Brentwood's Mandeville Fire 98 Percent Contained

BRENTWOOD, CA — Firefighters worked Tuesday to fully extinguish a brush fire that has charred about 55 acres in Brentwood's Mandeville Canyon.

The fire had been listed as 95 percent contained by a line of cleared vegetation since Monday, and was 98 percent contained by daybreak Tuesday, said Brian Humphrey with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

"Relentless effort by dozens of LAFD firefighters by ground and air on Monday held the stubborn wildfire to an estimated 55 acres and maintained the containment factor of 95 percent despite rugged, steep and largely inaccessible terrain that contained many smoldering hot spots," Humphrey said.

The fight was expected to continue well into Tuesday "with ground crews on patrol and LAFD helicopters available," he said.

The fire was accidentally caused by a worker doing weed abatement for brush clearance, said the LAFD's Margaret Stewart. By the time it was reported at 12:45 p.m. Sunday it had burned three to four acres of brush near a house in the 2960 block of Mandeville Canyon Road, she said.

An hour later, it had spread to eight acres, burning up hillsides toward the Mountaingate Country Club, Stewart said.

Five homes were evacuated Sunday afternoon but residents were allowed to return by late evening, she said. No houses were burned and no injuries were reported.

City News Service; Photo: Los Angeles Fire Department