100-acre fire quickly spreads

Big-rig crash leads to brush fire, shuts down I-5 ramps at Vista del Lago

A big-rig fire Friday afternoon rapidly grew to a 100-acre brush fire east of Interstate 5 at Vista del Lago Road.

Fire containment stood at 0% with the potential of growing to 400 acres, as of 2:45 p.m., according to Supervisor Melanie Flores with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which was assisting the U.S. Forest Service in fighting the fire.

Four water tankers, four helicopters and several fire crews on the ground were responding to the rapidly spreading fire, said Andrew Mitchell, a public information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.

“We’re trying to gather as much resources as we can,” he said, noting the brush and chaparral in the area are ripe to burn. “Our moisture levels are just way down there.”

The California Highway Patrol closed the northbound and southbound ramps at Vista Del Lago Road, as well as the outer two lanes of northbound Interstate 5 near the burn area, according to Office Stephan Brandt of

the California Highway Patrol Traffic Management Office.

He did not have an estimate for the duration of the closures.

The Route Fire burned more than 460 acres Sept. 11 just south of Vista del Lago Road at Templin Highway on both sides of Interstate 5.

Dan Watson/The Signal on The smoldering hulk of a big rig burns in the foreground as hand crews climb a hill to fight a brush fire the northbound 5 Freeway at the Vista Del Lago exit in Angeles Forest on Friday.