Angeles National Forest

L.A. County sheriff’s deputies rescued a female hiker Monday after she fell 20 feet over a waterfall in the Angeles National Forest, authorities reported. The hiker, whose condition was unknown, could not move and had to hoisted out of Hermit Falls by a search-and-rescue helicopter. The incident occurred about 12:10 p.m. Deputies said there have been seven rescues in the Hermit Falls area this year, including one on Friday.

Two roads that were closed during the weekend's winter storm will reopen Monday, Los Angeles County officials announced. The county shut down portions of the Angeles Forest Highway and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road because of snow and icy conditions but planned to reopen them by 5 p.m. Monday. The storm dumped more than 20 inches of snow at the higher elevations. Motorists can get updates on these and other road closures at www.dpwcare.org . -- Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times

L.A. County sheriff's homicide detectives have placed a security hold on details surrounding the death of a man whose body was found near the base of a waterfall at Vasquez Creek in Big Tujunga Canyon. Hikers found the body Saturday at 6:30 p.m. near the base of the falls in Angeles National Forest and notified the Crescenta Valley sheriff's station. "The body was found in a difficult-to-reach area concealed from view by heavy brush," officials said. Due to the approaching darkness and danger to Los Angeles County Sheriff's search and rescue team members, rescuers waited until Sunday to recover the man's body.

Los Angeles County firefighters were responding to a brush fire Monday night in the Angeles National Forest near Azusa. _________________________ FOR THE RECORD: This version corrects the headline. _________________________ Arriving fire crews reported about half an acre of brush burning as flames moved uphill near 22550 E. Fork Road, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.  L.A. NOW

In the second fatality in as many days, a woman died after her car went over the side of a road in the Angeles National Forest early Sunday, authorities said. A witness at the Coldwater Campground reported seeing a blue Honda go off the road near mile marker 32 on San Gabriel Canyon Road at about 2:27 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. The name of the victim, a woman between 40 and 50 years old, has not been released. CHP Officer Jennifer Connolly said she could not say whether the car had any other occupants.

Search-and-rescue crews were combing an area of the Angeles National Forest on Tuesday for three missing hikers. The Los Angeles men, ages 32, 45 and 50, left for a hike in the Devil's Canyon-Mt. Waterman area of the San Gabriel Mountains about 9 a.m. Sunday and were expected to return by 5 or 6 p.m., said Steve Goldsworthy, a volunteer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deptartment's Montrose Search and Rescue Team. Family members reported them missing about 10:45 p.m. Sunday after they failed to return home.  L.A. NOW

On a sweltering morning deep in the San Gabriel Mountains, Katie VinZant donned work gloves and boots, hoisted a pickax and began bashing alien species. The 31-year-old botanist enjoys a Sunday in the Angeles National Forest as much as the next person. But when it comes to weeds that have colonized and multiplied since the 2009 Station fire, she's a terminator. Slender and trim in a T-shirt, grubby pants and tattered straw sombrero, VinZant swiped the sweat stinging her eyes.

Roads within the Station fire burn area of the Angeles National Forest will close at noon today due to expected snowfall and icy conditions, officials announced. Angeles Forest Highway will close from Aliso Canyon Road to Angeles Crest Highway. Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road will close from Angeles Forest Highway to Angeles Crest Highway. Big Tujunga Canyon Road will close from Vogel Flats Road to Angeles Forest Highway. Local road access will not be allowed until closures are lifted, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

Six engine companies from Glendale and Burbank fire departments were deployed Thursday to help hundreds of firefighters attack the raging Colby fire that blackened more than 1,700 acres near Glendora. The companies, as well as a Glendale fire water tender, were part of three strike teams from the region sent to provide additional support in battling the blaze in the Angeles National Forest, according to fire officials. Each strike team had 22 firefighters. The blaze was roughly 5 acres when it was first reported at 5:52 a.m. and then grew quickly, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Through a happy accident involving a pair of high-attitude balloons, Clark Magnet High School students have detailed images of the mountains charred by the 2009 Station Fire, allowing them to study how well the area is recovering. The group, working with robotics and engineering teacher David Black, is chasing a $10,000 prize awarded by the Lexus Eco Challenge by studying how invasive plant species put down roots in the wake of forest fires. Team 696, the school's robotics team, will tap into data collected by cameras on high-altitude balloons Clark students launched in 2012 and 2013 that captured photographs of the mountains from a distance.

