Southern California Firefighters Work to Contain Bel Air Brush Fire
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Firefighters in Southern California on Saturday morning are working to put out a brush fire that erupted near a major Southern California freeway Friday afternoon, authorities said.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Steve Ruda told ABC News that the Sepulveda Pass fire is nearly 70 percent contained but officials are concerned that after a night of cool weather, today’s heat could make containment difficult. The fire has burned about 75 acres.
The fast moving blaze started at 3:36 p.m. on Friday and moved quickly toward the affluent Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air.
“We’re just concerned because if they do end up evacuating us, we don’t have that many options to get back down the hill,” Bel Air resident Rebecca Ebiza told ABC News’ Los Angeles station KABC.
The fire shut down part of the busy 405 freeway and streets near the famed Getty Center.
More than 300 firefighters were called on scene along with helicopters and two super scoopers from Canada dumping water on the fire to contain it.
A cause has not been determined for the fire.
“We’ll canvas the area, talk to people, look for cameras and see if we can determine a cause,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Deputy Chief Mario Rueda.
The Sepulveda pass fire was one of three fires that erupted Friday. Smaller fires burned near Coldwater Canyon and Mulholland Drive, according to KABC.
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