A wind-driven wildfire along Interstate 5 near the Grapevine exploded to more than 12,000 acres by early Sunday and had charted a path south toward the town of Castaic, prompting evacuations throughout the area, officials said. The Post fire, which originated Saturday in Gorman in northwestern Los Angeles County, was only 2% contained Sunday afternoon as high winds, low humidity and steep terrain hampered firefighting efforts.
Meanwhile, firefighters were battling another brush fire in the San Bernardino County community of Hesperia that broke out after 6 p.m. Saturday in the 18000 block of North Highway 173. That fire has burned more than 1,300 acres and was 20% contained.
The Post Fire
Fire crews battle a hot spot on Orwin road.
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A water dropping helicopter fills it’s tank as efforts to fight the Post Fire continue.
Fire crews battle a hot spot.
Crews conduct a burn-out operation Sunday near Hungry Valley Road.
Members of the Little Tujunga Hot Shots at work.
Firefighters at work in Gorman.
The Post fire advances on structures in Gorman.
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As the fire spreads, experts are gauging the severity of this year’s fire season. A wet winter has nurtured a potentially heavy fuel load of thick grasses, which are drying as temperatures rise.
A smoldering hillside is left behind by the Post fire.
The Lisa Fire
CalFire drops water from a helicopter to battle the wind driven Lisa fire from the air in a canyon east of Moreno Valley on Sunday in Beaumont. As of 6:45pm the fire had burned 867 acres.
Robert Gauthier has been with the Los Angeles Times since 1994. He was the photographer for a project detailing the failings of an L.A. public hospital that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for public service. Before The Times, Gauthier worked at the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Escondido Times-Advocate and the Bernardo News in San Diego County, his hometown.
Jason Armond is a staff photographer at the Los Angeles Times. A native of North Carolina, he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received a bachelor’s in media and journalism. His work as a photographer and videographer has been recognized by the Hearst Journalism Awards, the White House News Photographers Assn. and the North Carolina College Media Assn. As a freelance visual journalist, his work has been featured in several publications before joining The Times.
Gina Ferazzi grew up in the small New England town of Longmeadow, Mass. She has been a staff photographer with the Los Angeles Times since 1994. Her photos are a part of the staff Pulitzer Prizes for Breaking News in 2016 for the San Bernardino terrorist attack and for the wildfires in 2004. She’s an all-around photographer covering assignments from Winter Olympics, presidential campaigns to local and national news events. Her video documentaries include stories on black tar heroin, health clinics, women priests and Marine suicide. A two-sport scholarship athlete at the University of Maine, Orono, she still holds the record for five goals in one field hockey game.