California fires: The Kenneth fire threatens homes near Calabasas

A fire has broken out on the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties and is spreading rapidly, threatening several hillsides in the Calabasas and Hidden Hills areas.

The Kenneth fire ignited next to a trailhead near Victory Boulevard around 2:30 p.m

Fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, the fire had consumed nearly 800 acres of brush by 5 p.m. and was burning south, officials said. It burned through open spaces and threatened homes in the Malibu Canyon area north of the 101 Freeway near Calabasas.

Firefighters were on the scene and water drops were made with air.

“The challenging terrain and persistent winds are complicating suppression activities, necessitating increased vigilance by residents and compliance with directives from local authorities,” said incident managers.

The LAFD has issued a mandatory evacuation for areas around Vanowen Street south to Burbank Boulevard and County Lane Road east to Valley Circle Boulevard.

Evacuation warnings were issued for the area between Valley Circle and Woodlake Avenue and in the Oak Park area near Kanan Road and Agoura Road, east of Kanan Road to Deer Hill.

Just before 4 p.m., residents across Los Angeles — from Long Beach to Echo Park and beyond — mistakenly received an evacuation alert on their phones. A targeted warning was sent around 4:19 p.m

“Disregard final evacuation warning,” the warning read. “It was only for Kenneth Fire.”

Christina Lazarte, a 22-year-old from Van Nuys, was headed to the Victory Trailhead with her father, Julio — hoping to capture the scenic view with their new camera. She arrived around 2:50 p.m. and began to smell smoke and noticed the flames.

“We saw that the fire hardly started. It wasn’t much of a spread, but when it was windy it started to spread more,” Lazarte said. “The smell was really horrible.

She said police and firefighters were soon on the scene – evacuating people from the area.

“There were still hikers out there before the fire even started, as I heard one of the people say when we were kicked out,” she said. – There was a lot of smoke that spread.

The new fire comes as firefighters continue to battle several other regional fires, including the nearly 20,000-acre Palisades fire and the Eaton fire in Altadena, which has charred about 13,700 acres.