Saddleridge Fire explodes in Southern California, mandatory evacuation in San Fernando Valley

ByTeo Blašković
saddleridge-fire-explodes-in-southern-california-mandatory-evacuation-in-san-fernando-valley

Image credit: Alyssa Flores 

Critical to extremely critical fire weather conditions continue on Friday across portions of Southern California due to gusty winds and a very dry airmass. These conditions should subside by the weekend as an upper level trough approaches the region.

The setup has already resulted in mandatory evacuations in the San Fernando Valley, LA County as Saddleridge Fire, which broke out late October 10 in Sylmar near the 210 Freeway, exploded amid windy weather (gusts up to 100 km/h / 60 mph) and is now burning out of control.

The fire has already scorched more than 650 ha (1 600 acres) of land by Friday morning, October 11 (LT) and forced evacuation of approximately 1 900 homes.

Evacuations have been ordered for Oakridge Estates, Glenoaks, the Foothill area and into neighborhoods in Granada Hills and Porter Ranch, LAFD Capt. Branden Silverman said.

Image credit: LAFD

As of 02:16 LT, October 11 (09:16 UTC):

MANDATORY EVACUATIONS: 

  • ALL of Porter Ranch (north of 118FY)
  • Oakridge Estates, as shown in the map, is now under mandatory evacuation.
  • West of Balboa, North of Sesnon to the Ventura County border with MASON as the current western border

EVACUATION CENTERS: 

  • People and small pets:
    • Sylmar Recreation Center (13109 Borden Ave)
    • Granada Hills Recreation Center (16730 Chatsworth St)
  • Large Animals:
    • Hansen Dam 

STRUCTURES DESTROYED BY FIRE:

  • There has been at least one commercial building destroyed
  • There have been homes destroyed by fire 

Updated information at LAFD.

The fire jumped a portion of Interstate 5, and is rapidly moving toward the northern portions of Granada Hills, Porter Ranch and Chatsworth, in the vicinity of the 118 freeway.

"Be prepared and ready to evacuate if given the order," LAPD said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said it's still investigating the casue of the fire.

Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.

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