LA wildfires mapped: Hughes fire totals more than 10,000 acres as new blaze breaks out near U.S.-Mexico border
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California firefighters are working for a third day to extinguish the Hughes fire that erupted and engulfed more than 10,000 acres across Los Angeles.
At its most devastating, the flames raced across Castaic, a unincorporated community north of LA, at a speed of 23 football fields every minute.
Since January 7, the area has been plagued by two other massive wildfires, the Palisades and Eaton fires. More than 50,000 acres of southern Californian land has been torched, 28 lives lost and thousands of homes destroyed in just over two weeks.
As more than 4,000 firefighting personnel attempted to extinguish the Hughes fire a new brush fire exploded near the U.S.-Mexico border in the wilderness of San Diego County on Thursday afternoon.
On Friday morning, county Sheriff Kelly Martinez announced fresh evacuation orders and alerts, after the fast-moving blaze churned through more than 800 acres and was completely uncontained.
Where are the fires currently burning?
The rapidly-moving Hughes wildfire ignited just before 11 a.m. Wednesday and has engulfed the already charred region and, as of Friday, had singed almost 10,400 acres, and was 36 percent contained.
The fire broke out near Castaic Lake in Castaic, 16 miles north of Santa Clarita and 45 miles north of Los Angeles, and scorched 3,407 acres in less than two hours, according to Cal Fire. By 3 p.m., it had spread to 5,000 acres.
The wildfire burned through the immediate area around the reservoir, while smoke and haze shrouded the surrounding region, from California State Route 126 outside of Santa Clarita on the southern end to Lancaster Road in Sandberg on the northern end.
The area stretching from Piru in the west to Green Valley in the east is also engulfed in smoke.
A second blaze, the Sepulveda fire, erupted later on Wednesday at about 11 p.m. at Getty Center Drive exit in Bel Air. It continued to rage on the eastern side of the 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass – with media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s sprawling vineyard and winery perilously close to the flames.
According to the LAFD on Thursday morning, it was held at 40 acres with all “forward progress stopped,” as an estimated 200 firefighters work to mop up hotspots. Evacuation warnings were beginning lifted, with no structures damaged or injuries reported.
On Thursday afternoon, the Border 2 fire erupted in the hard-to-reach Otay Mountain wilderness. San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez announced fresh evacuation orders and alerts on Friday morning, after the conflagration torched more than 800 acres and was 0 percent contained.
“If you feel you are in danger, GO!,” the sheriff tweeted on Friday morning.
Hours earlier, the Laguna Fire erupted in Ventura County. By Friday morning, it was 70 percent contained after engulfing 94 acres.
The fires broke out after Santa Ana winds picked up Thursday, with peak gusts of up to 50 mph. The agency warned that winds combined with the dry conditions and low humidity could lead to “extreme fire behavior” and rapid fire growth. Temperatures began to decline on Friday morning as a cold storm system moved over the region, the NWS said.
Red flag warnings are in effect across Los Angeles and Venture counties, with the National Weather Service putting out a critical fire weather warning to remain in place through Friday.
Incoming rains and thunderstorms are expected over the weekend, with officials warning of potential flooding, mudslides and debris run-off in scorched areas. While snow is expected in southern California’s mountainous regions above 3000 to 4000 feet.
So called “whiplash”-style swings between dry and wet conditions can also create broad swathes of dry, tinder-like vegetation that can easily catch fire.
What have the impacts been?
As of Friday, no fatalities have been reported and no structures have been destroyed by the three major new wildfires.
But many lives have already been upended.
Evacuation orders were issued to more than 31,000 people in the vicitinty of the the two wildfires. A further 23,000 were also put under evacuation warnings, meaning they should be prepared to leave if told to do so.
All five schools in the Castaic Union School District – teaching almost 1,900 students – were closed on Thursday with Superintendent Bob Brauneisen noting “poor air quality and the need to assess the safety of our facilities”.
Segments of I-5 freeway temporarily closed after the fire broke out, before they began to reopen at about 5 p.m on Wednesday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
More than 4,500 inmates from Pitchess Detention Center were evacuated and moved to another facility due to the fire.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would “provide the federal government with whatever it needs to extinguish this fire.”
