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Did a movie shoot spark Santa Clarita wildfire? Truth behind rumors of 'loud explosion' that left 4 injured

Three burn victims were taken to a local trauma center with 'additional injuries'. Official units that responded to the fire were faced with a quarter-acre brush fire that was reportedly going uphill

Three people have been "critically injured" after a movie set explosion led to a wildfire near Los Angeles. As for what movie set this occurred on, no news has been revealed on the production or its title. 

A fourth victim was said to have driven themself to the hospital for injuries, as well, according to latest reports. Meanwhile, in an update, The Hollywood reporter reported that Los Angeles County Fire Department public information officer Jonathan Matheny said that they are "unsure of how the rumor of it being a movie shoot got out." He added, "There's no evidence leading us in that direction thus far."

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What was the cause of the explosion?

It has been reported that the cause of the explosion was a “pyrotechnic malfunction” on the movie set that was located in a city north of LA called Santa Clarita. The LA Fire Department was called on February 2 afternoon to the incident.

A tweet from the Sheriff's office read, "An active brush fire has been reported on the 25100 block of Rye Canyon Loop in Valencia after reports of a loud explosion. Fire crews and hazmat resources are currently conducting an investigation. Please stay clear of the area." 

Reports also revealed that the location of the fire "matches" a popular movie filming location, the Southern California Innovation Park, according to the Santa Clarita Film Office website. However, the city has already confirmed that filming was not permitted at the location that was given by fire officials, according to economic development associate Evan Thomason.

The explosion happened in the Rye Canyon Loop and ended up sparking a wildfire that led its way to a whole acre before it was later put out, according to a Daily Mail report. This, according to reports, happened just before 5 in the evening local time. Official units that responded to the fire were faced with a quarter-acre brush fire that was reportedly going uphill. The now dubbed "Rye Fire" was put out by 5.20 pm local time by the time it reached a whole acre.

How many were injured?

As of now, it has been revealed that three burn victims are being taken to a local trauma center with "additional injuries" according to what Ed Pickett, the Los Angeles County Fire Department Supervisor told The Signal. He also said that they don't know what caused it and that they are conducting an investigation right now. Supervising Fire Dispatcher Martin Rangel also said that "Initial reports are that it was an explosion at a movie set." 

Bystanders thought it was an earthquake

The Signal reported that a woman named Amy Mader who lives near the park heard the explosion and said that it "felt almost like an earthquake". She said, "I was just working from home … and there was this loud boom, and I thought it felt (as) if something were to have hit your house, like a crane or something weird. I felt it through the walls.”

She later found out that there were flames close to where she lived, "There were helicopters everywhere, just low flying … and dropping water. I think they got the fire put out pretty fast," she added.

One user posted two pictures writing, "Explosive accident on a movie set in Santa Clarita: a pyrotechnic malfunction resulted in 3 people being burned and a small brush fire starting on the hillside. Fire is out but three people suffered serious burns  @CBSLA @Patharveynews @JeffVaughn." The account for Santa Clarita Incidents also tweeted, "Fire crews on the ground at the actual SFX storage container."

Variety Film also tweeted a shot of the live news showing images of the fire: "Explosion on Film Set in Santa Clarita Starts Brush Fire, Critically Injures 3." L.A. Daily News also posted an image of a helicopter dousing the fires while reporting the news. "3 critically burned in explosion at Santa Clarita movie set," read the tweet.