CONTAINMENT SEEN TODAY LIGHT RAIN HELPS FIRE CREWS.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

LEONA VALLEY - Lower temperatures, light rain and aggressive tactics let firefighters gain the upper hand Thursday on the three-day-old brush fire that has blackened more than 5,100 acres.

The so-called Leona Fire was 78 percent contained by Thursday afternoon and officials are hoping that complete containment could come as early as this evening, but no official estimate was given.

``We are ahead of it but we don't have full containment yet so we're not letting our guard down,'' said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Henry Rodriguez. ``Our goal is full containment as quickly as possible so we can send everyone home safely.''

The fire destroyed four homes along Bouquet Canyon Road, all on the first day, when it burned more than 3,000 acres.

Firefighters were able to gain a lot of ground Thursday because the remnants of Hurricane Hernan off the Mexican coast sent clouds and light rain across Antelope Valley.

The lower temperatures allowed firefighters to be more aggressive in attacking the fire, Rodriguez said.

``We controlled things pretty well so it didn't really grow last night,'' Rodriguez said Thursday. ``The better weather really helped us out in that.''

Residents of evacuated areas along Bouquet Canyon Road and in Leona Valley were officially allowed back in Thursday morning, though many had gone home before, and all roads were reopened.

Dozens of firefighters and fire engines were being sent back to their home stations Thursday morning. Some 1,200 firefighters had been battling the fire.

Fire officials said they still had enough personnel on hand in case of flare-ups or other unforeseen problems.

Environmental scientists on a Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation, or BAER, team began inspecting the burned area Thursday. They will devise recommendations for speeding the regrowth of vegetation or limiting erosion or mudslides, as was done after fires earlier this summer in Bouquet and San Francisquito Canyons.

The team, put together by the U.S. Forest Service and Los Angeles County, will inspect fire lines cut by bulldozers to determine how they will affect winter rain runoff.

Despite scorching temperatures, treacherous terrain and heavy winds, only two injuries to firefighters were reported. One firefighter suffered from heat exhaustion and was treated at a hospital. A second was treated at a mobile medical station for debris in the eyes.

``We made a really good effort with the airstrikes and ground crews and now were in the mop-up stage in most areas,'' Rodriguez said.

Investigators said there is still no official determination on what caused the blaze.

A Bouquet Canyon resident who made the first 911 call said Wednesday that a motorcyclist rode up to his house and told him that there was a small fire burning next to a car parked beside Bouquet Canyon Road.

The resident called 911, then went to try to find the car and get a license plate number but the car was gone. Investigators marked off a tire track in the dirt next to the road where the fire started.

Southern California Edison crews continued work Thursday on replacing 55 utility poles burned by the fire, both along Bouquet Canyon Road and across the Ritter Ranch property east of there.

On the first day of the fire, heat and smoke interrupted power on two 500-kilovolt power lines that run along Mount McDill, where the southern edge of the blaze was halted.

The fire also knocked out smaller transmission lines connecting more than 90 customers, which included homes along Bouquet Canyon and in Lost Valley as well as communications transmitters atop Mount McDill. Power to all homes was restored by Thursday morning but work continued on the line serving the communication facilities.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color -- ran in AV edition only) Riders from Cowhorse Ranch check the burned area of the Leona Fire, which firefighters hope to contain later today.

(2 -- 3 -- color -- ran in AV edition only) Winds send up a dust devil, above, made up of ashes from the fire. Left, a helicopter drops water on hot embers from the Leona Fire.

(4 -- ran in AV edition only) A Southern California Edison crew replaces a power pole burned in the fire. Light rain helped firefighters Thursday.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer