CALABASAS BRUSH FIRE PUT DOWN.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

CALABASAS - A noontime brush fire charred about five acres just south of Calabasas High School on Thursday, terrifying parents of children in canyon schools and residents unable to get to their homes.

About 250 city and county firefighters, assisted by pilots of seven water-dropping helicopters, took about 90 minutes to extinguish the blaze near Mulholland Highway and Old Topanga Canyon Road, officials said. No structures were damaged, though at one point six houses near the flashpoint were threatened.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

Community residents initially spent an uneasy hour watching fire engines arrive - a scene that reminded some of the brush fire on Nov. 2, 1993, which burned from Calabasas to the sea.

``I was leaving the house and saw two fire engines going by and said, my kids are up there!'' said Elizabeth Darrow, whose house sits just yards away from where about a dozen anxious parents had gathered, their cell phones pressed to their ears.

Darrow said her 4-year-old daughter, who has a broken leg, was in class at Viewpoint School, and her 3-year-old daughter was at Cali Camp, a short distance away.

Laura Ferla, whose son is enrolled at the Calabasas Klubhouse, also said she was worried.

``I just hope my 5-year-old is OK right now. I don't care if I feel the heat from the fire,'' she said. ``The firemen told us not to worry, but that's certainly not easy to do.''

All of the children were safely evacuated. At Viewpoint School, about 300 kids attending summer camp were taken to a sprinkler-equipped gym, where they were picked up by parents, said Paul Rosenbaum, the school's chief operating officer.

Fire officials said that despite the heat, the absence of wind and the relatively moist conditions in the canyons allowed firefighters to contain the blaze.

``It's apples and oranges (compared to the 1993 blaze). There are different burn conditions,'' said Los Angeles County Fire Assistant Chief Reggie Lee. ``This went straight up; there was no wind.''

Bob Peterson, a Savon drugstore manager in Woodland Hills, watched the smoke billow near his home but said he wasn't too concerned because of the weather and the firefighters.

``They got here really fast,'' said Peterson, a veteran of five canyon fires who said his affection for canyon living remains undeterred.

``I love it; I enjoy it tremendously,'' he said.

Staff Writers Greg Hernandez and Evan Pondel contributed to this report.

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, map

Photo:

(1) On Mulholland Highway in Calabasas, an anxious parent runs with two children toward a school where a third child was. The area was threatened by a brush fire, which started Thursday. No structures were damaged in the blaze that charred the area south of Calabasas High School. Some 250 city and county firefighters knocked down the blaze in about 90 minutes.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

(2) A woman, center, trying to get her children from a day-care center in Calabasas is restrained from entering the fire area.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Map:

Five-acre brush fire

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