La Verne Fire Contained, Arson Investigation Begins

Firefighters are watching for flare-ups from a 95-acre brush fire believed to have been deliberately set near a golf course in La Verne, a fire official said.

The non-injury blaze was reported at 3:47 p.m. Sunday at 6100 Stephens Ranch Road, northeast of the Marshall Canyon Golf Course near La Verne, and was fully contained around 8 p.m., said Capt. Mike Brown of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Brown said arson investigators determined the blaze was the product of arson because it started in two places near a dirt road close to the golf course. Two separate ignition points were discovered, investigators said.

"They have ruled that it is arson," Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Frank Garrido told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

About 130 firefighters from the county and the U.S. Forest Service as well as several helicopters battled the blaze, which threatened three homes east of the golf course, Brown said.

The location of the fire -- in a valley filled with dense vegetation -- made the work challenging for firefighters. "This is hillside terrain," Garrido told the newspaper. "The fire is running uphill in very heavy, thick
brush."

No home evacuations were ordered, Brown said, but residents of threatened homes were advised to stay indoors.

Helicopters filled their water tanks from the nearby Live Oak Reservoir, Brown said.  

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