TUJUNGA — A hillside blaze along the Foothill (210) Freeway forced police to shut down all westbound lanes for more than two hours during morning rush-hour traffic.
Firefighters from the Glendale, Los Angeles city and county fire departments battled the three-acre blaze, which started at about 6:17 a.m. at the La Tuna Canyon Road exit.
“That area hasn’t burned in a few years,” Glendale Fire Capt. Tom Propst said. “That’s an area we need to jump on quick.”
The area’s abundance of vegetation made it more prone to fire, he said, but the cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.
Fire officials requested the freeway closure at 6:47 a.m. after the blaze started nearing the freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol. The fire was extinguished about an hour later.
While the fire was out by 8 a.m., the freeway did not reopen until after 9 a.m., jamming traffic on the Foothill Freeway and the northbound Glendale (2) Freeway transition to the westbound Ventura (134) Freeway, which some motorists took as an alternate route. The blaze comes in the midst of a red flag warning, which the National Weather Service issued Monday.
The warning is expected to end at 8 tonight after the low humidity and high temperatures subside, according to the weather service.
“Fortunately, the winds will remain light,” said Ryan Kittell, a weather service meteorologist.
Temperatures are expected to cool down by Thursday, and air moisture will increase, he said.
The cool-down comes as a relief for fire crews, who have been on high alert throughout this month due to red flag warnings.
“We are just waiting for these red flag warnings to go away,” Propst said.
The department’s strike team was sent to a nearly 5,000-acre fire in the Little Tujunga Canyon area Oct. 13 to help battle flames and protect homes. A transient man and his dog, who slept in a homeless encampment, were killed in the fire.
The Oct. 13 fire started shortly after a red flag warning had been issued due to strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity.
VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.
