Southern California continues to grapple with dangerous fire conditions as dry winds fuel new blazes and extend a period of heightened fire risk. The region faces a fourth consecutive day of red flag warnings, with strong winds and low humidity creating a tinderbox atmosphere. Despite aggressive firefighting efforts, multiple fires have erupted, forcing evacuations and raising concerns about the potential for further devastation.
Southern California is facing another day of dangerous winds and dry conditions that sparked new blazes across a region in a month marked by unprecedented fire losses. In the last day, hundreds of weary firefighters battled a massive blaze near Castiac and a smaller but unnerving one in the Sepulveda Pass in Brentwood and Bel-Air. Damage from the fires has been kept at bay due to aggressive water drops and winds that while strong did not match those seen during the Jan. 7 firestorm.
On Thursday morning, a brush fire broke out in Camarillo, prompting evacuations at Cal State Channel Islands and University Glen, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. The Laguna fire has burned 2 acres amid strong winds in the area. The Laguna fire is the latest blaze in a nerve-racking week as Southern California headed into a fourth consecutive day of red flag fire weather warnings. The alerts caution that conditions are ripe for fires to ignite and spread rapidly. There have been red flag warnings in some part of Southern California for 14 of the last 17 days. The stretch started Jan. 7, the day the Palisades and Eaton fires began their devastating spread, leveling swaths of Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Thursday will be another day of critical fire weather danger. “Any new fires can grow fast and out of control,” the National Weather Service posted on social media. “Have a plan, especially if you are in a high fire risk area.” Overnight, officials were dealing with the Sepulveda fire, which broke out off the 405 Freeway. Shortly before 2 a.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department said the fire, which burned 40 acres, had stopped spreading. Officials lifted an evacuation warning for parts of Bel-Air, including homes along Casiano Road and Chalon Road, as well as Moraga Drive, which is lined by multimillion-dollar homes. Authorities earlier lifted an evacuation warning for a part of Brentwood including the Chalon campus of Mount Saint Mary’s University. To the north of Castaic, the Hughes fire charred more than 10,000 acres and forced thousands to flee their homes. The Hughes fire started off Lake Hughes Road just before 11 a.m. Wednesday and quickly prompted evacuation orders in and around Castaic Lake, which by afternoon extended toward Ventura County to the west and near Sandberg to the north. More than 31,000 people were ordered to evacuate, and warnings were issued to 23,000 others. Crews reached 14% containment on the 10,176-acre blaze shortly before 10 p.m. Santa Ana winds will strengthen and peak during the day Thursday, weather service meteorologist Ryan Kittell said. The weather service has extended its red flag fire weather warning through Friday at 10 a.m. for much of the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura. Temperatures in the Castaic area are expected to reach the high 70s or low 80s on Thursday, exacerbating the dry conditions in the area, according to the weather service. “We’re still in the middle of this extended period of extreme dryness, and we’re looking at this next wind enhancement picking up,” Kittell said. Humidity has dipped below 10%. Peak gusts Thursday were forecast to be a bit stronger than anticipated earlier in some locations. Gusts on Thursday could reach 45 mph in the western San Fernando Valley, Oxnard and the Grapevine section of Interstate 5; 53 mph in Ramona; 54 mph in Acton; 55 mph in Fillmore and Idyllwild; 59 mph in Santa Clarita; 62 mph in Thousand Oaks; 68 mph in Beaumont; and 69 mph in Alpine. With the air so dry — and not moistening up overnight — it is a “really concerning period for humidities,” Kittell said. Plants and other fuels are “ready to burn.” However, rain is on the horizon for Southern California. Precipitation could start as early as Saturday afternoon and last until Monday night. Rainfall could total nine-tenths of an inch for Covina; nearly three-quarters of an inch for downtown L.A., Long Beach and Santa Clarita; two-thirds of an inch for Redondo Beach; three-fifths of an inch in Fillmore and Canoga Park; and about half an inch in Thousand Oaks and Oxnard. Eleven inches of snow could fall on Wrightwood, and four inches along the Grapevine section of Interstate 5. 'It's not going to get us out of the fire season,' Bryan Lewis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said of the rain. 'With those much higher relative humidities coming in it'll certainly help firefighters' efforts.' The Hughes fire will continue to consume firefighters on Thursday. Air quality was in the unhealthy range in the area of the Hughes fire, according to the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District. An alert was issued Wednesday afternoon for Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Oxnard, Piru, Santa Paula, Simi Valley and Ventura. On Thursday, schools in the area were closed. A smoke advisory was also issued for a wide swath of northwestern L.A
WILDFIRE CALIFORNIA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WEATHER WARNINGS RED FLAG DRY CONDITIONS FIRE SEASON EVACUATIONS
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