A blaze that broke out along the 5 Freeway in the Castaic area has burned about 10 acres and at least five homes were lost, officials said.
The blaze, originally dubbed the Old Fire, then renamed to Tick Branch 10, apparently ignited near the Lake Hughes road exit of the highway and soon burned into a neighborhood.
Flames burned a path from the freeway to the backs of homes, aerial video from Sky5 showed. The blaze prompted the closure of all northbound lanes of the 5 Freeway at Hasley Canyon Road, according to the California Highway Patrol. Southbound lanes were closed at Templin Highway, but then were reopened.
As flames licked backyards, residents could be seen trying to fight the blaze with garden hoses, aerial video showed.
Firefighters were battling the blaze from the ground and air.
No evacuations had been issued in the fire as of 4:30 p.m. and the blaze was 0% contained.
The blaze was burning during a critical fire weather period in much of Southern California. Los Angeles and Ventura counties were under a red flag and high wind warning, while wind and heat advisories were also issued by the National Weather Service.
Tick Branch 10 ignited as Los Angeles County firefighters were battling the destructive Tick Fire, which has erupted to 5,000 acres in nearby Canyon Country and destroyed several homes. That blaze prompted several evacuations.
Elsewhere in the Santa Clarita Valley area, the Val Verde fire damaged four mobile homes, L.A. County Fire Department Chief Daryl Osby said in an evening news conference. That blaze began near San Martinez Chiquito Canyon roads in the Val Verde area, which is east of Santa Clarita.
All three fires burning in the valley are being managed by the Tick Fire incident command, Osby said.
High winds are expected to remain and may get worse Thursday night, the chief said.
