Los Angeles crews battle new brush fire near Bel-Air

Fire crews stopped the progress of a new 40-acre brush fire burning in Los Angeles near Interstate 405, the Getty Museum and Bel-Air early Thursday morning, officials said.

Los Angeles firefighters issued an evacuation warning after the fire, called the Sepulveda Fire, broke out Wednesday evening in Sepulveda Pass. Firefighters raised the alert a few hours later. “Air support and other aggressive actions have been deployed to fight a new fire just east of the 405,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.

On social media, photos and videos of drivers stopping along the roads to photograph the fire were published. The 405 is the busiest highway in the country.

The same area experienced a devastating wildfire in 2017, when the Skirball Fire burned 475 acres and destroyed several homes, including one owned by Rupert Murdoch.

The Sepulveda fire adds even more concern to a city where the Palisades and Eaton fires are still burning, two weeks after destroying entire neighborhoods and killing at least 27 people.

On Wednesday, as fire conditions remained dangerous in the area, another fire, the Hughes Fire, broke out and quickly spread to more than 10,000 acres near Santa Clarita, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. This fire forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate and several schools and businesses to temporarily close.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles area expected more humidity and dry desert winds that fueled the fires, with winds peaking around 9 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. Over the weekend, weather conditions are expected to change and Los Angeles could see some rain, the service said.

Nazaneen Ghaffar reports contributed.