Firefighters stopped the forward progress of a brush fire that threatened structures and prompted evacuations in the Saugus area on Thursday afternoon.
The blaze, dubbed the Texas Fire, broke out in the 30500 block of Bouquet Canyon Road around 1:50 p.m. Approximately 200 firefighters responded to the scene, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Ground crews were aided from above by water-dropping helicopters and larger air tankers.
After racing up the mountain, the blaze quickly grew to 50 and then 130 acres.
But an hour after flames erupted, firefighters already appeared to have gained the upper hand, extinguishing hotspots that popped up along the charred hillside, the aerial video showed.
The blaze ultimately spread to 150 acres before forward progress was halted shortly before 4:30 p.m.
“An aggressive and decisive ground and air attack has grown the containment to 10% and allowed us and @LACoFDPIO to get the upper hand on this fire,” a tweet from the Angeles National Forest’s account stated.
Several structures were threatened at one point, and an evacuation order was issued for Bouquet Canyon Road between Vasquez Canyon and Spunky Canyon roads, fire officials said. The stretch of road was also closed.
Conditions in the area were relatively cool during the afternoon, with moderate humidity — both generally favorable for firefighters. The fire was able to spread quickly because of very dry fuels and onshore winds, according to the National Weather Service.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.
