Toppled Vehicle Ignites Brush Fire
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CHATSWORTH — An off-road vehicle overturned and burst into flames Monday on a hillside above the Simi Valley Freeway, igniting one of two small brush fires in the northern part of the county.
The driver was not injured in the 4:50 p.m. accident near the De Soto Avenue exit from the freeway, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department, but rush-hour traffic was congested for a few hours afterward by motorists slowing to get a better view of the flames.
Two water-dropping helicopters and 50 firefighters on the ground put the fire out in about half an hour, he said.
The other blaze burned for about an hour in a dry, grassy area near Sand Canyon and Soledad Canyon in Santa Clarita. It was extinguished at 5:30 p.m. by 100 firefighters, according to Inspector Emil Moldovan of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
No homes or businesses were threatened by either fire, authorities said.
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