An explosive new wildfire broke out north of Los Angeles on Wednesday, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes and jangling nerves in an area still reeling from two deadly blazes.
Terrible flames engulfed the hills near Caustic Lake, spreading rapidly to engulf more than 9,400 acres in just a few hours.
The fire was fueled by strong, dry Santa Ana winds that swept through the area, pushing a large plume of smoke.
About 31,000 people were ordered to evacuate around the lake, which is located 56 kilometers north of Los Angeles and near the city of Santa Clarita.
“I’m just praying that our house doesn’t burn down,” one man told the broadcaster KTLA When he packed his car.
The Hughes Fire came as the greater Los Angeles area was hit by two massive blazes in America’s second-largest city, killing more than two dozen people and causing billions of dollars in damage.
As California faces a massive rebuilding effort, President Donald Trump repeated his false claim that the state was improperly diverting water from emergency sites, threatening to freeze federal funding as a result. is
“I don’t think we should give anything to California until they let the water from the north of the state flow into their system,” Trump said in an interview. Fox News Aired on Wednesday evening.
Los Angeles’ water supply is primarily provided by aqueducts and canals that flow eastward beyond entirely separate river basins.
‘Dynamic’ situation
About 4,000 firefighters, backed by planes and bulldozers, rushed to the new blaze, a massive response that Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marvin said is paying dividends.
“The situation is dynamic, and it is a difficult fire to control, although we are gaining the upper hand,” he told an evening press conference.
“We’ll be on the scene through the night, getting a lot of control, making sure we can keep the hot spots out, and then have enough resources and staging so that if we do have a flare, we have those resources. can move to the fire line.”
The hopeful tone came after a nerve-wracking day for the region, with many glued to television coverage of aerial firefights — scenes that have become commonplace during the long battles to contain the Eaton and Palisades fires.
Helicopters dropped water and planes dropped tens of thousands of fire retardants, laying red streaks aimed at dousing the flames and pinching the fire front.
The fleet included two SuperScopers – huge amphibious aircraft that can carry hundreds of gallons (liters) of water – as well as DC-10 jets and dual-rotor helicopters.
Crews from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Angeles National Forest also attacked the fire from the ground.
The prisoners were taken out.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said 25 detention centers in Castaic were under evacuation orders, and about 500 inmates had been moved to a neighboring facility.
About 4,600 inmates housed in other jails in the area were sheltered in place, but buses were available in case conditions changed and needed to be moved, he said.
The California Highway Patrol closed the I5 Freeway for several hours, cutting off a major artery that runs the length of the U.S. West Coast.
The freeway reopened during rush hour, but there was bumper-to-bumper traffic as thousands of drivers headed home.
Cal Fire’s Brent Pascua said conditions have combined to make the fire particularly volatile.
“We’re getting windy, we’re getting low moisture, and this brush hasn’t seen any moisture in such a long time,” he said. “All of these together are spreading this fire very quickly.”
Winds are expected to continue overnight and into Thursday.
Human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, are changing the Earth’s climate, increasing average global temperatures and altering weather patterns.
Although January is the middle of the region’s rainy season, Southern California hasn’t received significant rain in nearly eight months, leaving the countryside tinder dry.
