Crews making "excellent progress" on Ridge Fire in northern Los Angeles County as I-5 reopens
A brush fire near Gorman in northern Los Angeles County prompted a full closure of I-5 as crews worked to slow the spread on Friday night, according to authorities.
The blaze, dubbed the Ridge Fire, was first reported at 3:02 p.m. and quickly spread to about 100 acres by 3:41 p.m. By 9:07 p.m., it spanned about 1,057 acres.
It was not immediately clear if any structures were threatened or injuries were reported, but according to Cal Fire, an evacuation order was issued in a portion of Hungry Valley after the blaze jumped I-5.
An evacuation shelter was established at Castaic Sports Complex Gymnasium, located at 31230 N Castaic Road in Castaic.
Evacuation warnings were issued in the following zones:
Los Angeles County
- GOR-E001-A
- GOR-HUNGRYVALLEY-A
Kern County
- KRN-545
A map of evacuation zones can be found here.
"An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued if you are along I-5 freeway between Highway 138 and LA County line," the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. "PREPARE to leave if you live here or are nearby. Consider leaving now if you need more time to evacuate."
Images captured by a camera operated by ALERTCalifornia and UC San Diego showed large plumes of smoke covering the hillsides.
Just before 7 p.m., the Angeles National Forest said crews were making "excellent progress" on the fire. I-5 reopened completely by 8:30 p.m. after several hours of closures.