Firefighters in Sunland gained significant ground against a brush fire that broke out Friday afternoon along the eastbound lanes of the 210 Freeway near La Tuna Canyon Road, as reported by ABC7. The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) responded to the fire around 4:12 p.m., which led to a partial closure of the freeway, affecting two lanes.
By Friday night, crews had stopped the blaze at 43 acres and containment was up to 40 percent. In response to the fire, authorities closed the Sunland Boulevard on-ramp, and, the La Tuna Canyon Road off-ramp, along with the #3 and #4 lanes of the eastbound 210 freeway for at least 24 hours, the LAFD announced. Drivers were encouraged to seek alternative routes as fire crews remained on site overnight to work on increasing the containment and cooling the area, while no cause for the fire was determined, and remarkably, no injuries had been reported.
Further updates from the LAFD, as shared by LAFD's alert, indicated that the fire's containment had improved to 60 percent by noon the following day without any further spread in acreage. Firefighters faced challenges with the steep terrain covered with erosion-preventing wire mesh, complicating their efforts to manage hot spots and place hand lines.
As of 6:15 p.m., the LAFD had achieved 90 percent containment on what's been named the La Tuna Fire, detailed in an update. Crews planned to continue patrolling the area throughout the night to address any remaining hot spots, "Hot spots are still being managed," the update stated, and fire companies would maintain their vigilance in monitoring the situation.
