Fire near Castaic shuts down 5 Freeway amid triple-digit heat

A wildfire prompted the closure of all lanes of the 5 Freeway on Wednesday afternoon near Castaic as triple-digit temperatures hit Southern California, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

The Route fire was first reported just after noon and was burning along the freeway near Lake Hughes Road. The blaze was about 60 acres as of 12:45 p.m., but had more than doubled to 165 acres by 2:30 p.m. No structures were threatened.

One person was taken to a hospital, the Fire Department said, but it was unclear whether that person was a civilian or firefighter.

All lanes of the freeway were closed with southbound traffic being diverted at Templin Highway and northbound traffic being diverted at Parker Road, California Highway Patrol said.

Temperatures in the area were reaching 110 degrees by midday with 12% humidity, according to the National Weather Service.

Footage from KTLA-TV Channel 5 showed flames on both sides of the southbound lanes with smoke rising from rolling, dry hills. The southbound and northbound lanes are separated by a large hill.

A large tanker could be seen dropping fire retardant along the fire line.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as additional information becomes available.