A new wildfire in the US is raging in the mountainous region north of Los Angeles | Environmental news
Firefighting aircraft and ground crews are battling a fast-moving wildfire in the Castaic Lake area north of Los Angeles.
AND fast forest fire erupted in the mountains north of Los Angeles and ripped through an estimated 21 square kilometers (8.1 sq mi) of trees and brush, prompting thousands of evacuation orders for local residents and sending a huge plume of dark smoke into the sky.
Firefighters said Wednesday that the Hughes Fire in the Castaic Lake area of Los Angeles County — located about 80 km (50 miles) north of the city of Los Angeles — prompted evacuation orders for local residents amid “imminent danger to life” from the blaze. .
It is estimated that around 18,600 people live in the local community ferocious flames devoured trees and brush on the hillsides around Castaic Lake.
Robert Jensen of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department urged anyone in the area affected by the fire to leave immediately to avoid the same fate as some in the devastating fires that hit the Eaton and Palisades area of Los Angeles, as well as other areas, which killed 28 people and left thousands homeless.
“We saw the devastation caused by people not following those orders in the Palisades and Eaton fires,” Jensen said.
“I don’t want to see that here in our community either. If you have been ordered to evacuate, please get out,” he said.
US television news showed police driving around the Castaica area urging people to leave as crews on the ground and in water-dropping aircraft struggled to keep the wind-driven fire from moving south towards more populated communities in the foothills.
The fire was fanned by strong, dry Santa Ana winds that swept through the area, pushing a huge plume of smoke and embers in front of the flames.
Fire crews from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Angeles National Forest were also attacking the fire from the ground.
It was not immediately known what caused the fire, but it happened during red flag fire conditions when meteorologists say strong winds and low humidity create conditions for fires to spread quickly.
The University of California, San Diego shared dramatic footage of the start of the Hughes Fire and its rapid growth on its ALERTCalifornia online platform, showing a huge plume of smoke rapidly developing as the fire spreads across the hills.
Start and rapid growth #HughesFire in Los Angeles County seen from ALERCalifornia’s Whitaker Ridge camera. Check live conditions on multiple cameras at https://t.co/Azu4PbZNY7 and look at @Angeles_NF and @LACOFD for updates. pic.twitter.com/JyKOpyY2jx
— ALERTCalifornia (@ALERTCalifornia) January 22, 2025
US President Donald Trump, who criticized the response to earlier wildfires in the Los Angeles area during his inauguration speech on Monday, said he would travel to the city on Friday.
As the new fire raged in Castaica, the Eaton and Palisades fires — which also ravaged Los Angeles — were brought under greater control, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.
The Eaton Fire, which has consumed 5,674 hectares (14,021 acres) east of Los Angeles, is now 91 percent contained, while the larger Palisades Fire, which has consumed 9,489 hectares (23,448 acres) on the west side of Los Angeles, is nearly 70 percent contained. authorities said.
Since the Eaton and Palisades fires broke out on Jan. 7, they have killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, Cal Fire said.
At one point during the height of the fire, 180,000 people were under evacuation orders, according to Los Angeles County officials.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimates damage and economic losses from the fires around Los Angeles at more than $250 billion.
