[Update: 1:00 p.m.] Authorities have extinguished a fire caused by a vehicle that went over the side of the road on Malibu Canyon, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Malibu Canyon remains completely closed between Mulholland Highway and Pacific Coast Highway as search and rescue efforts are still underway for the victim involved in the accident that sparked the canyon fire.
Additional road closures on Piuma Road and Civic Center Drive have commuters traveling through Topanga Canyon, Encinal Canyon and Kanan Road.
“There’s no information on the driver of the vehicle,” said Sgt. Shawn Ruda of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station. “They’re doing search and rescue now. It’s pretty bad terrain, that’s why it’s taking so long.”
The story continues to develop.
[Update: 12:10 p.m.] According to Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Mora, the fire has spread to two acres of light to heavy brush and continues to build moving uphill to the north.
“If it’s building uphill, it’s going to go faster,” Mora explained. “Light [brush] is fueled by vapor quickly and they spread faster … the actual spread just depends on the weather, the topography and the terrain itself.”
Currently, 180 L.A. County Fire Department personnel are on scene.
The car that started the fire fell 500 feet with one passenger in the vehicle, who sustained unknown injuries. According to Mora, a rescue was attempted but there is no update as to whether the victim of the accident survived.
There are no containment figures for the fire.
Malibu Canyon Road is closed from Piuma Road to Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu due to a brush fire, according to The City of Malibu.
The fire was caused by a car that went over the side of the canyon just south of the recently reopened Malibu Canyon Road tunnel, City of Malibu Emergency Services Coordinator Brad Davis told The Malibu Times.
“It’s in the brush and heading up the hill,” Davis said of the fire.
Emergency services are en route to the blaze.
This is a developing story.
