Hughes Fire: Residents Begin To Return Home As Firefighters Gain Upper Hand On Blaze North Of L.A. – Updated
UPDATED with the latest: With conditions improving on the fire lines and containment growing, evacuation orders and warnings were dramatically scaled back today around the Hughes Fire near Castaic Lake.
While evacuation orders remained in place for areas around the immediate perimeter of the fire, other nearby neighborhoods were reduced from evacuation orders to warnings, while warnings were lifted in most other areas, including in the bulk of the Castaic community itself. See map below for remaining Evacuation Orders (in red) and Evacuation Warnings (in yellow).
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Sheriff’s officials urged residents returning to their homes to do so with caution, noting continued poor air quality to due ash and smoke, and the dangers of fire debris. Residents were urged to wear N-95 masks, limit outdoor activities and keep their windows and doors closed.
As of Thursday morning, the fire was mapped at 10,176 acres. Angeles National Forest officials, who were battling the fire alongside Los Angeles County crews, said the fire was 24% contained as of Thursday afternoon.
Red flag Warnings related to high fire danger will be in place until 10 a.m. Friday for the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the San Gabriel Mountains, the 5 and 14 Freeway corridors, the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, the Malibu Coast, Calabasas and Agoura Hills.
Forecasters said the winds will peak Thursday afternoon, gusting from 35 to 50 mph, with possibly local gusts up to 65 mph. Humidity will also remain low, at less than 10% — at least until the weekend, when rain is expected.
PREVIOUSLY on Wednesday: State and local officials held a late afternoon news conference to update Angelenos on the status of the Hughes Fire.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone reported the blaze north of Los Angeles had grown to 9,435 acres as of 5 p.m.
LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said that 31,000 people were under evacuation orders and 25,000 under evacuation warnings. The most recent evacuation warnings were added on the blaze’s western flank toward Santa Paula and south of there toward Moorpark. See map below.
Luna assured those who had left their homes that his department had pulled in additional deputies to patrol the area and prevent looting.
Also impacted was CBS’ S.W.A.T., which films in nearby Santa Clarita. Production of the police action series starring Shemar Moore was put on pause as the fire grew..
Luna also announced that the 5 Freeway would be reopened. According to another official, the freeway had been closed because smoke had made driving impossible.
“We needed to control access and egress,” said Luna.
Marrone announced that the Red Flag Warning that was to expire tomorrow had been extended through 10 a.m. Friday am for most of L.A. and Ventura counties.
“The fire is being driven by wind, said Marrone. “The fire is really difficult to contain, although we are getting the upper hand.”
Marrone noted that as of the early evening there were no reports of structures damaged or injuries.
He indicated that, with the fire still just 5% contained, the tasks overnight will be to work at perimeter containment and to put out hot spots.
The smoke from the fire was being driven far and wide by the winds, prompting the South Coast Air Quality Management District to issued a smoke advisory. Smoke from the blaze will likely most directly impact the San Gabriel Mountains, the 5 Freeway corridor and Santa Clarita. Areas such as the San Fernando Valley, Malibu and Pacific Palisades may also be affected. Some of the worst of it was in Ventura County, prompting that region’s Air Pollution Control District to issue its own air quality alert earlier in the day for Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Oxnard, Piru, Santa Paula, Simi Valley and Ventura.
PREVIOUSLY AT 2:03 P.M.: Just when the winds seemed to be dying down, a new blaze has erupted in fire-ravaged Los Angeles. Dubbed the Hughes Fire, the wildfire broke out around 10:42 am and went from 50-100 acres to 500-1000 acres at noon to more than 8,000 acres by 4 p.m, according to Cal Fire. That’s according to local TV outlets, all of which preempted regular coverage to focus on the conflagration.
The Hughes Fire, as it’s being called, forced the closure of all northbound lanes of the Golden State (5) Freeway hjust north of state Route 126. Motorists are being detoured to SR 126, with the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway also available as an alternate route. It was at 0% containment. The California Highway Patrol was also working to close the southbound Golden State (5) Freeway at Grapevine Road. That means the entire freeway will be closed in both directions between Grapevine Road and state Route 126 due to the Hughes Fire.
That closure made the fact that law enforcement officials were evacuating 19,000 people all the more difficult. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said another 16,000 people were under evacuation warnings as of early afternoon.
