With its picturesque vistas in the hillsides near Santa Clarita, the quiet and sprawling Sable Ranch has long been a backdrop for western films, reality television shows and music videos.
But this weekend, the popular 450-acre movie ranch off Sand Canyon Road — where shows such as “The A-Team,” and “24” and the 1993 movie “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” have been filmed — was the scene of real-life destruction, starring the Sand fire and a cast of employees who tried their best to save it from the flames.
Most of the property was destroyed. The Old West town set is an unrecognizable pile of ash. The hillsides are charred. The stables are gone. So is the water tower.
“It’s devastating,” said Kevin Whitney, the ranch manager who’s worked there for 13 years. “This was my second home.”
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Cal Fire firefighters meet near the massive movie set of “Ultimate Beastmaster,” a Netflix series, that survived the Sand fire, which tore through Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita.
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Derek Hunt, the owner of Sable Ranch, sits in an old car that was splattered with pink fire retardant as fire crews battled the Sand fire on the movie ranch.
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A building and an old car were sprayed with pink fire retardant at the Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita as fire crews battled the Sand fire.
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Dan Holloway, left, a safety officer with the Rancho Cucamonga Fire Department, and Kevin Whitney, Sable Ranch’s manager, talk about the ferocity of flames that struck movie sets when the Sand fire tore through Sable Ranch.
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A vintage truck sits covered in pink fire retardant at the movie ranch in Santa Clarita.
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The set of “Utopia,” a reality show that aired on Fox in 2014, was destroyed when the Sand fire tore through Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita.
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Cows mill about parts of the Sable Ranch that survived the Sand fire.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Fire crews on Wednesday continued to gain the upper hand on the massive Sand fire, which erupted Friday along the 14 Freeway near Sand Canyon Road and has been blamed for one man’s death and the destruction of at least 18 structures.
The fire had burned 38,346 acres in and around the Angeles National Forest as of Wednesday afternoon and was 40% contained.
Meanwhile, the Soberanes fire continued to rage along California’s scenic Central Coast north of Big Sur, killing a heavy equipment operator and triggering hiker rescues and the closure of state parks in the area. That blaze, which also started Friday, had burned 23,568 acres and was only 10% contained.
At Sable Ranch, the exhausted staff is still trying to process the devastation.
Derek Hunt, the owner, grew up on the ranch, which his grandfather, who owned a camera shop, purchased decades ago. For him, the Hollywood memories come easy.
Hunt smiles at mental images of actor Rodney Dangerfield driving a tractor across the property and actor Billy Bob Thornton walking through it. And he excitedly ticks off some of the many shows that have been filmed there: “Airwolf,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “Bones,” “Wipeout.”
Hunt and his staff were working Friday when the Sand fire started nearby. They sprayed buildings down using their own water trucks, made some fire breaks and stayed up all night on fire watch, just to be safe.
But on Saturday, the fire exploded.
“Before you knew it, we were surrounded by fire,” Hunt said.
Hunt didn’t leave. His workers fought back the flames in the triple-digit heat even before the firefighters arrived. No one complained.
“Nobody wanted to leave because when you come to work at a place like this, outside in nature, around all this beautiful stuff, it grows on you,” he said. “Places like this are in your blood and in your heart and in your soul.”
Whitney, the ranch manager, was with his kids Saturday when the flames got close. He tried to get onto the property and was devastated when authorities stopped him, saying it was too dangerous.
“It was killing me,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep all Saturday night.”
When he finally got there Sunday, Whitney hopped into a water truck and rushed to a cabin in the rear of the property, trying to salvage it. As he sprayed it down, the blaze plowed toward him.
“You could hear it,” he said. “You could hear the trees crackling. You could feel the heat. But you couldn’t see the fire. So we pulled the fire hose out, ran it through the cabin, started squirting it and within 10 seconds … you could actually see the flames. It was just a wall coming down toward us.”
Whitney sped away as the fire hurtled down the hill. Hours later, he learned his efforts had worked. The cabin was spared.
Driving an all-terrain vehicle through the ranch Wednesday, Whitney passed a small wooden sign, shaped like an arrow, affixed to a light post that read: “Happiness.” It pointed toward the blackened hillsides.
Whitney clutched a big cup of iced coffee. He usually doesn’t drink the stuff — but having your workplace burn down will change things. He said he has tried to scrub the smell of smoke off his body, but he can’t get rid of it.
