BrushFire In La Verne Foothills Injures Firefighters, Sparks Evacuations

LA VERNE, CA — A Sunday fire in the La Verne foothills injured three firefighters according to officials. The three were injured battling a slow-moving brush fire near La Verene Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning sunrise, Los Angeles County and La Verne firefighters continued their efforts Monday to extinguish the blaze that charred about 40 acres of brush.

The fire, which burned through medium brush, was reported about 3:15 p.m. Sunday, said Los Angeles County fire Capt. Ron Singleton, was about 50 percent contained by daybreak Monday, the county fire department reported.

After hours on scene, with water drops and voluntary neighborhood evacuations, firefighters stopped the forward progress of the blaze Sunday night. Airdrops were halted over the evening hours, said county fire Dispatch Supervisor Ed Pickett.

Three firefighters -- two from the county and one from La Verne -- suffered minor injuries while battling the blaze and were taken to hospitals for treatment.

La Verne police shut down through traffic on a section of Baseline Road, which was reopened shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday according to La Verne police department spokesperson.

Los Angeles County fire officials conducted voluntary evacuations from the county area east of La Verne, police said. Those evacuations were called off about 5 p.m. Sunday when the flames no longer threatened any structures, said county fire Dispatch Supervisor Michael Pittman.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, Pittman said.

Baseline Road is closed to through traffic between Fruit St and Japonica due to a fire currently burning in the area. La Verne Police Department and La Verne Fire Department are on scene. Voluntary evacuations are in effect. Please avoid the area. Updates to follow.
A post shared by La Verne Police Department (@lavernepolicedepartment) on Jul 23, 2017 at 3:48pm PDT

Police reported that La Verne experienced a power outage during the fire fight in the area of Bonita and I streets. Power was restored to most customers within an hour. It's unclear why the outage occurred or whether it had anything to do with the blaze.

Photos courtesy La Verne Police Department social media.