Columbia Fire

broke out in the Antelope Valley on Wednesday afternoon, quickly consuming more than 350 acres of desert Mojave Desert grassland habitat.Los Angeles County Fire first was reported the fire at 4 p.m. when it had already burned 50 acres. Within an hour it grew to 350 acres near the 14 Freeway and West Avenue C. It soon stalled, according to L.A. County Fire public information officer Sheila Kelliher Berkoh.

Evacuations had been ordered and no homes were threatened as of Wednesday evening, according to the Fire Department.The National Weather Service said winds in the region are relatively low this afternoon and will likely stay calm overnight. Those conditions could help crews battle the fire on flat ground.Most of the larger fires that have burned in the area over the past 50 years have been located in the hills, not the flats as this fire is.

Fires have become increasingly common in desert over the past decade, due in large part to invasive grasses bridging the gap between native plants that'd otherwise burn every couple hundred years. Just last year, a record breaking fire destroyed long lived joshua trees and threatened endangered desert tortoise habitat out in the Mojave.

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