Brush Fire In Los Angeles’ Sepulveda Basin Held To Seven Acres; No Injuries – Update

UPDATE 8 PM PACIFIC: The Basin Fire continues to burn and is estimated to be about 20 percent contained as of this hour. Smoke blanketed the Valley and could be seen from the campus at nearby UCLA, but no injuries or structure damage has been reported. Homeless encampments are being advised to leave the area.

The southbound 405 freeway is open, but the Burbank Boulevard off-ramps remain closed on the 405, according to the California Highway Patrol.

UPDATED with LAFD statement: A brush fire in the center of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley is out after it consumed about seven acres near a homeless encampment Tuesday afternoon and had local news stations watching closely amid the hot weather and breezy conditions as another fire season in Southern California looms.

No injuries were reported, and no structures were burned. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Los Angeles Fire Department, which responded around 3:30 PM, issued a statement late Tuesday: “A non-injury brush fire in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area was held to less than seven acres Tuesday afternoon, but not before displacing scores of homeless persons who had taken residence in the area’s thick vegetation.”

LAFD temporarily closed the Metro Orange Line busway in both directions between White Oak Avenue and Woodley Avenue for safety.

The fire, originally reported as a grass fire before being upgraded, began in a largely vacant area that contained mostly chaparral as well as what appeared to be several homeless encampments. The LAFD said there were several propane gas tanks at the homeless site that exploded during the fire, forcing some firefighters to retreat briefly.

Dark smoke could be seen this afternoon billowing from the site to drivers on the nearby 405 freeway, a major thoroughfare joining the valley and Los Angeles proper. In December 2017, the Skirball Fire less than 10 miles south on the same freeway burned 422 acres and resulted in widespread evacuations.