Danny Fire Shuts the 5 Through the Grapevine, Forces Evacuations

The brush fire near Gorman grew to about 150 acres as CHP closed both directions of Interstate 5 at Smokey Bear Road.

The Danny Fire started on the shoulder of Interstate 5 near Gorman, and by Thursday evening it had closed the Grapevine in both directions.

Flames were first reported on the freeway's right shoulder near Smokey Bear Road, according to the Angeles National Forest, ABC7 reported. By evening the brush fire had burned about 150 acres, the forest said, according to NBC Los Angeles. People living near Bald Mountain were under an evacuation order.

It grew fast. Shortly after it broke out, a little before 5 p.m., Cal Fire's incident page put it at about 104 acres with no containment, FOX 11 reported. Cal Fire had it at 141 acres by 5:50 p.m., CBS Los Angeles reported.

The California Highway Patrol closed the 5 both ways at Smokey Bear Road and also shut westbound Highway 138 where it leads onto the freeway, CBS Los Angeles reported. Southbound traffic was stopped at Highway 138, and CHP later said officers would escort vehicles sitting in the No. 3 and 4 southbound lanes past the fire, NBC Los Angeles reported.

The evacuation order covers zone GOR-E004-A, FOX 11 reported: the area near Bald Mountain between the 5 and Old Ridge Road. NBC Los Angeles reported that warnings reach farther, covering land north of Hungry Valley Road, the stretch west of the freeway out to the Los Angeles County line, and areas north of Lancaster Road, west of Three Points. The boundaries for each zone are on the Genasys Protect evacuation map. The cause is under investigation.

This stretch of the 5 was last closed by fire in August. The Ridge Fire broke out on West Gorman Post Road on Aug. 7, ran downhill to the freeway and crossed it, ABC7 reported. CHP shut the northbound lanes and then the southbound ones, and traffic backed up for hours.

Some drivers ran out of gas while they waited. ABC7 reported that one family heading to Merced got off the freeway with six miles of range left and reached a station that had no gas. "We had a full tank of gas until we were stuck sitting there, idly, for four hours," Amber Lucky told ABC7.

That fire burned 1,108 acres, but the road came back fast: southbound lanes reopened a few hours after the full closure, and northbound lanes about an hour after that. On Thursday night, CHP said it would open the northbound No. 1 lane only on and off, so firefighters could get through.

Source: foxla.com, retrieved October 9, 2026. Other sources: abc7.com, nbclosangeles.com, CBS News, abc7.com (2).

From the Handbook: Evacuation Warning vs. Order in L.A. County: All Seven Terms, Decoded