Fires in Sunland and Porter Ranch Damage 3 Houses

Brush fires in Porter Ranch and Sunland damaged three houses Tuesday, keeping firefighters busy in 100-degree weather, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported.

The first fire was reported about 2 p.m. in a drainage wash that runs along Tampa Avenue at Chatsworth Street. The fire was contained to about an acre of brush, but embers blew into the neighborhood and set two houses on fire.

Battalion Chief Don Mello said both houses had wood shake shingle roofs that quickly caught fire.

“Out of about 30 houses in that neighborhood, there were three with shingle roofs,” Mello said. “Two of them caught on fire.”

Mello said the burning embers were carried by 8-m.p.h. to 10-m.p.h. winds from the wash. The houses that were burned were about a quarter mile away. A home in the 19300 block of Los Alimos Street was left with an estimated $20,000 in damage to its roof and interior and a home in the 10800 block of Des Moines Avenue had more than $75,000 in fire damage.

The cause of the fire, which was contained by about 20 firefighters in less than half an hour, was not known.

Another brush fire was reported about 2:30 p.m. near Foothill Boulevard and Wentworth Street in Sunland. About 10 acres were blackened, fire officials said.

The fire spread to a house on nearby Plateau Drive and damaged the siding and the roof of a garage, Firefighter Jim Wells said. The fire, which also damaged the landscaping of another house in the neighborhood, was contained in about an hour by about 65 firefighters.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.