Air quality regulators have ordered a private landfill in Castaic to take immediate steps to reduce a putrid odor that has prompted more than a thousand complaints from nearby residents. On Tuesday, the South Coast Air Quality Management District sent an “order of abatement” to the owners of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill, which is located just south of the Val Verde community and west of Six Flags Magic Mountain. South Coast AQMD says the agency began receiving a large number of odor complaints in May. Investigators determined the stench was the result of elevated levels of sulfur, specifically ..read more

Crews battled a brush fire that ignited in Castaic on Tuesday night, shutting down roads near the area. Firefighters first responded to the blaze, named the “Dry Fire,” around 8 p.m. as the flames continued spreading toward Castaic Lake. At the time, the flames were at a moderate rate of speed and grew from three acres in size to around 14 acres by 9 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Firefighters work to extinguish the “Dry Fire,” as the flames continued spreading toward Castaic Lake on July 11, 2023. (OnScene.TV) Firefighters work to extinguish the “Dry Fire,” as th ..read more

Police are searching for an at-risk teen who disappeared in Castaic on April 3. The teenager was identified as Milton Eduardo Kingsli Nunez Jr., 18, by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He was last spotted on the 9600 block of Hunstock Street around noontime, deputies said. Nunez is described as a Hispanic male standing 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 200 pounds, with curly brown shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. He has freckles on his cheeks and scars on his hands. He was last seen wearing a black hoodie, jeans, and black shoes. Loved ones said Nunez has made suicidal statements ..read more

The rain may be gone from Southern California, but the impacts on travel continue. The southbound 5 Freeway north of Castaic and south of Gorman will be closed Saturday and Sunday nights after a landslide destroyed the shoulder of the roadway. The northbound lanes will remain open. The closure affects all southbound lanes from Vista Del Lago Road to Templin Highway, Caltrans said on Twitter, and it will be in effect from 10 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday and again from 11 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday. The off-ramps at Vista Del Lago and Smokey Bear roads will remain open, but the on-ramps will ..read more

A dramatic video captured an RV tumbling off an embankment and swept into a river in Castaic on Saturday. The RV was the latest victim of the winter storm pummeling Southern California over the weekend. Video captured by a neighbor shows an RV tumbling backward as the ground underneath gave way. Three other motorhomes suffered a similar fate, falling into and getting swept away by the Santa Clara River. Fifteen trailers were evacuated from the Valencia Travel Village as the destruction began late Friday night. The incident has left neighbors a bit rattled, wondering what further erosion might ..read more

A large slope slide has led to the closure of two lanes of the northbound 5 Freeway in Castaic. The slide appears to have destroyed part of the road and caused a large traffic slowdown, as shown in an image posted to Twitter by Caltrans. The two lanes are closed from Templin Highway to three miles south of the highway, and they will remain closed for an "unknown duration," Caltrans added. For information, visit Caltrans' website. Another road closure was reported in Agoura Hills by the California Highway Patrol. All lanes of Piuma Road west of David Brown Overlook were closed by a rock slide ..read more

Authorities have identified the driver of a big rig that led deputies on a slow-speed chase that ended in the Santa Clarita Valley with the truck consumed by flames on Thursday. At about 12:30 p.m., deputies from the Kern County Sheriff's Office were called to the 15800 block of Edgewood Way in Frazier Park for reports that Kris Souza was making "bizarre statements," but he fled in a white Volvo semi-truck before authorities arrived, the Sheriff's Office said in a Friday news release ..read more

The driver of a stolen big rig who led authorities on a slow-speed pursuit along the 5 Freeway Thursday afternoon surrendered after the cab of the truck caught fire. The vehicle was reported stolen out of the Las Vegas area, and Kern County officials notified the California Highway Patrol of the chase around 12:50 p.m. A stolen big rig is engulfed in flames following a pursuit along the 5 Freeway in the Santa Clarita Valley on Nov. 3, 2022. (KTLA) The driver was in the Newhall area around 2:40 p.m. and was going around 10 mph while at least three patrol cars followed, aerial video from Sky5 sh ..read more

The search for a 39-year-old Mid-City mother who has been missing for more than a month has taken detectives to a landfill in Castaic on Monday morning, police said. Investigators served a search warrant to excavate part of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill, located at 29201 Henry Mayo Drive, as they look for the apparent remains of Heidi Planck and any related evidence in the case, according to a Los Angeles Police Department news release. Planck's last known sighting was on Oct. 17, when she was captured on a video walking her dog in downtown Los Angeles. The dog was later discovered on the 29th ..read more

As hot and dry conditions persist in parts of Southern California, fire crews are continuing their battle against the Route Fire near Castaic Monday. The fire erupted Saturday afternoon near the 5 Freeway and Templin Highway, eventually jumping the freeway and threatening structures as it consumed hundreds of acres on dry hillsides over the weekend. "The first units on scene immediately reported that the fire was spotting on the west side of Interstate-5, so essentially we had two fires going," Forest Service spokesman John Miller said. The blaze held at 462 acre overnight with containment sti ..read more