One person was taken into custody Thursday after a fire that quickly went to three alarms scorched about 20 acres of brush, burned an outbuilding and threatened several other structures in the Newhall Pass area.
The blaze broke out for unknown reasons about 1:40 p.m. in the 23900 block of The Old Road, near Towsley Canyon Road, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
[symple_googlemap title=”Newhall fire” location=”23900 The Old Road, Los Angeles, Ca” height=”300″ zoom=”13″]
A man was detained and was being questioned by arson investigators, according to Lt. Leo Bauer of the sheriff’s Santa Clarita Valley Station.
The fire was about 50 percent contained as of about 8 p.m., according to Bauer, who said firefighters had a good handle on the blaze and were mopping up hot spots.
Firefighters were already mounting a ground and air attack on the flames when additional resources, including fixed-wing aircraft, were summoned to the scene, a fire department inspector said.
Crews stopped the progress of the fire by about 4:30 p.m.
The Old Road was closed in the area and a paintball facility and U.S. Post Office were evacuated, according to the sheriff’s department.
The fire caused traffic to slow on the nearby Golden State (5) Freeway in both directions, but no lanes were closed.
No injuries were reported.
–City News Service