PREY'S PAYBACK? HAWK'S DINNER, WIRE IGNITE BRUSH FIRE.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

NEWHALL - A four-foot gopher snake dangling from the claws of a hawk Tuesday morning served as an electrical conductor - and the cause of a small brush fire in Newhall, a fire official said.

The hawk and its serpent breakfast burned on a high-tension wire west of the Golden State Freeway near Calgrove Boulevard, fell to the brush below and ignited about an acre, said Capt. David Leary of the Los Angeles County Fire Department's Station 124 in Stevenson Ranch.

About 100 firefighters doused the 8 a.m. blaze within about 45 minutes, Leary said.

``Evidently, the hawk got himself some breakfast, flew on top of the high-tension tower and the snake dangling down hit the wire,'' Leary said. ``The electricity went through the snake and into the bird.''

The pair caught fire and fell to the ground, where firefighters found their remains.

The utility components are insulated and birds typically are safe when they land on them, Leary said. But the combined touch of the tower and the power line spelled disaster for Mother Nature.

``It was an amazing thing to see, the bird still clutching the snake,'' he said. Tuesday's fire was yet another small reminder that Santa Clarita could face a tough autumn fire season, officials said. Two years of relatively little rain following the 1998 El Nino deluge and the vegetation it produced have firefighters concerned that the dry plant life could feed devastating brush fires.

To help in the big fires, Canadian SuperScooper fixed-wing aircraft and a rotor-wing Heletanker will arrive in the Southland today under an annual lease program arranged by the county.

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Photo:

(color) Firefighters and camp crews mop up a small brush fire Tuesday morning along the Golden State Freeway near Calgrove Boulevard.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News