A brush fire that raced toward homes in Stevenson Ranch was extinguished Monday after burning about 45 acres, and firefighters lifted all evacuation orders and warnings by evening. Crews called the blaze the Max Fire.
The fire was reported around 4:20 p.m. in a hiking area of Pico Canyon Park near Magnolia Lane and Autumn Place, where aerial footage showed large flames tearing through dense brush on a hillside beside a cul-de-sac of homes. Two helicopters dropped off hand crews, which began shoveling out containment lines, while another aircraft dropped flame-retardant material as the fire pushed toward a second neighborhood near Jasmine and Summerhill lanes.
That fast response mattered because the fire was active near a residential area during the late afternoon, when crews were still trying to box it in and keep it from moving farther through the hillside brush. By 6:40 p.m., firefighters said it had grown to about 45 acres, a size that made the evacuation decisions necessary even though the flames were already being attacked from the air and on the ground.
Los Angeles County firefighters also used the incident to remind the public about the risk of unauthorized drones over fire zones. Aaron Katon said putting a drone in the air could make the fire a bigger hazard than it would have been otherwise, a warning that carried extra weight as crews worked near homes and low-flying helicopters were trying to keep the blaze contained.
The fire was eventually knocked down, but one question is still open: what started it. The cause remains under investigation, which means the immediate danger has passed for now, but the reason the Max Fire began in the first place has not been answered.
