Authorities lifted all evacuation orders late Saturday night as firefighters halted the forward progress of a West Covina brush fire at 15 acres.
A night-flying helicopter made critical water drops to help ground crews contain the Galster fire, which broke out at 5:41 p.m. near Galster Wilderness Park and grew to an estimated 10- to 15-acre footprint.
As flames spread, local authorities requested evacuations for residential neighborhoods along Castle Rock Court and Westridge Road, according to Watch Duty, a nonprofit app that tracks wildfires. To keep the fire from advancing into the neighborhoods, incident command requested an additional five engine companies to reinforce the four hand crews and air support originally on scene.
Incident command released the helicopter just before 10 p.m.
The fire capped off a relentless afternoon for regional emergency crews, coming just hours after firefighters contained a 4-acre fire in nearby San Dimas and successfully controlled the massive 300-acre Lemon fire in a steep ravine south of Palmdale.
Lemon fire slows after burning 250 acres, but crews remain on scene