LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), a member-supported public media network. Hear our news on-air at our partner site:
A fire was already burning in the Castaic area when an Amtrak bus nearby on the 5 Freeway caught fire--"exploded" according to news reports--and spread flames into the grass. The Sloan fire has reached heights of 3,000 feet elevation and is persisting in the 103 degree weather of the Santa Clarita Valley. However, good progress is being made, according to the Angeles National Forest's Twitter. Even without the fire, the Santa Clarita Valley and San Gabriel Mountains and Valley were and will continue to be under an air advisory alert for sensitive individuals (heart disease, asthma or other respiratory disease). Over in Monterey Park against he 710 freeway, a small 8 acre fire, called the Mcbride Fire, broke out, but was knockedown around 2:30, reported LA County's Fire Department Twitter.