A brush fire that broke out in the Angeles National Forest on Thursday has doubled in size to at least 60 acres, prompting officials to triple the number of firefighters assigned to the blaze, the Los Angeles Times reported . About 300 firefighters were battling the Sharp fire in steep, inaccessible terrain Friday near Wrightwood, where dozens of homes had been evacuated. VIDEO: Wrightwood fire Mandatory evacuation orders were in place for Mojave Scenic and East Canyon drives south from Lone Pine Canyon Road to Buckthorn, Slippery Elm and Mahogany roads.

As Glendale Firefighter/Paramedic Jeff Brooks watched the memorial service for 19 firefighters who lost their lives battling an Arizona wildfire unfold, a sense of finality came over him. On Tuesday -- as hundreds gathered in Prescott, Ariz. to pay their respects to the members of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew who perished June 30 while fighting the Yarnell Hill wildfire -- tributes could be seen in throughout the city, he said. “For a lot of people, it really hit home,” Brooks said.

State Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge) introduced legislation Tuesday to increase cooperation between the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Angeles National Forest. Liu's bill, SB 238, would allow the superintendent of the Angeles National Forest to vote as a conservancy board member on projects located in or adjacent to the forest and projects that would substantially affect the forest. Currently, forest superintendent Thomas Contreras is a non-voting board member of the conservancy.

Authorities on Wednesday identified the human remains found in the Angeles National Forest earlier this month as a missing Glendale man, according to sheriff's officials. The body of Nicholas Carter, 25, was found on Jan. 19 near mile marker 2.72 on Big Tujunga Canyon Road, according to Lt. Mike Rosson with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau. An autopsy showed that Carter had been beaten to death, Rosson said. “It's being investigated as a homicide,” he added.

Officials announced plans to reopen mountain roads in the Angeles National Forest at 10 a.m. Thursday after they were closed for overnight snow and icy conditions. The sections of road scheduled to reopen are: Angeles Forest Highway from Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road to Aliso Canyon Road, and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road, from Angeles Forest Highway to the Angeles Crest Highway, according to the Los Angeles County Public Works Department. A chance of rain and colder than normal temperatures are expected to continue through early next week, according to the National Weather Service.

A winter storm cell moving over the region dropped hail and caused minor flooding in La Cañada Flintridge Thursday afternoon. Flooding was reported at a home in the 5400 block of Godbey Drive in La Cañada, said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Tom Richards. A patrol vehicle was at the home, where flooding appeared to minor, he added. Fast-moving water flowed down Ocean View Boulevard and into the nearby Mullaly flood control basin, but there appeared to be little mud or debris coming down from this hillsides, Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station Sgt. Debra Herman said around 3 p.m. Weather forecasters issued a flash flooding alert until 4:45 p.m. as the storm passed overhead, bringing with it hail, lightning and periodic downpours across the region, including in Glendale.

The bear that wandered over the 210 Freeway and into Montrose early Sunday morning has been tranquilized and is being taken back into the Angeles National Forest. The bear was sedated around 10:30 a.m. after it had been seen in the area of Florencita Lane and Montrose Drive. It had already been loaded into the back of a truck by 11 a.m. Officials were unsure if it was male or female. It did not harm any humans or damage any property. The animal was first sighted around 7:30 a.m., according to officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Fire crews were battling a 4,000-acre brush fire Monday morning in rugged terrain in the Angeles National Forest as the blaze forced officials to shut down the popular San Gabriel Canyon to Labor Day visitors. The Williams fire was just 5% contained as hundreds of firefighters from several agencies were trying to stop the forward progress of the flames, which sent a towering plume of smoke that could be seen for miles. Flames Monday morning were threatening mobile homes and other structures at the Camp Williams resort on the east fork of the San Gabriel River, the U.S. Forest Service said.