Rye Fire Burns 5,000 Acres; 1,300 Evacuated

SANTA CLARITA, CA — A third Southern California fire broke out in Santa Clarita on Tuesday, forcing the temporary closure of the Golden State (5) Freeway and the evacuation of 1,300 homes.

Firefighters are battling a more than 5,000-acre wildfire dubbed the Rye Fire.

The fast moving fire has force multiple evacuations, road closures and school closures. Smoke and flames forced the closure of the 5 Freeway near state Route 126. However, the freeway was reopened by 2:30 p.m.

Students at Rancho Pico Junior High School, West Ranch High School and Oak Hills Elementary School in the Westridge area were bused to College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita city officials said. College of the Canyons canceled classes at both of its campuses Tuesday night. A general evacuation center has been established at Valencia High School. The Westridge housing community is under a mandatory evacuation order.

Evacuations were ordered along Rye Canyon Loop and Kelly Johnson Parkway. Authorities also evacuated the Valencia Travel Village RV park in the 27900 block of Henry Mayo Drive in Castaic. A mandatory evacuation order was issued for the Westridge housing community. An evacuation center was established at Valencia High School.

Power was interrupted to about 2,090 customers in the Santa Clarita area, according to Southern California Edison. Due to the outages, some 9-1-1 calls to the sheriff's Santa Clarita station were being re-routed, the sheriff's department reported.

The Fire broke out at 9:35 a.m. near the 2500 block of Rye Canyon Loop, near highway 126, also known as Newhall Ranch Road, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Hundreds of firefighters, including air units, were working to extinguish the fire, which by about 3 p.m. was 5 percent contained and burning in light to medium fuels amid gusting Santa Ana winds.

There were no reports of any injuries.

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City News Service contributed to this report. photo courtesy of LACoFireAirOps