Firefighters battled a small brush fire that charred vegetation on a hillside above a residential area of Whittier Thursday amid a warning about “critical fire weather conditions.”
The blaze grew to about 3 acres and was 10 percent contained at about 11 a.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman’s Twitter account. By 12:30 p.m., the fire was about 75 percent contained.
Crews worked aggressively to get hose lines around the blaze, dubbed the Colima Fire.
Aerial video from Sky5 showed multiple police and fire vehicles on scene, as well as at least one water-dumping helicopter.
The blaze near Colima Road and Mar Vista Drive North came amid a red-flag warning for the region, with gusty Santa Ana winds and low relative humidity forecast.
“Critical fire weather conditions” make “extreme fire behavior” likely, the National Weather Service said.
The red-flag warning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties was set to remain in effect through 8 p.m.
The fire appeared to be burning on the Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Preserve, at the edge of the closed Puente Hills Landfill.