Thousands under evacuation orders as fresh blazes erupt in California
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The Sepulveda Fire burning near the 405 freeway on Jan. 23 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
Fresh California wildfires ignited in Southern California on Thursday during "critical" fire weather, leaving tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders.
The big picture: The Hughes Fire, north of Los Angeles, and San Diego County's Border 2 Fire were among the biggest threats as the destructive Eaton and Palisades fires continued to burn during the fourth straight day of red flag warnings amid dry, windy conditions.
State of play: The Hughes Fire grew to 10,396 acres by Thursday night and was 36% contained after igniting a day earlier in Los Angeles County and spreading across over 5,000 acres to Ventura County — making it the biggest and fastest-spreading wildfire since the Eaton and Palisades fires erupted on Jan. 7.
- LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a Wednesday briefing that some 31,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders and a further 23,000 were under evacuation warnings in the fire that's near the popular water reservoir Castaic Lake, some 40 miles from the Palisades and Eaton fires.
- The blaze in the San Gabriel Mountains prompted authorities on Wednesday to temporarily close all northbound lanes on Interstate 5 from just north of State Route 126 and issue smoke, windblown dust and ash advisories.
In San Diego County, the Border 2 Fire was burning out of control across some 600 acres after exploding in size following its ignition about 2:30pm Thursday.
- The county has seen at least seven fires this week, some of which prompted since-lifted evacuation orders. However, Axios San Diego's Kate Murphy notes this blaze is by far the biggest.
Zoom in: Other wildfires that started on Thursday included the Sepulveda Fire, which triggered evacuation warnings after igniting around 12:30am near LA's Getty Center and the UCLA campus.
- The warnings were later lifted as firefighters managed to get the blaze to 60% containment over 45 acres despite facing dry, warm and gusty conditions from Santa Ana winds.
- The Laguna Fire ignited in Ventura County later Thursday morning and was at 70% containment over 94 acres.
Meanwhile, firefighters continued tackling the destructive and deadly Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County despite the challenging conditions.
- The Palisades Fire was burning across 23,448 acres at 75% containment on Wednesday night.
- The Eaton Fire remained unchanged from Wednesday, across 14,021 acres at 95% containment.
Between the lines: This extreme weather event is partly related to the Arctic blast that's been impacting most of the Lower 48 states, with cold air surging into the Great Basin helping to fuel dry, offshore winds across Southern California.
- The region is suffering from hydroclimate whiplash worsened by human-caused climate change, having seen two wet winters followed by a bone-dry, unusually hot spring, summer and fall.
- Many parts of Southern California have had their driest start to the wet season on record. Only 0.16 inches of rain has fallen in LA since May 6.
- Much of the region has been experiencing "moderate drought" conditions, per the U.S. Drought Monitor.
What's next: A cooling trend was expected to begin on Friday and "turn significantly cooler over the weekend as a cold storm system moves over the region," per an NWS LA forecast discussion.
- LA County on X urged residents to "prepare for potential flooding, mudslides & debris run-off" over the weekend due to "an increased chance of mud & debris flow in recent burn areas."
More from Axios:
- How to safely clean toxic wildfire ash
- Climate change plays key contributing role in LA fires
- Why fire hydrants ran dry as wildfires ravaged Los Angeles
Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