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Aurora Harris Heller, 62, left, comforts the owner of a home destroyed in the Sand fire in Santa Clarita.
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The charred remains of a statue stand on a drive on North Iron Canyon Road, where two homes were destroyed in the Sand fire in Santa Clarita.
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Firefighters battle a spot fire along Soledad Canyon Road near Agua Dulce on Tuesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters are enveloped in thick smoke while working along Soledad Canyon Road near Agua Dulce on Tuesday.
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Two charred vehicles can be seen on Iron Canyon Road, near where a person died when the Sand fire swept through Santa Clarita.
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One of two homes destroyed by the Sand fire is reduced to rubble and ash on Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.
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Aurora Harris Heller is distraught over the death of her neighbor, who was killed when the Sand fire tore through Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.
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Riverside firefighter Mark Powell douses a smoldering structure on Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.
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Robert Heller walks back with his neighbor’s horses after evacuation orders were lifted for the residents of Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.
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Heat from flames pushes firefighters back as they monitor a flare-up along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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A helicopter drops fire retardant on a ridge above Placerita Canyon Road in Santa Clarita as firefighters work to gain the upper hand on the Sand fire on Monday.
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Los Angeles County firefighters Kevin Bowers, left, and Pat Hanrahan are watchful as a plume of smoke builds in the mountains along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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A firefighting jumbo jet drops fire retardant on a ridgeline above Placerita Canyon Road in Santa Clarita on Monday.
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A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy checks identification of residents returning to their homes on Sand Canyon Road on Monday after evacuations were lifted.
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A burned-out machine shop destroyed in the Sand fire sits below a plume of smoke along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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Smoke blocks out the sun as flames consume dry brush near Soledad Canyon Road in the mountains near Acton on Monday.
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Burned-out vehicles are left behind on Oak Springs Canyon Road in Canyon Country.
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Los Angeles County firefighter Ralph Solis of Engine 127 sprays foam onto a tree still smoldering along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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Stephanie Spalter looks at the remnants of a machine shop that was destroyed in the Sand fire near Acton on Monday.
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Fire flares up in brush along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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Los Angeles County firefighter engineer Pat Hanrahan from Engine 208 works to put out a smoldering fire burning in equipment behind a home along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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Los Angeles County firefighter Roman Legaspi from Engine 208 works to douse hot spots behind buildings along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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The husks of mailboxes litter the charred ground on Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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U.S. Forest Service firefighters Edward Perez, left, Jovanny Cruz and Derek Meyers work to douse hot spots.
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Los Angeles County fire crews put out hot spots in a storage building that burned along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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An intense fire left behind burned remnants along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton.
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Nearly 3,000 firefighters converge on Golden Valley High School, the Sand fire command center, for deployment orders in Santa Clarita on Monday morning.
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Smoke from the Sand fire obscures the view in Santa Clarita on Monday morning.
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A helicopter makes a water drop on the Sand fire along Placerita Canyon Road near Santa Clarita on Sunday night. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters remove brush as they battle the Sand fire along Placerita Canyon Road near Santa Clarita on Sunday night.
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Firefighters battle the Sand fire along Placerita Canyon Road near Santa Clarita on Sunday night.
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Onlookers gather at a shopping mall along Golden Valley Road in Santa Clarita to watch the Sand fire burn in the hills above the city on Sunday night.
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Evacuated residents watch as the Sand fire burns through the San Gabriel Mountains on Sunday.
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A pall of smoke from the Sand fire hangs over the desert mountains as the sun sets near Acton.
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An L.A. County helicopter makes a water drop along Placerita Canyon Road as the Sand fire burns in the San Gabriel Mountains on Sunday.
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Traffic from a shopping mall along Golden Valley Road in Santa Clarita is diverted away from the flames of the Sand fire as it burns in the hills above the city Sunday night.
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A firefighter keeps watch on the path of the Sand fire as it burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton.
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A firefighter sets a backfire as the Sand fire burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday.
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The Sand fire burns along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton, threatening homes and other structures in its way.
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The Sand fire burns along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton.
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The wildfire in the Santa Clarita Valley area has grown to more than 22,000 acres, prompting new evacuations.
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A firefighter keeps watch on the path of the Sand fire as it burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton.
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The brush fire in the Santa Clarita Valley area has burned 18 homes.
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A firetruck is parked in front of a home in the Santa Clarita Valley.
