LAFD Determines Cause of Skirball Brush Fire
For the past several days, members of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Arson-Counter-Terrorism Section have been investigating the cause of the Skirball Fire that broke out just before 5:00AM on Wednesday December 6, 2017.
LAFD investigators have determined the fire was caused by an illegal cooking fire at an encampment in a brush area adjacent to where Sepulveda Boulevard crosses under the San Diego (405) Freeway. At the time of the LAFD's arrival there were no indivdiuals present at the area of origin. At this time, there are no witnessess to the start of the fire, no suspects and no arrests have been made in connection to this fire.
LAFD Arson Section continues their investigation and the fire is believed to be unintentional.
The Skirball Fire burned more than 400 acres, destroyed six homes and damaged 12 others in the Bel-Air community. As of Wednesday, December 13, 2017, the fire was 90% contained with 69 fire personnel still working on scene to achieve 100% containment.
Approximately 90% of wildfires nationwide are human-caused, according to the National Park Service.
