Bobcat Fire: Flare Up Sends Smoke Over Altadena; 84% Containment

LOS ANGELES, CA — Despite hot and dry conditions through the week, firefighters battling the Bobcat Fire in Los Angeles gained 84 percent containment Saturday. But the 114,963 acre blaze continued to threaten more than 6,000 structures.

First responders worked Saturday to bolster containment lines, with crews mostly in mop up mode. However, the fire continued to rage on an interior island northeast of Mt. Wilson, and the fire was expected to burn 300 acres within the control lines.

"Isolated pockets of fire are still present in the Mt. Wilson area on the northern slope and firefighting priorities are to protect the observatory and communications sites there," the U.S. Forest Service said.

The area is not a prescribed burning but a pocket of fire in tough terrain that has been difficult for firefighters to access, officials said.

Angelenos saw more smoke over the weekend, particularly in Altadena, due to a flare up in the Angeles Crest Highway and Red Box Road area near Mt. Wilson.

The flare up is being maintained within a five mile perimeter by firefighters and is not moving toward Altadena or the Crescenta Valley areas, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Altadena Station told residents.

The smoldering flare up will persist through the weekend, shrouding Altadena in smoke.

The Bobcat Fire ignited Sept. 6 near the Cogswell Dam and West Fork Day Use area northeast of Mt. Wilson and within the Angeles National Forest.

And while the cause is still under investigation, U.S. Forest Service officials were questioning Southern California Edison in connection to the fire last week.

SCE reportedly experienced an equipment issue around the same time the Bobcat Fire sparked and investigators are working to determine if it was a factor in igniting one of the largest wildfires Los Angeles County has ever seen.

The utility has said that it was not responsible for starting the fire, insisting that fire was detected by a camera on Mt. Wilson moments before it experienced an equipment issue.

Some 936 personnel were engaged in the firefighting effort as of Saturday. The estimated full containment date for the fire is Oct. 30.

Mt. Wilson is home not only one of the crown jewels of astronomy but also home to infrastructure that transmits cellphone signals and television and radio broadcasts for the greater Los Angeles Area.

Firefighters reported minimal fire activity and no fire growth on Friday and, combined with forecast lower temperatures this weekend and light winds, the fire was not expected to grow significantly, the USFS said.

These evacuation orders remain for residents as of Saturday:

-- in Paradise Springs -- south of Big Pines Highway, east of Devil's Punchbowl, west of Largo Vista Road, and north of the forest;

-- south and west of Upper Big Tujunga Canyon, east of Angeles Forest Highway, and north of Angeles Crest Highway; and

-- residences along Angeles Crest Highway, between Angeles Forest Highway and Highway 39.

Evacuation warnings remained:

-- south of Big Pines Highway, east of Largo Vista Road, west of 263rd Street East (county line), and north of the forest;

-- south of Mt. Emma Road, north of Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road, east of Angeles Forest Highway, and west of Pacifico Mountain; and

-- East Fork Areas: Julius Klein Conservation Camp 19, Camp Williams and the River Community.

So far, flames have destroyed 170 structures in the Antelope Valley area, with 87 of those residential. Six injuries were also been reported, according to USFS officials.

A map, which is compiled from ongoing field damage inspection and subject to change, can be viewed here.

The Nature Center at the Devil's Punchbowl Natural Area was burned by the fire and is closed until further notice, Los Angeles County parks officials said.

The Angeles National Forest is closed until at least Oct. 8. The Forest is closed to all general public activity, including developed campgrounds and day-use sites due to wildfire threat, and the use of any ignition sources, such as campfires and gas stoves, is prohibited.

The following road closures were also in effect:

-- Big Santa Anita Rd (the Chantry road);

-- Big Pines Highway is open but Big Rock Creek Rd remains closed;

-- Highway 2 is from Big Pines to La Canada;

-- Angeles Forest Highway from Aliso Canyon to Highway 2;

-- Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Rd;

-- Highway 39 above Old San Gabriel Canyon Rd.

Thirty-three members of California's congressional delegation, including Rep. Judy Chu, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, wrote a letter to President Donald Trump this week urging him to support Gov. Gavin Newsom's request for a Major Disaster Declaration to respond to the wildfires raging in California, including the Bobcat Fire, which is burning in Chu's district.

The City News Service and Patch Staffer Kat Schuster contributed to this report.