CASTIAC, California (AP) – A forest fire near Castaic on Saturday has closed part of a major highway in Southern California, officials told local media.
The fire, known as Route Fire, reached 392 acres, or just over half a square mile, as of 6:28 p.m., and forced the closure of a section of Interstate 5, according to reported to KTLA-TV the Los Angeles National Forest.
KTLA reported that the route fire threatens structures, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department station, Santa Clarita Valley.
The fire was not contained at 6:30 p.m., authorities said.
Elsewhere in California, storms that received light rain led to the breathing of crews struggling to quell the state’s massive wildfires, but lightning caused several new flames in the north affected by the storm. drought, fire officials reported.
The storms that passed Thursday night through Friday were followed by clear weather weekend forecasts and a warming trend in the fire zones until next week.
The National Weather Service said there were more than 1,100 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in California between Thursday evening and Friday morning. Firefighters said lightning lit at least 17 fires.
Firefighters were diverted from the huge Caldor fire south of Lake Tahoe to fight several night lightning strikes across El Dorado County, fire officials said. However, most of the flames remained at less than 10 hectares (4 hectares).
Three new fires were recorded in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in areas of steep, dense forest in the Sierra Nevada.
Up to half an inch of rain fell on parts of the Dixie Fire, which began in mid-July and has burned through huge strips of northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades. The second largest fire in California history has burned 3,859 square miles of land and more than 1,300 homes and other buildings. The content was 59%.
The rain will wet the dry vegetation and cool the fire for a day or two, which firefighters hoped to use to strengthen and expand the lines of fire in an effort to finally surround the flame, fire officials said.