Brush Fire Damages Home Near Saugus

A brush fire north of Saugus heavily damaged one home, destroyed a barn and burned more than 800 acres Friday, but firefighters saved more than a dozen other ranches and houses in the path of the flames, authorities said.

The fire, which started about 3:45 p.m. and continued to burn late Friday, raced through medium brush and heavy grass in the rural San Francisquito Canyon area, then burned over the ridge into Dry Canyon as winds gusting to 20 m.p.h. hampered firefighters.

One fireman was injured and airlifted out by helicopter Friday evening, but the extent of his injuries was not known. A homeowner suffered minor burns on his face and right arm as he rode a motorcycle along San Francisquito Canyon Road to reach his home.

More than 300 Los Angeles County firefighters were aided by three bulldozers, four water-dropping helicopters, a U.S. Forest Service spotter plane and a four-engine C-130, which dropped a mixture of fire retardant and fertilizer.

At one point, firefighters ran along San Francisquito Canyon Road, attempting to stay ahead of the fire and tossing flares into the brush to set backfires. An estimated 150 horses were threatened by the flames, which burned completely around several homes.

Firefighters were trying to save a two-story house on the top of a hill on the 28700 block of San Francisquito Canyon Road, but a sudden wind change sent the fire roaring up a small ridge onto the shake roof, said Capt. Tom King of the county Fire Department.

“It got to the trees and into the shakes and that was it,” King said. The house suffered $80,000 damage.

On the 29200 block of San Francisquito Canyon Road, homeowners Toni and Chuck Miltenberger credited the firefighters with preventing a disaster.

“They saved our family; they saved our house; they saved our cars,” Toni Miltenberger said. About half of their 90-tree fruit orchard was destroyed, and Chuck Miltenberger’s face and hair were singed.

Sheriff’s deputies set up a command post at Santa Clarita Park. No evacuations were needed, officials said.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.