Roundup: One found dead in wildfire area in Santa Clarita

A body has been found inside a burned out car near the wildfire in Santa Clarita that made several homes damaged or destroyed and 1,500 threatened, authorities said.

The body was found at 7:20 p.m. Saturday, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Deputy Lisa Jansen.

"The victim was pronounced dead at the scene," Jansen said.

Investigators have now learned the car in which the body was found was parked in the driveway of a house, according to Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez. She noted that there appears to be no crime involved in this death. But the reason for death needs to be determined by an autopsy, she added.

Several homes have burned and more than 1,500 homes are still threatened by the massive blaze, which took over about 22,000 acres (about 89 square km) as of Saturday night, according to United States Forest Service and the sheriff's department.

The fire also destroyed a western town set on the Sable Ranch, a well-known and well-used filming location, according to authorities.

The blaze remains at 10 percent contained, according to officials with the Angeles National Forest.

An estimated 100 commercial buildings also were threatened and one was destroyed, according to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station.

Evacuations were ordered Saturday afternoon from Lost Canyon to the Bear Divide and Placerita Canyon to the Nature Center to Sand Canyon.

Earlier, between 200 and 300 homes in the Little Tujunga area were under a mandatory evacuation order, according to the sheriff's department. And fewer than 100 people were evacuated from the area.

One firefighter suffered a minor hand injury battling the blaze, according to fire authority. No other injuries have been reported as a result of the blaze, which began at 2:11 p.m. Friday, near Sand Canyon Road, along the northbound Antelope Valley (14) Freeway.

Authorities said Saturday night that 1,919 firefighters were battling the flames from the ground and air and firefighters from around the Southland were arriving to assist them.

The Los Angeles Fire Department sent a water-dropping helicopter to join four from the county fire department. Eight fixed-wing firefighting aircraft also were utilized to attack the blaze, according to authorities.

Residents have reported smoke-filled air and falling ash in many parts of the greater Los Angeles area as a result of the fire.

A smoke advisory was issued through midnight Sunday for the San Fernando, San Gabriel and Santa Clarita valleys, the San Gabriel Mountains, the Pomona/Walnut Valley, and the central Los Angeles area, as smoke from the fire drifted southeast toward Los Angeles.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District said those areas were susceptible to direct smoke impact and unhealthy air quality, and recommended that people stay indoors and avoid using swamp coolers and wood-burning appliances. Endit