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A firefighting helicopter drops water on the Sand fire as it burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters battle the Sand fire along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Ryan Alaniz, 6, waits for his parents to load the family car and evacuate the KOA Campground along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A firefighter sets backfires along a ridge as the Sand fire burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday.
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A firefighting helicopter hovers close to the flames from the Sand fire as it burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday.
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The husk of a burned-out residence sits along Little Tujunga Canyon Road.
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Vehicles and other objects consumed by the Sand Fire litter Little Tujunga Canyon Road.
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Sand Canyon evacuees wait to be allowed back to their homes.
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Firefighters put out hot spots at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita after the Sand fire swept through the area on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters chop down burned vegetation and put out hot spots at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita on Sunday.
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A charred tree stands over the ruins of a home along Little Tujunga Canyon Road near Santa Clarita.
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A burned-out shell is all that remains of a home along Little Tujunga Canyon Road near Santa Clarita after the Sand fire swept through the area on Sunday.
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A smoldering home sits off the 26700 block of Iron Canyon Road on Sunday morning.
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Los Angeles County firefighter Anders Heinstedt mops up hot spots at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita on Sunday. The ranch is used for movie and TV production. Several of the sets, including one for Fox’s “Utopia,” were destroyed by the Sand fire.
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Buildings and cars are drenched in Phos-Chek, a pink fire retardant, at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita.
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Rob Chauvie says he was helping his sister evacuate during the Sand fire when he was doused with Phos-Chek, a fire-retardant, in Santa Clarita.
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Sand fire evacuees pass the time at Hart High School in Newhall on Sunday.
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A house burns along Little Tujunga Canyon Road as the Sand fire rages near Santa Clarita.
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AJ Moberg, 15, waters down the roof of his family’s house Saturday as a plane dumping fire retardant flies overhead.
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A burned van and trailer sit along Little Tujunga Canyon Road.
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A truck and a house burn along Little Tujunga Canyon Road.
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Seth Moberg, 16, gathers belongings from his family’s house on Sand Canyon Road as the Sand fire approaches in Santa Clarita.
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AJ Moberg, 15, waters down the roof of his family’s house on Sanf Canyon Road as the Sand fire approaches in Santa Clarita on Saturday.
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A view of the massive cloud from the Sand fire, as seen from Alameda and 6th streets in Los Angeles.
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Women evacuate horses along Sand Canyon Road as the Sand fire approaches in Santa Clarita. Hundreds of other animals also were evacuated.
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Flames from the Sand fire burn a hillside near Little Tujunga Canyon on Saturday.
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AJ Moberg, 15, waters down the roof of his family’s house on Sand Canyon Road.
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Charlie Erasmo takes pictures of water-dropping helicopters as they come in for water to battle the Sand fire in Santa Clarita on Saturday.
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A water-dropping helicopter makes a run as the Sand fire burns in Santa Clarita on Saturday morning.
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L.A. County firefighter Joshua Miramontes with Engine 82 works the fast-growing brush fire east of Santa Clarita.
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A helicopter drops water on the fast-growing brush fire east of Santa Clarita. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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The Santa Clarita wildfire is visible from the Top of Topanga Overlook.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Whitney’s tires kicked up ash as he drove. Antique cars and horseshoes were splashed with bright-pink fire retardant.
Whitney pointed to a spot on the charred ground and laughed: That’s where the stuntman Steve-O strapped himself into a portable toilet that was catapulted through the air with a crane in the movie “Jackass 3D.”
Whitney pulled up to what was once the set of the Fox reality series “Utopia,” where contestants tried to live off the land, with no electricity and no plumbing. There used to be a roughly 3,000-square-foot building where the contestants stayed — but on Wednesday, all that was left were nails poking through the ash on the ground. Whitney heard the whole thing burned down in about eight minutes.
Still, the staff is trying to stay positive. They managed to save houses on the property, including Hunt’s home and the adobe hacienda where the 1980 movie “Motel Hell” was filmed.
And the set for Netflix’s new competition series “Ultimate Beastmaster” — featuring a gigantic metal beast showing its teeth — survived. Even the flames, Hunt joked, couldn’t kill the beast, and curious sheriff’s deputies and firefighters have stopped in all week to pose for pictures with it.
“We’re going to make everything OK,” Hunt said. “We’re going to fix it and prepare it and get it all back together.”
hailey.branson@latimes.com
Twitter: @haileybranson
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