FIREFIGHTERS CONTAIN BLAZE ON 210 ACRES.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

A blaze that scorched 210 acres of steep terrain in the Angeles National Forest might have been started by a smoldering campfire and fueled by windy conditions, officials said Friday.

Hot wooden embers near a campfire at the Streamside Campground, south of Del Sur Ridge Road, apparently erupted into flames about 3 p.m. Thursday and spread northwest. The fire, which raced up the canyon, then calmed down a bit by Thursday evening, was fully contained Friday morning, officials said.

Officials on Friday were trying to track down the campers.

Fire crews, including firefighters from Cleveland National Forest in San Diego, remained in the area Friday to help with the cleanup.

``We have people working on mop-up within the parameter of the fire,'' Forest Service Fire Capt. Mike Stout said.

As Stout stood along a ridge facing the blackened canyon Friday, he recalled that air tankers had made at least 12 drops on the fire and said no evacuations had been made. However, nearby residents were put on alert, he said.

Resident Kimberly Erin, 35, who lives about a quarter of a mile north of the campground, said she and her friend sprayed her home with water for six hours after she learned she might have to evacuate.

``Fire is one of our worst nightmares because there is only one way in and out of this area,'' she said. ``This is such a deep, narrow canyon.''

Another resident, who asked that her name not be used, said that although she didn't have to evacuate, she packed some personal possessions and drove with her 2-1/2-year-old daughter to the Valencia home of her fiance's family.

She said she was smoking in front of her home when she noticed blue skies ahead and brown skies behind.

``I evacuated because I felt it was safer to do that,'' she said.

Erin said people at the Big Oaks Lodge, south of her home, were not allowed to continue north on Bouquet Canyon road after the fire erupted.

``One of my neighbors called crying and asking me to save her cats,'' Erin said.

Later, CHP officers had driven residents back to their homes, both residents said.

Bouquet Canyon Road was shut down from Vasquez Canyon Road to Spunky Canyon Road until about 9:24 p.m. Thursday, officials said.

Two Los Angeles County camp crew inmates battling the blaze were injured and flown to a local hospital for treatment, said Los Angles County Fire Dispatch Supervisor Art Marrujo.

Victor Sastre, a 23-year-old inmate from Camp 11, in Acton, was among the first in his 14-man crew to cut a line around the fire and may have had breathing difficulty because he was on the smoky side of the fire, a fire official said.

Sastre returned to camp Friday, resting through the day, the official said.

An inmate from Camp 16 in the Angeles National Forest, suffered a six- to eight-inch cut from a chain saw, Marrujo said.

The unidentified crew member was doing better Friday, officials said.

About 240 fire personnel from the U.S. Forest Service and the Los Angeles County Fire Department battled the fire, officials said.

CAPTION(S):

photo, map

Photo: (color in SAC edition only) A tanker makes a drop on a 210-acre brush fire, which started Thursday in Bouquet Canyon.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

Map: 210-acre Bouquet Canyon fire