Hot Spots Remain : Fire Containment Expected Today

A 4,200-acre brush fire in the Angeles National Forest north of Sylmar was not expected to be fully contained until 6 p.m. today, said authorities, who originally predicted that the fire would be contained by Wednesday night.

The expected containment time was changed when heat sensors carried aboard helicopters Wednesday indicated several hot spots remained in the fire area between Placerita and Pacoima canyons, said Robert Brady, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.

“The fire has not come back to life . . . and it is not spreading,” Brady said, adding that fire officials want to be sure all hot spots are out.

Falling temperatures, rising humidity and a backfire operation along the Kagel Canyon ridge Tuesday were credited with halting the progress of the fire, Brady said.

No Homes Threatened

Although the containment time was changed, the blaze was no longer a threat to homes or a wildlife shelter in the Pacoima Canyon area, fire officials said.

Brady said that about 900 firefighters were assigned to the fire as of Wednesday morning but that nearly half of them had been sent home by afternoon.

On Tuesday, 1,100 Los Angeles County, city and U.S. Forest Service firefighters--assisted by water-dropping helicopters and airplane tankers--battled the blaze. They finally gained the offensive after igniting an 800-acre backfire on a ridge above Kagel Canyon to remove fuel from the path of the fire, said Gary Lehnhausen, a Forest Service spokesman.

The day before, the fire had come within sight of several homes in the Pacoima Canyon area, but firebreaks and other containment measures kept the blaze away, officials said.

The fire also threatened the Wildlife Waystation on the other side of the mountain ridge in Little Tujunga Canyon. But the blaze was stalled when firefighters plowed a firebreak between the blaze and the 1,000-animal compound and lit a backfire as an extra precaution.

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the blaze. One of them was a county jail inmate working on a hand crew who fell about 200 feet down a slope and was hospitalized with leg and hip injuries. The inmate, whose identity was not disclosed, was later released from the hospital.

Winds Could Shift

Although the fire had not spread and weather conditions remained favorable late Wednesday, Brady said that it was possible that winds could shift from the south to the northeast, creating another Santa Ana condition.

Brady said the cost of fighting the fire was estimated Wednesday at $1.7 million.

The fire allegedly was started Sunday by a 10-year-old boy playing with matches, said Lt. Ed Chenal of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The boy, whose name was not released, is related to one of three Los Angeles men arrested Sunday on suspicion of starting an illegal campfire in the forest, Chenal said. The three were later released, and all charges against them dropped, he said.

The child was released to his parents pending further investigation, Chenal said.