contain the fire’s spread.
The fire was first reported around 3:50 p.m. Wednesday near the Burbank Police Department’s live firing range in the Wildwood Canyon area.
Officers were training at the range when the fire erupted but no one was in danger, according to Sgt. Derek Green, a spokesman with the Burbank Police Department.
It’s unknown what caused the fire, and the incident is under investigation.
When the fire began, 150 firefighters from departments across the Southland were called in to assist Burbank with the blaze. Helicopters from Los Angeles city and county departments also provided frequent water drops to help prevent further spread of the fire, according to Barone.
Green said hikers were warned to leave the immediate area and an evacuation order was issued for homes along Country Club Drive at the outset of the fire.
However, that order was rescinded about an hour later and residents were allowed to return to their homes.
The order was initially made out of an abundance of caution in case the fire shifted southward toward homes because the street runs deep into the hillside, Green said. Instead, the fire spread north toward an unpopulated area.
This isn’t the first fire to break out in the area this season. Less than 5 miles away, a 10-acre brush fire erupted late last month and took several hours before being fully contained.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
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UPDATES:
July 27, 2017; 12:56 p.m.: This article was updated with information on the fire’s current containment.
July 26, 2017; 6:26 p.m.: This article was updated with information from the Burbank Fire Department about the fire’s containment.
July 26, 2017; 5:44 p.m.: This article was updated with information from the Burbank Police Department about the evacuation order being lifted.
This article was originally published on July 26, 2017 at 4:35 p.m.
