Several lanes of the 5 Freeway were shutdown in the Tejon Pass Thursday morning after a brush fire broke out in the hills next to the freeway.
The King fire began east of the 5 freeway just after 1 a.m., north of Pyramid Lake, near Smokey Bear Road and grew to 400 acres before sunrise, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The blaze was 5% contained by 6 a.m., according to a social media post from the department.
Authorities have closed on- and off-ramps at Smokey Bear and Vista del Lago roads in both directions and closed Old Ridge Route from Lake Hughes to Templin.
The California Highway Patrol also closed lanes along the freeway as firefighters battled the blaze. All lanes were temporarily shut down at one point, according to CHP incident logs. Several lanes near Smokey Bear Road were closed as of 6:30 a.m.
Evacuation warnings were issued for areas around Hungry Valley, Paradise Ranch and Gorman.