Luna said the sheriff’s Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic was under an evacuation order and about 476 inmates were being moved to a neighboring facility. In an interview with KCAL9, Luna said the department consulted with the fire department, and the thousands of inmates being held at
two other jails in the area were sheltering in place despite being in an evacuation zone.
The smoke plume dominated the northern horizon as seen in a photo, below, taken from near Magic Mountain, which is closed today. The park is protected by the Santa Clara River and the 5 Freeway, two natural fire breaks to the north and east, respectively, though there is not likely much water in the river. Also to the south of the blaze is Santa Clarita, home to many entertainment industry workers hard-hit by the strikes.
At midday, one local fire official told KCAL crews anticipate “a high level of spread,” with winds locally to to 32 mph, funneling smoke southwest toward more populated areas. By 1:30 p.m., there was a gust near Castaic to 39 mph. Magic Mountain Truck Trail, a nearby spot that’s usually among the windiest in L.A. County, saw a gust to 65 mph.
At 3 p.m., the National Weather Service put relative Humidity 7% — up from 5% — with NE to ENE winds gusting to 42 mph. Those gusts are expected to increase to 50 mph this afternoon and evening, then to 60 mph later tonight and Thursday.
The NWS noontime forecast for Thursday had winds picking up, again from the northeast, to 15-20 mph with gusts to 30 mph early and becoming 25-35 mph with gusts to 45 mph by 10 a.m. Those winds were spreading the fire’s smoke far and wide, choking communities 40 miles downwind, such as Camarillo and Oxnard. As a result, the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District issued an air quality alert for everyone in Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Oxnard, Piru, Santa Paula, Simi Valley and Ventura. See video of the air quality in Oxnard below.
All areas in the immediate vicinity of Castaic Lake were under mandatory evacuation orders. Evacuation warnings are in place for a large circular area surrounding the lake, including the Sloan Canyon, Charlie Canyon and Bitter Canyon areas, and stretching nearly to Sandberg on the north, and almost as far east of Green Valley. Mandatory evacuation warnings were later expanded well north of Castaic Lake, west to the Golden State (5) Freeway and stretching as far south of Tapia Canyon Road. Those were expanded to the southwest, into the heart of Castaic. The Castaic Sports Complex, also under a mandatory evacuation order, is being used as a fire command post. Evacuation warnings were also extended toward Newhall Ranch Road, the Santa Clarita area and into Ventura County, reaching into the Lake Piru area west of Castaic.
Evacuation warnings due to the Hughes Fire were in place as far south as Highway 126 and north to Highway 138. That’s just north of Magic Mountain. Warnings are also in place to the Ventura County line just south of Pyramid Lake. See map from Watch Duty below.
With red flag conditions forecast through 8 p.m. Thursday, firefighters face winds channeled down local canyons and very low humidity.
Here’s the NWS forecast for the area:
High confidence in extremely dry conditions with little to no overnight recoveries through Friday. Northeast winds will be increasing over the next few hours, especially over lower elevations. For tonight, high confidence in winds increasing over higher elevations, but low confidence on lower elevations due to complicated terrain effects. Some lower elevation areas will stay windy while others will be sheltered. High confidence in winds increasing and peaking everywhere Thursday morning and afternoon.
While its still a long way off, the NWS forecast sees “significant change” for the weekend. “Confidence is high for a cold air mass moving over the region with high to likely chance of rain.” Totals are expected to be between .25 and .50 inches. That may not sound like much, but it’s welcome in what is thus far the driest winter on record for the region. The forecast includes a chance of thunderstorms in the L.A. area, most likely between Sunday afternoon and evening. Last year lightning sparked thousands of fires in California.
“At this point, there is a 10-20 percent chance of thunderstorms sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday evening, but there is not enough confidence in the timing to place it in any given forecast period,” forecasters said Wednesday.
At 12:30 p.m., more than a dozen water- and retardant-dropping aircraft were on the scene, including the county’s two leased Super Scooper fixed-wing planes. Firefighters from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and Angeles National Forest were attacking the blaze.
Elsewhere, the Palisades Fire stands at 23,448 acres and was 68% contained as of this morning. There have been at least 11 related deaths, 6,662 structures destroyed and 890 damaged. The Eaton Fire is at 14,021 acres and 91% contained. There have been at least at least 17 related deaths, 9,418 structures destroyed and 1,073 damaged.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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