Lost Hills blaze caused by teens

Two 15-year-old boys admitted to Lost Hills Sheriff's deputies that they accidentally started the blaze Aug. 26 that consumed about 100 acres of brush land between Liberty Canyon and Lost Hills roads in Agoura Hills and Calabasas.

The boys, whose names were not released due to their age, live in West Hills and Calabasas, Sgt. Jeff Rice said.

"They were doing something they shouldn't have been doing," Rice said. They were playing with fireworks.

Late in the afternoon of Aug. 27, the boys voluntarily turned themselves in to deputy personnel at Lost Hills Sheriff's station, admitting they were responsible for the fire that threatened dozens of homes in the area and required some families to evacuate when the flames reached their backyards.

Witnesses had seen the boys running from the scene, Rice said. They were subsequently detained and booked for "recklessly causing a fire" and were eventually released to the custody of their parents.

Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Arson/Explosives Detail quickly identified where the fire had started and that it was caused by "firework incendiary devices."

Arson detectives recovered the fireworks near where the blaze had started.

The case has been turned over to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office for consideration.

"Fortunately, no one was injured and no structures were damaged," Rice said.

—Stephanie Bertholdo