A bear found up a tree in a Valencia neighborhood Friday morning has been safely darted, harnessed and placed in a truck by firefighters.

“He filled up the whole back of the pickup,” said resident Jan Lynch.

“He was a big boy.”

Firefighters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department used a ladder to position under the bear and, once in position, used a tranquilizing dart to sedate the animal.

“They kept moving the ladder so that when he was tranquilized he would land on it,” Lynch said.

At that point, the bear was on the ladder, accessible for firefighters.

The bear has been making its way through town and was seen up a tree in a Valencia neighborhood Friday morning.

Residents on Mill Valley Road and Avenida Frasca stood in the rain from a distance admiring the wild animal in the tree.

At 7 a.m., sheriff’s officials received a call from a resident who saw the bear near their home.

“We’ve been out here for a couple of hours,” Lynch said. “He (bear) is just hanging out in the olive tree.

“I saw the guy with the gun,” she said, referring to the tranquilizer gun.

The bear sighting Friday is about two miles from where a bear was spotted Tuesday around 11:30 p.m. on the 26000 block of Laguna Court in Valencia.

On Tuesday night, the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station watch commander “decided to send units into the area to ascertain the validity of the posts,” said Deputy Christopher Tomlinson of the SCV Sheriff’s Station.

But on Wednesday afternoon, the bear’s whereabouts were unknown, as well as on Thursday, according to sheriff’s officials.

“The goal is to protect them and help them make their way back to the wild,” said Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. “As a precaution, keep an eye on your small pets.”

Deputies remain in the area to monitor the situation, as well as to advise residents to stay indoors, and to make sure their pets are also safely indoors.

— Jim Holt contributed to this story.