Firefighters up containment of Route fire in Castaic to 71%

Firefighters continued to make progress on the Route fire in Castaic, upping containment of the blaze to 71% as they entered their fourth day battling the blaze Saturday morning, Sept. 3, authorities said.

The fire’s size has remained at 5,208 acres for about 48 hours as crews continue to focus on mopping up hotspots and strengthening containment lines, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said in a 7 a.m. update.

“Dozers, hand crews and engines made great progress building further containment around the fire perimeter,” officials said of the overnight operations.

Full containment of the fire was anticipated by Wednesday, officials said.

Two structures, including a home, have been destroyed in the blaze, they said.

The fire, reported just past noon Wednesday, Aug. 31, led to the shutdown of a section of the I-5 and evacuation orders of surrounding homes as it quickly grew to more than 4,000 acres by nightfall.

However, firefighters got a quick handle of the blaze into Thursday morning and the evacuation orders were all lifted by Thursday night, officials said.

Portions of the I-5 between Lake Hughes Road and Templin Highway have been reopened and as of Saturday morning, only the two right northbound lanes were closed as officials check the structural integrity of the roadway.

Seven firefighters suffered heat-related injuries and were hospitalized Wednesday, but were released by Thursday morning, Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Ewald said. Crews have battled the blaze in triple-digit temperatures each day since the fire started, but no further injuries were reported.

Crews were still dealing with excessive heat, low humidity and steep terrain. More than 460 firefighters were still battling the blaze, with assistance from two helicopters, officials said.