Soledad Fire Scorches Antelope Valley

SANTA CLARITA, CA — A brush fire that may have been sparked by illegal fireworks scorched about 1,100 acres near the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway in Santa Clarita and is about 20% contained Monday morning, authorities said.

About 400 firefighters, 35 engines, nine hand crews, two water tenders, and three helicopters are on the scene working to put out flames and clear lines of vegetation to contain them, Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Sky Cornell said. Crews from CalFire, the LAFD, Angeles National Forest, and departments from other cities are also on site.

As of 7 a.m. Monday, when an assessment was made after daybreak, the fire was listed at 1,100 acres and 20% containment. No injuries were reported and no homes were damaged, authorities said, though the Santa Clarita Valley Signal reported that 4,795 structures were threatened Monday morning.

#SoledadFire Incident Update 07/06/2020 @ 0700#LACoFD pic.twitter.com/k7WXtP43ui

— L.A. County Fire Department (@LACoFDPIO) July 6, 2020

Nine homes and 40 residents are now under evacuation order. Evacuees were told to take small animals and report to the Victory Outreach parking lot at 37419 25th Street East in Palmdale, where the American Red Cross set up a temporary evacuation site. Residents were told to stay in their car due to COVID-19.

The fast-moving Soledad Fire was reported at one acre about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, pushed by winds of 20-30 mph, Richardson said. Warm weather and 20 to 30 mph winds spread the fire to hundreds of acres in a matter of hours, according to an incident report.

The report said that the fire has the potential to grow Monday, when Santa Clarita temperatures will hover near 100 degrees.

The flames skirted the Antelope Valley Freeway (also known as the 14), burning near Soledad Canyon and Agua Dulce Canyon Roads and jumped over the freeway in a couple of places only to have those spots put out quickly by firefighters, he said.

Initially, the northbound 14 was closed at Agua Dulce Canyon and southbound lanes were shut down at Soledad Canyon, the California Highway Patrol reported. The southbound lanes were reopened at 11:55 p.m. Sunday and northbound lanes 1 and 2 were reopened.

The cause of the fire is under investigation but Richardson noted that illegal fireworks could be seen in the area as firefighters worked Sunday evening.

UPDATE (5:40 pm): Please visit this link for a current Google Map of the Mandatory Evacuation area. #SoledadFire https://t.co/bMKBmi4OUL

— Santa Clarita City (@santaclarita) July 6, 2020

— City News Service and Patch staffer Michael Wittner contributed to this report.