A brush fire, which broke out near Sylmar, a community located 46 km northwest of Los Angeles downtown, grew to over 4,000 acres (16.2 square km) Friday morning and forced more than 12,000 homes to be evacuated.
According to the latest report of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), the size of the fire dubbed Saddleridge Fire had been updated to upwards of 4,000 acres with 0 percent containment after it was first reported about 9:00 p.m. local time Thursday.
The fire had destroyed "a number of homes," the LAFD confirmed, but there are no reported injuries at this time.
Nearly 800 firefighters battled the blaze along with multiple helicopters under the cover of darkness but intense winds over night sent embers flying into neighborhoods, quickly setting homes ablaze and igniting spot fires.
"This is an extremely dynamic, high wind driven fire and the weather will continue to drive the fire through the night," the LAFD said, adding that 87 fire companies assigned with assistance from agencies across the region were on the scene and "additional resources are on order from the state."
A mandatory evacuation order had been issued Thursday night for about 12,700 homes, the LAFD said Friday morning. Local media estimated over 100,000 residents were living in the evacuation zone.
