Azusa Wildfire Burns House and 1,500 Acres

A resident clearing brush around his Azusa home ignited a wildfire Tuesday that destroyed a house and consumed more than 1,500 acres as it sped up a paper-dry canyon in Angeles National Forest, fire officials said.

One firefighter was hospitalized with heat exhaustion battling the blaze, as it moved up a portion of the San Gabriel Canyon.

More than 600 firefighters were battling the blaze in sparsely populated Roberts Canyon with the help of seven air tankers and six helicopters, said Martin Esparza, a Los Angeles County firefighter.

Smoke was visible for miles as the fire moved deeper into the hilly canyons of the national forest near San Gabriel Canyon Road. Officials had no estimate on when the fire might be contained.

In addition to the house, two buildings described as garages were also destroyed.

Few other houses appeared to be immediately threatened, but U.S. Forest Service officials were warning residents living about a mile to the south.

The blaze broke out about 1:20 p.m., the result of a spark caused by a brush-clearing device, fire officials said. The homeowner was clearing the area to comply with fire regulations aimed at preventing fires.

“He was doing the right thing. It’s accidental. It just struck an object and caused a spark,” said county fire Inspector Henry Rodriguez.

In a neighborhood about half a mile away from the fire, residents gathered on front lawns and sidewalks and watched aircraft douse the flaming hillsides with fire retardant.

Officials have warned of unusually severe fire conditions this season after one of the driest springs on record.

In another blaze that was still burning late Tuesday, firefighters from three departments battled flames that had consumed 80 acres behind the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar, authorities said.

Light winds fanned the flames initially but died down by nightfall, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. “That’s really giving us a tremendous opportunity right now,” he said.

There were no injuries and no structures were threatened, he said, except for a small, abandoned outbuilding that burned.

The fire was reported just after 6 p.m. in the 13900 block of Fenton Avenue near Olive View Drive, authorities said.

About 150 city firefighters found that the fire had burned about five acres of dry grasses in the hilly terrain and was spreading north away from the residential areas, Humphrey said.

The ground crews--including firefighters from the county and the U.S. Forest Service--were aided by two city water-dropping helicopters and two Forest Service tankers dropping fire retardant, Humphrey said.

By late evening, the tankers had to quit for the night, Humphrey said. But the city helicopters would fly around the clock if necessary, he added.

Most of the battle would take place from the air, Humphrey said, adding that the departments feared that the flames could spread into Angeles National Forest.

As of late Tuesday there was no estimated time for containment, Humphrey said, but crews appeared to be “gaining the upper hand.”

The cause of the fire remained under investigation, he said.

Times staff writers Ken Ellingwood and Jose Cardenas contributed to this story.