Animals return home

Placerita Canyon Nature Center remains closed to public after fire

The Placerita Canyon Nature Center animals were safely back home Thursday after a hasty evacuation as the Sand fire threatened the facility on Saturday, but park Superintendent Russ Kimura said he doesn’t know when it can reopen.

“Right now it’s not safe,” Kimura said of many of the trails in the Placerita Canyon Natural Area, much of which was burned by the fire that threatened the structures both Saturday and Monday. Trails and trailheads were destroyed.

While he noted the decision about when to open is up to a county parks official, Kumara says he hopes the park might reopen before those trails are all restored.

The Sand fire was 65 percent contained Thursday after blackening 38,346 acres, according to Angeles National Forest spokesman Andrew Mitchell.

Approximately 2,755 fire

personnel were on mop-up duty searching for hot spots to douse and building the containment line, Mitchell said.

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, all road closures were lifted, with the exception of Sand Canyon Road at Placerita Canyon Road going into Bear Divide and Little Tujunga Road north of the Wildlife Waystation.

The closure at Sand and Placerita canyon roads was a “soft” one, a Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Department lieutenant said; residents with an ID to prove they lived in the closed area could get through.

The fire is projected to cost $28 million, Fire Department spokesman Justin Correll said Thursday.

The Forest Service’s Burned Area Emergency Response team will also assess damage to determine needs for land recovery, he said.

Kimura said it will take some time to reopen three of the more popular trails in the Placerita Canyon Natural Area even if the rest of the state park is open. The Waterfall and Los Pinetos trails were completely seared by the fire; the Canyon Trail was 85 percent charred, he said.

A tree crew was expected Wednesday and Thursday next week to help deal with at least 12 large oak trees blocking the trails and the many hanging trees ready to fall onto them, he said.

“We’re all trying to open the park as soon as possible, but we have to wait until it’s safe,” he said.

Kimura added that he was just happy the Nature Center was saved.

“I thought we were going to lose it,” he said of the experience Monday watching as the fire came closer, embers igniting ahead of it.

Dan Watson/The Signal (See additional photos on signalscv.com) A sign at the entrance to the Placerita Canyon Natural Area hiking trails beside Placerita Canyon Road warns people to stay out Thursday due to dangerous conditions caused by the Sand fire, which scorched some trails in the area.

Dan Watson/The Signal (See additional photos on signalscv.com) Safety officer Dan Holloway, left, and Division Supervisor Pete Lawrence walk in the Placerita Canyon Natural Area where they examine an oak tree they describe as extremely dangerous.