CASTAIC, Calif. — More than 50,000 people were under evacuation orders or warnings Wednesday as a huge and fast-moving wildfire swept through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles, but fire officials said a rapid ground and air assault was giving them the upper hand.
The Hughes Fire broke out in the late morning and within six hours charred about 15 square miles (39 square kilometers) of trees and brush near Lake Castaic, a popular recreation area about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week. Though the region was under a red flag warning, winds were not as fast as they had been when those fires broke out, allowing for firefighting aircraft to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fire retardant.
“The situation that we’re in today is very different from the situation we were in 16 days ago,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Wednesday evening. There were no reported homes or other structures burned.
“This fire had a robust response today, and as you can see behind us, the responders are doing great work to try to contain this fire,” Joe Tyler, director of Cal Fire, said. “Certainly, we are not out of the woods yet.”
More than 31,000 people have been ordered to evacuate, and another 23,000 are under evacuation warnings, LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Parts of Interstate 5 that had been closed reopened Wednesday evening.
A 30-mile (48-kilometer) stretch of the major north-south artery had been closed for emergency vehicles, to move equipment and to prevent accidents due to smoke billowing across the freeway. Crews on the ground and in water-dropping aircraft tried to prevent the wind-driven fire from moving across the interstate and toward Castaic.
Marrone said that because winds were not as strong as they were two weeks ago, aircraft crews were able to drop fire retardant on the south side of the fire, where the flames were moving, he said. More than 4,000 firefighters were assigned to the fire, he said.
Winds in the area were gusting at 42 mph (67 kph) in the afternoon but were expected to increase to 60 mph (96 kph) by later in the evening and Thursday, the National Weather Service said on the social platform X.
Kayla Amara drove to Castaic’s Stonegate neighborhood to collect items from the home of a friend who had rushed to pick up her daughter at preschool. As Amara was packing the car, she learned the fire had exploded in size and decided to hose down the property.
“Other people are hosing down their houses, too. I hope there’s a house here to return to,” Amara said as police cars raced through the streets and flames engulfed trees on a hillside in the distance.
Amara, a nurse who lives in nearby Valencia, said she’s been on edge for weeks as major blazes devastated Southern California.
20,000 ordered to evacuate as fast-moving wildfire imperils homes north of Los Angeles
“It’s been stressful with those other fires, but now that this one is close to home it’s just super stressful,” she said.
To the south, Los Angeles officials began to prepare for potential rain even as some residents were allowed to return to the charred Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas. Gusty weather was expected to last through Thursday and precipitation was possible starting Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
