A wind-whipped brush fire that broke out in a sparsely populated rural area east of Palmdale and burned an estimated 450 acres and prompted evacuations before crews stopped its advance was 40% contained Thursday afternoon.
Two structures were damaged or destroyed in the Pine Fire, which erupted for unknown reasons about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday near Antelope Highway and 248th Street East in Llano. It was 30% contained as of about 8 Thursday morning, and crews gained more ground by Thursday afternoon, the Los Angeles County Fire Department reported.
“Crews are on the line working to strengthen containment lines and handle hot spots within the perimeter of the fire,” the fire department said in a statement Thursday morning.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued about 3:35 p.m. Wednesday for Antelope Highway to Pine View Road and Buchanan Road to Smoke Tree Road, affecting about about 100 homes, according to CalFire. The evacuation orders were lifted for most areas Wednesday evening, though they were still in effect for a small number of homes west of Jubilee Road.
The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control was sheltering evacuated livestock at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds and companion animals at the Palmdale Animal Care Center.
About 500 firefighters were assigned go the firefighting effort at the height of the blaze, along with three water-dropping helicopters and two air tankers.