Brush Fire Spreads Quickly

More than 600 firefighters, aided by aircraft, battled a fast-spreading wildfire Monday in the Angeles National Forest near Santa Clarita.

The fire started in Placerita Canyon and had spread to almost 900 acres by early evening -- occupying both sides of Placerita Canyon Road -- but was 60% contained. Officials said full containment could be possible overnight if the winds stayed calm.

Several unoccupied buildings, including an abandoned factory, were destroyed, but no homes were. Some houses north of Placerita Canyon Road were threatened, said Inspector Ed Lozano, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Firefighters from throughout the county and the U.S. Forest Service mobilized to protect homes, stables and outbuildings.

Planes dropped flame-retardant red powder while half a dozen water-dropping helicopters concentrated on a ridge about a mile southwest of Placerita Canyon and Sand Canyon roads.

Placerita Canyon resident Katrina Bakkedahl watched from a neighbor’s house as flames came within 20 feet of her barn -- the closest she has seen in 17 years.

As neighbors watered down her pet emu to keep it cool, Bakkedahl credited firefighters with saving her home.

“We are blessed with all the men in yellow,” she said. “They are our yellow angels. I’m feeling confident everything will be under control.”

Firefighters were overheard saying it was a miracle that Bakkedahl’s house didn’t burn down. The flames stopped in a horseshoe pattern around her home and an adjacent property.

Firefighter David Yonan from Engine 12 in Altadena credited residents’ brush-clearing efforts with helping save their homes.

Dozens of stables, million-dollar mansions and exclusive gated communities such as MacMillan Ranch on Sand Canyon Road were in the path of the blaze. The fire station in front of MacMillan Ranch became one of the main staging areas for firefighters and equipment.

Residents sprayed water on their roofs to protect against stray sparks. The fire scorched earth on both sides of Placerita Canyon Road, leaving behind the charred carcasses of dozens of rabbits.

Bakkedahl said she had no plans on evacuating unless ordered.

“I usually leave,” she said. “But I can’t get myself to leave this time. For right now, it looks like it will be under control.”

Fire officials had not ordered any mandatory evacuations, Lozano said.

For now, the priority was to establish “the line” -- a perimeter around the blaze -- by clearing brush, bulldozing trenches and spreading fire-retardant chemicals.

“The main thing to do in a brush fire is to separate the fire from its fuel,” Lozano said.

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Times staff photographer Stephen Osman contributed to this report.