Freeway Fire burning in Cajon Pass is extinguished

CAJON PASS >> A fire ignited Friday afternoon near the 15 Freeway, burning about an acre of brush and causing traffic delays as one northbound lane was closed to make way for fire trucks.

The so-called Freeway Fire was reported about 4:47 p.m. and burned east of the northbound lanes between Highway 138 and Oak Hills Road, according to Carol Underhill, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.

The northbound truck lane, the easternmost lane, was closed from about 5:20 p.m. to just before 6 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. At 5 p.m. the agency reported smoke was crossing the freeway.

The Forest Service announced the fire had been contained at one acre at about 6:45 p.m.

Planes were called to make overhead drops, but they were canceled before arriving on scene, Underhill said.

Firefighters had gotten hoses around the blaze by 5:35 p.m., she said.

Underhill called it a “pretty quick response, which is pretty impressive because there was so much traffic on the freeway.”

That stretch of freeway is usually heavily-trafficked on Friday evenings as people head to Las Vegas at the end of their work week, and the lane closure compounded the congestion, Underhill said.