Fast-Moving Wildfire Forces Thousands to Evacuate North of Los Angeles
A rapidly spreading wildfire, dubbed the Hughes Fire, erupted in the mountains north of Los Angeles, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate and sending a large plume of smoke into the sky, Al Jazeera reports.
The blaze, which broke out near Castaic Lake, has already consumed an estimated 8.1 square miles of trees and brush.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department issued urgent evacuation orders, emphasizing the “immediate threat to life” as the fire raged through the area, located about 50 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. An estimated 18,600 people live in the affected community.
Television news footage showed police urging residents to leave, while firefighters on the ground and in water-dropping aircraft battled the wind-driven flames, attempting to prevent them from spreading southward toward more populated areas. Strong, dry Santa Ana winds were fueling the fire, pushing smoke and embers ahead of the flames.
Crews from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Angeles National Forest are working to contain the blaze from the ground. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but it occurred during “red flag” conditions, characterized by strong winds and low humidity, which create ideal circumstances for rapid fire spread.
The Hughes Fire is the latest to hit the Los Angeles region, which has already been ravaged by the Eaton and Palisades fires. While those fires are now under greater control, the new blaze has renewed concerns about the region’s vulnerability to wildfires.
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), the Eaton Fire, which burned through 5,674 hectares (14,021 acres) east of Los Angeles, is 91 percent contained. The larger Palisades Fire, consuming 9,489 hectares (23,448 acres) on the west side of the city, is almost 70 percent contained.
The earlier Eaton and Palisades fires, which began on January 7, killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures. At the height of those fires, 180,000 people were under evacuation orders.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimates damage and economic losses from the fires around Los Angeles will exceed $250 billion.
US President Donald Trump, who previously criticized the response to the earlier wildfires, has announced that he will travel to the city on Friday to assess the situation.
