BRUSH FIRES KEEP CREWS BUSY AGUA DULCE BLAZE JUMPS LINE, SPREADS TO LEONA VALLEY.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - As a 1,500-acre brush fire in Agua Dulce jumped a containment line Friday afternoon, another blaze broke out during rush hour in the Newhall Pass.

The latter burned just a few acres on a ridge east of the Golden State Freeway, but jammed commuter traffic. It was quickly brought under control.

A short time earlier, firefighters had all but declared victory over an Agua Dulce brush fire that started Thursday, but it flared up and spread to the Leona Valley area, officials said.

By Friday afternoon the blaze was just about contained when it jumped a fire line and sent firefighters scrambling.

``It apparently jumped the line,'' said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Roland Sprewell. ``We're trying to get additional resources up there to assist with it.''

Fire inspectors were talking about having full containment by Friday evening, but just after 3:30 p.m. the fire flared up and crossed a trench dug by a bulldozer and ignited brush in an uncontained area of Sierra Pelona Mountainway. In less than an hour, 50 more acres were burning.

As the initial fire wound down, 350 firefighters and two water-dropping helicopters stood by, just in case. They called for 200 more firefighters and four more air support units when things got out of hand, officials said.

The blaze broke out about 12:30 p.m. Thursday in the pasture area of a ranch at the end of Anthony Road. By 2:30 p.m., the fire had spread over 200 acres, and little more than an hour later flames had consumed nearly 800 acres.

By late Thursday evening, the number of acres was reported to have more than doubled but officials said an infrared scan from a helicopter done early Friday morning showed that it was actually about 1,330 acres.

Firefighters struggled Thursday to get the upper hand on the fire but brisk winds continued to push the fire forward.

By the evening, though, the winds had died down and cooler temperatures aided firefighters in their battle.

``The winds were at 20 to 25 mph at the peak of the fire and that made things really tough but those died down in the evening, allowing us to better do our job in regards to containment,'' said Inspector Mike Brown.

By Friday morning, fire officials said, nearly 60 percent of the fire was contained and expected nearly 100 percent containment just two hours before the fire jumped the line and began racing up Sierra Pelona Mountainway toward the ridge.

At the peak of the fire, nearly 800 firefighters were battling the blaze and officials said by early Friday evening that they expected to have as many units on hand again.

Despite the fire's stretch into Leona Valley, the only homes evacuated as of Friday afternoon were about half a dozen residences near where the blaze started along Anthony Road off Sierra Highway, fire officials said.

``There were some considerations in evacuating in Leona Valley but the fire didn't come that close that we needed to implement those evacuations,'' Brown said.

No structures were damaged as of Friday afternoon.

The two firefighters injured were members of a camp crew. Officials said one of the firefighters was an Angeles National Forest firefighter and the other was a camp crew member. Both suffered ankle or foot injuries, officials said.

Fire officials said they are still no closer to determining the cause of the fire but will begin an intense investigation once the fire is out.

Greg Botonis, [phone]

gregory.botonis(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color -- ran in SAC edition only) A tanker flies over a mountain ridge near Bouquet Canyon on Friday while battling a blaze that started on Thursday.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color -- ran in SAC edition only) A strike team member works to cut a line around a fire that broke out in the Newhall Pass on Friday. The blaze burned only a few acres but jammed traffic on the nearby Golden State