Castaic Flames Start to Fizzle in Drizzle

Early-morning drizzle and high humidity Wednesday slowed the spread of a once-raging fire in Angeles National Forest near Castaic Lake.

If those conditions continue, the fire, which started Sunday, could be controlled by Friday morning, said Tom Horner, a spokesman with the U. S. Forest Service.

Horner said some of the 1,000 firefighters brought in to battle the fire already have been sent home.

Moist took the force out of the fire, which has charred about 11,000 acres of rugged terrain northeast of Castaic Lake, Horner said. Firefighters said Tuesday that 12,000 acres had been burned but revised that estimate Wednesday. In high humidity, Horner said, grass absorbs water more readily and does not burn as well.

The fire, fanned by dry winds, burned fiercely during the first few days and even destroyed lush green plants alongside streams, Horner said. He said the damage has Forest Service experts, who Wednesday began assembling a team of biologists, hydrologists, engineers and soil scientists to assess the destruction.

“They’ve lost a lot of valuable wildlife habitat, and that increases the chance of erosion,” Horner said. The team of experts will develop a plan to renew the watershed to prevent erosion, he said.

Horner said the fire was unaffected by more than 4,300 lightning strikes that hit Southern California’s mountains Tuesday and Wednesday.

The fire began Sunday morning in Ruby Canyon, then spread northeast and southwest, extending more than four miles from north to south and an equal distance east to west, Horner said.

About 400 residents were evacuated from the Warner Springs Rehabilitation Center and two juvenile-probation camps, Camp Mendenhall and Camp Munz, on Sunday and Monday. The flames came within a half-mile of the county alcohol-rehabilitation center on Lake Hughes Road on Sunday.

Classes at the Lake Hughes-Elizabeth Lake Elementary School were canceled Tuesday when the fire’s northern front moved within six miles of the school, but classes resumed Wednesday.

The only structure destroyed by the fire was an unused 50-foot Forest Service lookout tower. Lake Hughes Road, which had been closed since Sunday, was reopened Wednesday, and crews were already replacing burned telephone poles, Horner said.