Firefighters in the mountains north of Los Angeles made strong progress overnight in containing a fast-moving brush fire that forced thousands to evacuate, officials said Friday.
Known as the Canyon Fire, the blaze started Thursday afternoon and quickly spread across the dry, rugged landscape of Ventura and Los Angeles counties. By 11 p.m. Thursday, it had grown to over 7.6 square miles (19.7 square kilometers) with no containment, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. Around 400 firefighting personnel, supported by aircraft and helicopters, were on the scene.
By Friday morning, no further growth had been reported, though the fire was still uncontained, said Andrew Dowd, a public information officer with the county fire department. He noted that firefighters had used cooler overnight temperatures to directly attack the fire, making significant headway.
The fire is burning just south of Lake Piru in the Los Padres National Forest and not far from Lake Castaic — an area hit by the Hughes Fire in January, which burned about 15 square miles in six hours and prompted evacuation orders for 50,000 people.
Thursday presented a serious challenge for firefighters, with scorching 100-degree temperatures and strong winds. “They were giving it everything they had to control this fire,” Dowd said. One firefighter sustained a minor injury, but no civilian injuries were reported. While two small structures were destroyed, no homes were lost.
Weather conditions Friday continued to pose a risk, with highs near 100°F (38°C) and humidity dropping into the mid-teens. Winds were expected to pick up in the afternoon, according to meteorologist Bryan Lewis of the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office. He added that the area’s vegetation is extremely dry and flammable, warning that fires can ignite and spread rapidly under such conditions.
In Los Angeles County, about 2,700 people had evacuated as of Thursday night, with 700 structures under evacuation orders. An additional 14,000 residents and 5,000 structures were under evacuation warnings. In the Val Verde zone, evacuation orders were downgraded to warnings.
In Ventura County, evacuation zones were mostly in less populated areas. Authorities evacuated 56 people from the Lake Piru recreation area.
LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger urged people to take evacuation warnings seriously. “Extreme heat and low humidity in our north county have created dangerous conditions where flames can spread with alarming speed,” she said. “If first responders tell you to leave, go — without hesitation.”
The Canyon Fire erupted as another wildfire, the Gifford Fire in Central California, became the state’s largest so far this year. Burning in the Los Padres National Forest, the Gifford Fire had spread to 155 square miles (402 square kilometers) by Thursday night, with just 15% containment. It started from at least four smaller fires along State Route 166 on August 1 and has led to road closures near Santa Maria. At least four people have been injured. The cause remains under investigation.
California faces an elevated wildfire threat through the weekend as a severe heat wave continues. August and September are typically the most dangerous wildfire months in the state.
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