Spring to action
Short-lived grass fire sparks immediate evacuation of Newhall homes
A short-lived grass fire that broke out near the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Newhall on Wednesday sent deputies immediately to the doorsteps of homes in the area, ordering evacuations.
Firefighters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department extinguished the fire — dubbed the Newhall Fire — within 22 minutes.
Within five minutes of the fire being reported, deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station were on Arcadia Street, evacuating homes, said Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station.
“We received the call that the brush fire was on a hillside behind the DMV and within five minutes deputies started doing their evacuation of homes,” she said.
The DMV is located at the intersection of Newhall Avenue and Lyons Avenue, just east of Arcadia Street.
The Newhall Fire ended up burning a half acre, said Fire Department spokesman Marvin Lim.
“Initially, we got a call at 2:12 (p.m.) that the fire burned one eighth of an acre and was running uphill,” Lim said. “Then at 2:34 p.m. we got the call that they put out the fire.”
The incident marks the second time in just over a week that a fire inside a populated area of Newhall prompted deputies to immediately begin evacuation of homes threatened.
On July 30, the Railroad Fire burned 10 acres of brush near Valle del Oro and damaged at least 14 apartments in two buildings, displacing scores of people.