Kenneth Fire in West Hills being investigated as arson
LOS ANGELES - As firefighters are stretched thin battling several fires across Los Angeles County, a new fire sparked Thursday afternoon in West Hills.
The fire sparked around 2:30 p.m. near Victory Blvd. and County Oak Rd. in the West Hills/ Hidden Hills area.
As of Friday, the Kenneth fire burned 1,000 acres, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. The fire is 50% contained.
It began in the city of LA and quickly spread to Ventura County.
According to LAPD, the fire is being investigated as arson.
A person was detained by a group of Woodland Hills residents Thursday night on the 21700 block of Ybarra Road, but according to LAPD Assistant Chief Dominic Choi, there wasn't enough evidence to arrest the man for arson or suspicion of arson.
The man was, however, arrested on suspicion of a felony probation violation.
Residents say they used zipties to hold him until police arrived. Residents saw him with a blowtorch attempting to set fire to Christmas trees and garbage cans.
The case is still under investigation.
MANDATORY EVACUATIONS
Shortly before 5:30 p.m. Thursday, all mandatory orders were downgraded to an evacuation warning, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Those mandatory evacuation orders included Vanowen St. south to Burbank Blvd. County Lane Road east to E. Valley Circle Blvd.
West Hills fire triggers mandatory evacuations
An evacuation warning has now been issued due to the Kennith Fire near West Hills, affecting the area bordered by Ingomar and Saticoy Streets south to Burbank Boulevard, from Valley Circle Boulevard east to Woodlake Avenue. A mandatory evacuation was announced earlier for Vanowen south to Burbank Boulevard, from County Lane Road east to Valley Circle Boulevard.
EVACUATION WARNINGS
The previous evacuation warnings were lifted around 5:30 p.m Thursday. Those included areas bordered by: Ingomar St. / Saticoy St. south to Burbank Blvd., and Valley Circle Blvd. east to Woodlake Ave.
Meanwhile, in Ventura County, evacuation warnings were lifted at 7 p.m. Thursday for the Oak Park area near Kanan Road and Agoura Road, east of Kanan Road to Deer Hill and the Bell Canyon community.
Fire officials say the fire is now burning solely in Ventura County.
An interactive map can be viewed here.
CURFEW
Los Angeles County has issued a mandatory curfew for any evacuation order and evacuation order areas in the cities of Los Angeles, Malibu and Santa Monica and any unincorporated areas of the county from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily until the order is lifted.