Firefighters needed only about 15 minutes to douse a brush fire along the westbound 210 Freeway on Friday afternoon, according to L.A. County Fire Department Station 82 Capt. Adrian Murrieta.
He said it’s unknown what sparked the fire beside the freeway on-ramp at Angeles Crest Highway, but firefighters from his station were on the scene within 90 seconds of receiving the call reporting it.
“Obviously, the quicker we can get there, the quicker we can put water on it and keep it from spreading,” Murrieta said.
They were assisted by firefighting personnel from Station 19, as well as from La Crescenta and Altadena stations. Even a “super-scooper” plane showed up overhead, although firefighters did not need that support this time.
He added that even though there was a red-flag warning throughout L.A. County on Friday, there was very little wind along the freeway when the fire started at approximately 12:30 p.m.
“Also, the location helped,” Murrieta said. “It was on that small island surrounded by paved road, the on-ramp and the freeway itself. A tree burned and the initial brush around it, and there were a lot of pine needles, which are so small and low, they didn’t allow for it to spread.”
— Mirjam Swanson
