LLANO (CNS) - Los Angeles County Fire Department officials were expected to provide an update later today on the progress made in extinguishing the Pine Fire, which has burned an estimated 450 acres in a sparsely populated rural area east of Palmdale.
The wind-whipped blaze was 40% contained as of Thursday, officials said.
Two structures were damaged or destroyed in fire, which erupted for unknown reasons about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday near Antelope Highway and 248th Street East in Llano. It was 30% contained as of about 8 Thursday morning, and crews gained more ground by Thursday afternoon.
“Crews are on the line working to strengthen containment lines and handle hot spots within the perimeter of the fire,” the fire department said in a statement Thursday morning.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued about 3:35 p.m. Wednesday for Antelope Highway to Pine View Road and Buchanan Road to Smoke Tree Road, affecting about 100 homes, according to CalFire.
The evacuation orders were lifted for most areas Wednesday evening, though they were still in effect for a small number of homes west of Jubilee Road.
The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control was sheltering evacuated livestock at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds and companion animals at the Palmdale Animal Care Center.
About 500 firefighters were assigned to the firefighting effort at the height of the blaze, along with three water-dropping helicopters and two air tankers.