Wind Hinders Efforts to Halt Fire

High winds, low humidity and dry brush hampered efforts Sunday to contain a 2-day-old wildfire that has charred some 4,500 acres in the Angeles National Forest, north of Santa Clarita.

From the ground and air, more than 1,000 federal, state and local firefighters battled the fast-moving blaze, which started Saturday morning in Bouquet Canyon. One firefighter hurt his arm while moving supplies.

By Sunday evening, fire officials reported that the blaze was 25% contained.

The remote, steep area eight miles northeast of Santa Clarita is dotted with dozens of cabins, which fire crews managed to spare. The fire destroyed an outhouse and a shed, but it did not threaten homes in Santa Clarita.

The second day brought warmer temperatures--in the 80s--and winds gusting up to 30 mph. The air held little moisture to aid firefighters. Rainfall in the area is 11 inches below normal, making the chaparral prime fuel for fire, Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Greg Cleveland said.

“We usually don’t have these dry conditions until August,” he said. Several agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, declared fire season underway in mid-April, one month earlier than usual

Firefighters were letting the Bouquet Canyon fire burn southward Sunday afternoon, hoping it would be slowed in an area scarred by a brush fire last October.

“You take away the fuel, you take away the source,” Forest Service spokeswoman Jo Hall said.

Forest Service firefighter Rachel Kellogg, who pulled a 15-hour shift Saturday and Sunday, was surprised by how dry the area was. “This early, everything should still be green and damp,” she said.

About 150 people were evacuated from the 110 recreational cabins in the canyon area, but only four stopped by a shelter set up for them at Saugus High School, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s official said.

A man who splits his time between Modesto and his two-bedroom cabin in the burning area wondered what had happened to his fishing lodge of 25 years.

“I’ve got a lot of memories in there,” said the man, who did not give his name.

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Times staff writer Massie Ritsch contributed to this report.