Wildfire forces closure of freeway in Southern California

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In this aerial photograph released by the Los Angeles County Fire Department Air Operations postulation passes the Route fire, a brushwood wildfire disconnected Interstate 5 northbound of Castaic, Calif., connected Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. (Los Angeles County Fire Air Operations via AP)

CASTIAC, Calif. – A wildfire adjacent Castaic Saturday has led to the closure of a large freeway successful Southern California, officials told section media.

The fire, known arsenic the Route Fire, reached 392 acres, oregon a small much than fractional a quadrate mile, arsenic of 6:28 p.m. and forced the shutdown of Interstate 5, the Angeles National Forest told KTLA-TV.

KTLA reported that the Route Fire is threatening structures, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Santa Clarita Valley station.

The occurrence was uncontained arsenic of 6:30 p.m., authorities said.

Elsewhere successful California, thunderstorms that dropped airy rainfall gave immoderate breathing country to crews struggling to quench the state’s monolithic wildfires but lightning sparked respective caller blazes successful the drought-stricken north, occurrence officials said.

The storms that rolled done Thursday nighttime into Friday were followed by play forecasts of wide upwind and a warming inclination successful occurrence areas into adjacent week.

The National Weather Service said determination were much than 1,100 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes successful California betwixt Thursday evening and Friday morning. Fire officials said lightning strikes ignited astatine slightest 17 fires.

Firefighters were diverted from the immense Caldor Fire southbound of Lake Tahoe to combat aggregate overnight lightning fires passim El Dorado County, occurrence officials said. However, astir of the blazes were kept to nether 10 acres (4 hectares).

Three caller fires were reported successful Sequoia and Kings Canyon nationalist parks successful steep, dense wood areas of the Sierra Nevada.

Up to a half-inch of rainfall fell connected portions of the Dixie Fire, which began successful mid-July and has burned done immense swaths of the bluish Sierra Nevada and confederate Cascades. The second-largest occurrence successful California past has burned 1,490 quadrate miles (3,859 quadrate kilometers) of onshore and much than 1,300 homes and different buildings. It was 59% contained.

The rainfall bedewed tinder-dry vegetation and volition chill down the occurrence for 1 oregon 2 days, which firefighters hoped to usage to fortify and grow occurrence lines successful an effort to yet situation the blaze, occurrence officials said.

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