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New fires erupt in Southern California prompting evacuation orders
The region faced a fourth straight day of critical fire weather, with the Hughes, Sepulveda, and Laguna fires erupting this week.
Hughes fire from Santa Clarita. / Amala Gaddamadugu
Southern California residents remained on edge on Jan. 23 morning as three new fires—Hughes, Sepulveda and Laguna fires—raged on the fourth consecutive day of red flag fire weather warnings.
The Hughes Fire erupted on Jan.22 near Castaic Lake, a reservoir situated around 45 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The fire spread with alarming speed, consuming more than 10,000 acres, resulting in urgent evacuation orders as the threat to life escalated. The Hughes fire was 24 percent contained as of Jan.23 morning. It has burned more than 10,176 acres.
In addition, firefighters successfully contained the Sepulveda fire, which started Jan.22 night near the 405 freeway and the Getty Center, at 45 acres by early Jan.23 morning. Multiple helicopters dropped water and the ground crew took care of the rest. The Los Angeles Fire Department reported no structural damage from the blaze and confirmed firefighters were working through the night to completely extinguish the fire and any remaining hot spots.
“The fire was primarily topography-driven but it had the Santa Ana winds pushing it up that hill. We were very, very fortunate to have the aircraft from the Palisades Fire available to us as well as additional fire resources that we had pre-deployed to respond quickly and put this fire into an area that confined it to 45 acres,” said L.A. Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore.
The Sepulveda fire that started on Jan.22 at 11pm resulted in evacuation orders being sent out in parts of the upscale Bel Air neighborhood. Additionally, the neighborhoods of Westwood and Brentwood were on high alert.
“I was about to go to bed, when I saw that the Sepulveda fire had erupted. While I wasn’t in the level 2 evacuation zone (level 2 means to evacuate as soon as possible), I quickly packed a bag just in case I had to evacuate. Thankfully, around 1 am, we were notified that forward progress of the fire had been stopped. At that time, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief and finally get some rest. I’m so grateful to the brave firefighters that are working tirelessly around the clock to keep our community safe,” mentioned Prarthana Rajashekar, an entertainment lawyer and resident of Westwood.
Furthermore, the Laguna fire ignited near Camarillo on Jan.23 morning at approximately 9:40 am, posing a danger to the California State University Channel Islands campus. The rapidly spreading fire scorched 50 acres of land within two hours. However, firefighters successfully halted its advance. Evacuation orders for both Cal State Channel Islands and University Glen were subsequently downgraded to less urgent warnings around noon.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) has pre-positioned over 1,100 firefighters across Southern California in anticipation of critical fire weather conditions. Simultaneously, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone has confirmed that over 4,000 firefighters are actively engaged in battling the Hughes Fire. Red flag warnings will persist until Jan.24.
Southern California, grappling with drought and wildfires, is expecting much-needed rain this weekend. But the arrival of rain also brings the risk of mudslides and other associated challenges. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order to speed up cleanup efforts and prevent fire-related debris from flowing into waterways. Bass’ executive order hopes “to shore up burn areas and stem the flow of toxic debris” and “prevent additional damage to areas already ravaged by fire and also to protect our watershed, beaches and ocean from toxic runoff.”
Palisades Fire from Culver City. / Pallavi Mehra
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