Santa Clarita Valley brush fire roars past 420 acres amid high heat

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Hundreds of firefighters continued to battle a brush fire at the edge of the Angeles National Forest that multiplied in size overnight, swelling from 100 acres to 421 acres Wednesday morning.

The Agua fire, which ignited Tuesday afternoon near Soledad Canyon and Agua Dulce Canyon roads near Santa Clarita, was 10% contained Wednesday morning, according to forest officials.

Firefighters from both the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Angeles National Forest worked amid a heat advisory, enduring sweltering temperatures and steep terrain that made some areas difficult to reach and contributed to the fire’s rapid growth.

Soledad Canyon Road, between Agua Dulce and Crown Valley roads, was closed as a result of the fire, according to the Angeles National Forest.

There have been no evacuations or structural damage due to the fire, said Celeste Morales, an Angeles National Forest spokesperson.

About 275 firefighters were on the scene, she said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Overnight, as the fire blazed on, the Los Angeles County Fire Department deployed most of its resources to assist the Angeles National Forest. As of Wednesday morning, about seven county firefighters were working to contain the fire, according to a department spokesperson.

About 13 miles away, the L.A. County Fire Department and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection continued to battle the Victor fire, another Santa Clarita Valley brush fire that ignited Tuesday afternoon amid triple-digit heat.

The fire, which started near North Sierra Highway and Needham Ranch, had grown to 70 acres by Wednesday morning, with 10% containment and one reported injury, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. No evacuations, closures or structural damage were reported.

Metrolink services in Santa Clarita were temporarily halted Tuesday afternoon due to dangers posed by the Agua fire and other smaller brush fires — including one that ignited along the 5 Freeway after a police pursuit ended in a crash. A total of 13 trains were canceled, but all were back in service by Wednesday afternoon, according to Scott Johnson, a Metrolink spokesperson.

About eight miles from the Agua fire, another blaze that ignited Tuesday afternoon near Sierra Highway and Jakes Way in Canyon Country burned on both sides of the Metrolink tracks, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Firefighters stopped the spread of the 1-acre fire within an hour.

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