Fire crews are making progress on blunting the threat from a major new blaze north of Los Angeles that forced students to evacuate and prompted inmates to shelter in place.
The Hughes Fire erupted before 11am local time on Wednesday and has expanded quickly to more than 9,000 acres, leading to evacuation orders and warnings covering a broad area around Castaic Lake. The blaze remains uncontained but Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said the quick mobilisation of resources including aircraft has given fire crews the “upper hand”.
“We were able to amass a lot of fire resources early on to change what this fire looks like,” Mr Marrone said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. “The situation that we’re in today is much different than the situation we were in 16 days ago,” referring to the start of the Palisades and Eaton fires.
The wildfire has stoked fresh fears in a region already devastated by two weeks of deadly infernos that have killed at least 28 people, destroyed nearly 15,000 structures – most of them homes – and left thousands displaced. The Palisades and Eaton fires, which caused the bulk of the destruction, are still burning but are now more controlled, at 70 per cent and 95 per cent containment, respectively.
About 50,000 people are under evacuation orders and warnings, LA County sheriff Robert Luna said at the press conference on Wednesday. Students from three local middle and elementary schools were evacuated to a grocery store parking lot and sports complex for parents to pick them up, the California Highway Patrol Newhall said in a statement on X.
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Authorities reopened a section of Interstate 5, though several off ramps remain closed. About 45 miles away, a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway – a second major north-south artery into and out of LA – remains shut as authorities continue work to contain and clean up the Palisades fire.
Winds of 60km/h were fanning the fire, according to the National Weather Service. They are expected to get progressively worse overnight, said Rich Bann, a forecaster with the US Weather Prediction Center. Humidity across the region, which has not seen rain for weeks, is very low and strong gusts of wind are likely through Thursday.
“Obviously this just creates all kinds of havoc with wildland fire behaviour,” Mr Bann said. “This creates conditions where you get that explosive fire growth.”
Critical fire weather conditions affecting more than 8 million people are forecast to last through Thursday, according to the US Storm Prediction Center. Forecast models say the worst winds will occur on Thursday. Red flag warnings will be in effect through Friday for most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, the US National Weather Service said in an advisory.
The winds can whip flames across the landscape causing the fires to spread, but they can also pick up embers and transport them miles away starting new blazes, Mr Bann warned.
There is a chance that light rain will fall across Southern California starting on Friday, but firefighters will have to get through with little help from nature in the meantime.
Cal Fire battalion chief David Acuna said the Hughes Fire is “primarily burning through brush and grass” in dry terrain. Cal Fire had crews and equipment prepositioned in the Castaic area, which were “immediately applied for use”, he said, but the fire has still grown quickly as winds begin to pick up.
“We’re just kind of buckled in,” Acuna said. “We’ve been going for a little over two weeks now.” – Bloomberg
