Temperature Helps Crews Contain 1,300-Acre ‘Devil Fire’ Near Castaic

Lower temperatures and higher humidity helped firefighters contain a 1,300-acre brush fire burning in the Angeles National Forest near Castaic Tuesday that left three firefighters injured and kept two lanes of traffic on the Golden State Freeway closed through the day, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

The blaze was 90% contained by noon, and completely contained by 6 p.m., said Denise Rains, a spokeswoman for the Angeles National Forest.

Nearly 500 Los Angeles County and U.S. Forest Service firefighters battled the flames, which burned in the triangle formed by Lake Piru, Pyramid Lake and Castaic Lake, said County Fire Inspector Joel Harrison.

The fire was dubbed the “Devil Fire” because of its proximity to Devil Canyon in the Angeles National Forest, Rains said.

Four helicopters and as many planes dropped water and chemicals on the flames, which were fed by heat, dry brush and high winds, Harrison said.

Sparked by a car crash Monday, the fire kept two lanes of traffic on the Golden State Freeway closed, one in each direction, until 7 p.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Stefanie McClung said. The closure slowed freeway traffic traveling north and south between Templin Highway and Lake Hughes Road, she said.

Three firefighters injured while fighting the blaze were treated at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Santa Clarita, Rains said. One firefighter was injured by falling rocks, another was stung by a bee and a third man was treated for heat exhaustion, she said. No homes or buildings were threatened by the fire Tuesday, Harrison said.

Infrared heat-sensing technology, similar to devices employed for combat by the U.S. military, was used for the first time by county firefighters to help battle the blaze, said Keith Deagon, a county deputy forester.

A county helicopter equipped with an infrared video camera circled the fire’s perimeter Tuesday morning and identified the fire’s activity, intensity and direction, Deagon said. Meanwhile fire officials sitting in a van equipped with a special mapping unit used the infrared readings to direct ground crews to the fire’s hot spots, he said.

“The equipment assisted us in deploying our crews . . . in the proper areas to eliminate the threat of any further fire escapes,” Deagon said.

The infrared mapping system is one of only five such systems in the Western states, Deagon said. County fire officials and the U.S. Forest Service began a joint effort three years ago to build the infrared technology, which cost $250,000, Deagon said.

Meanwhile firefighters in San Diego County extinguished wild-land blazes that consumed 2,000 acres over the weekend, including a blaze originating in the Cleveland National Forest.