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The Saddleridge fire has ripped through nearly 8,000 acres of Los Angeles County and is still burning across some areas, although firefighters are close to 50 percent containment, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).
Firefighters had contained 43% of the 7,965-acre Saddleridge fire as of Monday morning, according to a news release from the LAFD.
The fire, which began around 9 p.m. on Thursday, is entirely within LA County, the most populous county in the state of California and the entire United States, at about 10 million residents.
One civilian who lived in the area of the fire suffered cardiac arrest and later died at the hospital. Another man, LA Park Ranger Captain Alberto Torres, died in the hospital after having a heart attack on Friday while patrolling the parks that had been burned by the fire.
Three firefighters also suffered minor injuries while attempting to snuff out the blaze, according to authorities.
All evacuation orders for the area had been lifted by Saturday evening, and residents were free to return to their homes. The evacuation orders had affected people living in 23,000 homes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"As residents return home, we ask that they drive slowly and remain cautious of emergency personnel operating in the area," a release from officials said.
But ABC7 reported that officials with the South Coast Air Quality Management District still cautioned residents of the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Mountains and Santa Clarita Valley that the area's air quality would remain unhealthy through Monday.
Children and people who are sensitive to poor air quality should stay indoors "as much as possible even in areas where smoke, soot, or ash cannot be seen, or there is no smell of smoke," officials said.
As of this morning, the fire had destroyed 17 buildings and damaged 58—a comparatively small number of structures compared to the 17,627 that the LAFD said were once threatened by the fire.
The precise cause of the fire has not yet been determined, although it has been classified as a brush fire—that is, a fire that begins in "vegetation that is predominantly shrubs, brush and scrub growth," according to the National Park Service. However, residents of the neighborhood of Sylmar told local news outlets that they saw flames that might have become the Saddleridge fire at the base of a transmission tower near Saddle Ridge road late on Thursday, according to the LA Times.
