Azusa Residents To Be Escorted Home To Get Items For Continued Evacuation

AZUSA (CBSLA.com) — Residents evacuated by the San Gabriel Complex fire will be allowed to return to their homes Thursday, some only for a short time to retrieve personal items for a continued evacuation.

Azusa officials announced Thursday that police will conduct escorted entries into Mountain Cove to allow residents for just a half hour in order to retrieve enough personal items for as many as three days.

The evacuees of 534 homes in the BrookRidge area north of Royal Oaks Drive, east of Green Bank Avenue and west of Encanto Parkway were allowed to return home with their small pets Wednesday, but other evacuations in the city remained in effect.

The San Gabriel Complex fire, made up of the combined Reservoir Fire and Fish Fire, has burned a combined 5,235 acres and is just 15 percent contained, according to the US Forest Service. Both fires erupted Monday within 90 minutes and four miles of each other, but the two fires have not yet merged.

Firefighters were also directed to maintain a 1,000-foot-radius stay-away zone in an area where a baby bald eagle is developing in a nest. The nest is not in harm's way due to the fires, according to the Los Angeles Times, but the stay-away zone was established to eliminate the noise and turbulence that water-dumping aircraft produces, since it could disturb the young eagle and hinder its development.

The baby bald eagle is believed to be between 10 to 12 weeks old and was initially spotted in April. It is not an endangered species, but bald eagles are still protected by the government.

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