Officials warn Castaic Lake residents in Los Angeles County of an “immediate threat to life,” as Southern California faces a red-flag warning for extreme fire risk due to strong, dry winds.
A new wildfire ignited north of Los Angeles on Wednesday, quickly expanding to over 9,400 acres (38 square kilometers) due to strong winds and dry vegetation. This rapid spread has led to mandatory evacuation orders affecting more than 31,000 residents.
The Hughes fire, located approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Los Angeles, has further strained local firefighting resources, which had recently managed to gain control over two significant fires in the metropolitan area. Within just a few hours on Wednesday, the new blaze grew to two-thirds the size of the Eaton Fire, one of the two major wildfires that have impacted the Los Angeles region. Officials alerted residents in the Castaic Lake area of Los Angeles County about an “immediate threat to life,” while much of Southern California remained under a red-flag warning due to the heightened risk of fire from strong, dry winds.
Approximately 31,000 individuals were placed under mandatory evacuation orders, with an additional 23,000 receiving evacuation warnings, as reported by Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna during a press conference.
The Angeles National Forest announced the closure of its entire 700,000-acre (2,800-sq-km) park located in the San Gabriel Mountains to visitors. In response to the red-flag warning, around 1,100 firefighters were deployed across Southern California in preparation for rapidly spreading fires, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone indicated that over 4,000 firefighters were actively engaged in combating the Hughes Fire.
Southern California has experienced a lack of significant rainfall for the past nine months, leading to perilous conditions; however, some rain is expected from Saturday through Monday, which could provide essential support to firefighters. Footage from KTLA television showed helicopters retrieving water from a lake to combat the fire, while fixed-wing aircraft released fire retardant over the hills. Flames reached the edge of the water.
Interstate 5, the primary north-south highway in the western United States, was temporarily closed in the Grapevine mountain pass area due to reduced visibility caused by smoke, as stated by the California Highway Patrol. Fortunately, firefighters managed to control enough of the blaze to allow the highway to reopen, Marrone confirmed.
As the new fire continued to burn, the two deadly fires that have affected Los Angeles since January 7 were reported to be under better control, according to Cal Fire.
The Eaton Fire, which has burned 14,021 acres (57 square km) east of Los Angeles, is currently 91% contained. In contrast, the larger Palisades Fire, affecting 23,448 acres (95 square km) on the west side of Los Angeles, is 68% contained.
Containment refers to the proportion of a fire’s perimeter that has been secured by firefighting efforts.
Since their ignition on January 7, these two fires have scorched an area comparable to that of Washington, D.C., resulting in 28 fatalities and causing damage to or destruction of nearly 16,000 structures, according to Cal Fire. At one point, evacuation orders were issued for approximately 180,000 individuals, as reported by Los Angeles County officials. Private forecasting service AccuWeather estimates that the damage and economic impact could exceed $250 billion.
In the past two weeks, a number of smaller wildfires in Southern California have been successfully extinguished or largely controlled.
