Firefighters Gain Ground Against Fires Burning In Los Angeles County
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Los Angeles school officials said Friday all San Fernando Valley and Bel-Air schools closed due to wildfires this week will reopen Monday.
Most evacuation orders have been lifted for three fires burning in Los Angeles County, even as brush continues to smolder in some areas.
The largest in Los Angeles County, the Creek Fire, is 40 percent contained after burning 15,323 acres. The wildfire forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate, and some returned home Thursday night to find nothing but charred debris where their houses once stood.
The fire destroyed five homes and 10 outbuildings, and damaged another eight homes and seven outbuildings.
The Rye Fire in Santa Clarita was 35 percent after having burned 6,049 acres. Cal Fire is predicting full containment of this blaze by next Friday.
Some residents of the tony Bel Air neighborhood alongside the 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass were allowed back home after the Skirball Fire was limited to 475 acres. Fire officials say the blaze is at 30 percent containment after destroying six structures and damaging 12 others.
All Los Angeles Unified School District schools in the San Fernando Valley and some on L.A.'s Westside -- a total of 265 district schools and charter schools -- were closed Thursday and will remain shuttered today. A full list of closed schools is available here.
To assist families affected by the closures, the LAUSD has set up special centers between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. today and Saturday, with meals will be available for students, at:
-- Byrd Middle School, 8501 Arleta Ave. in Sun Valley;
-- Reseda High School, 18230 Kittridge St. in Reseda; and
-- Palms Middle School, 10860 Woodbine St. in Palms.
Schools in Santa Monica were expected to open Friday, but Malibu schools will stay closed, district officials announced.
The Getty Center will reopen Friday, after staying closed for two days due to the smoke and later because of the Skirball Fire.
UCLA officials said university medical facilities remained open, and classes and campus activities were to resume at all four schools today.
Classes will resume Friday at Cal State Northridge after the campus was closed because of high winds and smoke in the San Fernando Valley affecting air quality and traffic conditions.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)