UPDATE: Monrovia Brush Fire Grows to 175 Acres, Mandatory Evacuations Ordered

UPDATE (9:44 p.m.): Evacuation orders have been lifted in most hillside neighborhoods.

UPDATE (6:18 p.m.): The fire is still estimated at 150 acres and spreading east as of 6 p.m., according to city spokeswoman Jennifer McClain.

The terrain has proved challenging to firefighters so the aerial attack is critical, McClain said.

"It's still spreading at a moderate rate," she said. "The problem is there are a lot of inaccessible areas."

Fire Chief Christopher Donovan still does not have an estimated time of containment, McClain said.

A rehabilitation area has been set up for first responders at Monrovia High School, McClain said.

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UPDATE (4:46 p.m.): The fire has burned an estimated 150 acres as of 4:30 p.m., City News Service reports.

"The growth of the fire from 18 acres to 150 acres has also forced fire officials to order mandatory evacuations from 15 Monrovia streets," Monrovia spokeswoman Jennifer McLain said.

The city posted the following list of neighborhoods under mandatory evacuation orders on its website:

• Crescent
• El Nido
• Highland from Foothill
• Franklin
• Scenic 400-500 blocks
• Cloverleaf, Lotone
• Hidden Valley
• Ridgeside
• Briar Cliff
• Golden Hills
• and everything west of Canyon Park North of Scenic.

There are now 65 fire engines, 6 hand crews, and additional resources responding, and one heat-related injury to a firefighter.

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UPDATE (3:57 p.m.): The fire has now burned about 90 acres and one firefighter is being treated for a heat-related injury, city spokeswoman Jennifer McLain said.

The fire is 10 percent contained but fire officials do not have an estimate for when they can achieve total containment. The Monrovia Fire Department may soon have fewer resources available because of another brush fire reported in Santa Clarita.

"There's just been a report of a brush fire in Santa Clarita so that depletes some of the resources we have here," McLain said.

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Previously:

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for several hillside neighborhoods in Monrovia as a brush fire above the city grew to 50 acres Saturday.

The fire was 10 percent contained as of 2:40 p.m., according to city spokeswoman Jennifer McClain.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for the following hillside neighborhoods: Heather Heights, Alta Vista Avenue, Melrose Avenue, Magnolia Avenue, Patricia Way, Hidden Valley Drive, Mesa Circle and Sky Way. Traffic is closed above Foothill Boulevard.

Monrovia Fire Chief Christopher Donovan said in a statement on Facebook that the fire should eventually be contained if winds remain calm.

"As long as we don't have the winds, we will be fine, but its not a Santa Ana day," Donovan wrote. "This is very old brush, over 55 years old, and a lot of fuel, but we have crews working very hard to contain the fire."

No structures have been damaged and there have been no reported injuries, McClain said. The Monrovia Community Center is being used as a shelter for evacuees.

The Los Angeles Fire Department sent a 25-person strike team to aid in the fire fight, according to the LAFD website. The fire is being referred to as the "Madison Fire," the site states. Firefighters from Arcadia, Glendale, Montebello, the U.S. Forest Service and the Los Angeles County Fire Department are also assisting.

Twenty-five fire trucks, about 125 firefighters and several helicopters were working to protect homes on the urban boundary in the wildlands of the steep San Gabriel Mountain foothills, adjacent to subdivisions and hillside homes in Arcadia and Monrovia, Donovan told City News Service.

--City News Service contributed to this report.