Castaic brush fire: I-5 traffic improves, crews contain fire

CASTAIC, LOS ANGELES COUNTY (KABC) -- Traffic slowly returned to normal on I-5 in Castaic on Friday night following brush fire that shut lanes for hours.

Northbound lanes of the 5 Freeway had been shut down at Lake Hughes Road. Two northbound lanes were opened before 9 p.m. and traffic was beginning to move.

Fire trucks continued to work on the freeway shoulder just after 11 p.m. as traffic on the North I-5 traveled through the only two open lanes. However traffic was expected to remain backed up until all four lanes reopened. While there was no word on when all four lanes of the freeway would reopen, crews hoped to have the fire fully contained by noon Saturday.

The fire was reported as 60 percent contained and was down to 500 acres from 650 late Friday night.

The fire started just after 1 p.m. and had grown from 3 to 5 acres to 650 acres by 8:10 p.m. By that point, the fire was only 10 percent contained.

Fire officials said flames were running uphill and they were fighting it from the air. By sundown, the wind began to work in the crews' favor.

A total of six helicopters and three fixed-wing tankers were battling the blaze, along with 450 firefighters on the ground.

No structures were threatened. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

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wildfire, fire, traffic delay, wildfire center, melissa macbride

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