California Fire Explodes to 5,000 Acres, Thousands Evacuated

Firefighters on Friday continued battling the Canyon fire, which exploded to nearly 5,000 acres late Thursday, forcing thousands of residents in northern Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County to evacuate.

Taking advantage of cooler temperatures overnight, crews were able to make some inroads against the fast-moving blaze, halting any additional spread and reaching 25% containment by Friday morning, Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andrew Dowd said. But he said the fight ahead remains challenging, given scorching weather, rugged terrain and a parched landscape that, together, can foster extreme fire growth.

“We’re still expecting hot and dry conditions today,” Dowd said. “We still have record-low fuel moisture in the area, so we’re not letting our guard up.”
Two small structures, likely sheds or outbuildings, have been confirmed destroyed in the blaze, Dowd said. Officials have not yet confirmed any homes or businesses damaged, but video from the scene showed at least one building engulfed in flames, though it wasn’t immediately clear the extent of any additional damage.

Residents in the Val Verde area said flames were visible from the neighborhood’s western edge Thursday, but it appeared to have calmed a bit Friday morning, though the air remains thick with soot and ash.

“There’s a lot of smoke, the air is really, really bad,” Jennifer Elkins, president of the Val Verde Civic Assn., said Friday. Her neighborhood was under an evacuation order Thursday afternoon, but that downgraded to a warning around midnight, when she returned.

“We’re just kind of staying locked up indoors and keeping an eye on things,” Elkins said. “This is a really tough fire season and I’m really glad the fire department is really taking every fire seriously. ... This is a pretty big threat to the community.”

The Canyon fire quickly became one of the largest of several fires sparked during days of intense heat in Southern California. To the north in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, the much larger Gifford fire has burned nearly 100,000 acres.

The Canyon fire broke out amid 100-degree temperatures and moderate onshore winds that hit up to 25 mph — a dangerous recipe when combined with the exceptionally dry vegetation.

On Thursday “we were seeing significant plume development, we were seeing very rapid fire growth… within certain areas of the fire,” Dowd said.

And those conditions were again expected Friday and into the weekend, though temperatures may drop a degree or two.

“It’s ripe for fires and fire spread,” said Mike Wofford, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. He said temperatures may peak Friday at 98 degrees around the Canyon fire, but the heat, winds, low humidity and parched landscape would continue to create elevated fire conditions through the weekend.

“Although a few degrees of cooling is expected through the weekend, a very warm air mass will remain in place. An onshore flow regime will keep temperatures from exceeding record levels, but temperatures are expected to remain above seasonal normals as high pressure aloft lingers over the southwestern United States,” the weather service said in a Friday morning forecast.

Ventura County officials said the fire broke out just before 2 p.m. Thursday near Holser Canyon Road, northeast of Piru — a small, unincorporated town not far from Castaic Junction.

The fire was initially reported to be about 30 acres, but within about two hours that estimate jumped to over 1,000 acres, according to Ventura County officials. By Friday morning, the fire had burned 4,856 acres after spreading east toward Castaic and Interstate 5 in L.A. County.

About 2,500 residents and 700 structures remained under evacuation orders, mostly in northern Los Angeles County near Castaic, while an additional 14,000 people and more than 4,700 structures were affected by evacuation warnings, according to Dowd.

More than 400 firefighters remained assigned to the incident, according to fire officials.

L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley, urged residents to heed evacuation alerts.

“Extreme heat and low humidity in our north county have created dangerous conditions where flames can spread with alarming speed,” Barger said in a statement. “If first responders tell you to leave, go — without hesitation. The Eaton fire showed us how quickly devastation can strike.”

An evacuation center was opened in the East Gymnasium of the College of the Canyons, at 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.

The American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns about the fire’s proximity to the Pitchess Detention Center, where about 5,000 inmates are housed in four jails. The center is east of the 5 Freeway and fell just outside an evacuation warning zone Thursday evening.

Senior staff attorney Melissa Camacho said she was “gravely concerned” about the growing fire.

“January’s Hughes fire burned within a half-mile of the jails and not a single person incarcerated there was evacuated,” Camacho told The Times. “It’s heartbreaking that, less than eight months later, the 5,000 people in the jails and their loved ones will spend another sleepless night watching a fire and praying that it doesn’t reach them.”

The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, which operates the facility, said it was actively monitoring fire conditions and was in constant communication with fire and county officials.

“Similar to evacuation plans implemented at Pepperdine University in Malibu, the Fire Department has advised that a shelter-in-place strategy is the safest option for custody staff and inmates, given the building construction type and current fire behavior,” agency spokesperson Nicole Nishida said in a statement. The area around the building has been cleared of brush and has wide defensible space, she said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced that the state had secured FEMA support to help pay for the fight against the Canyon fire. The Fire Management Assistance Grant can provide federal funding for up to 75% of eligible firefighting costs, including expenses for field camps, equipment use, supplies and mobilization, and demobilization activities, according to FEMA.