Firefighters made progress on the more than 10,000-acre Hughes Fire Thursday, which sent thousands fleeing after sparking near the Los Angeles County community of Castaic a day earlier.
Some mandatory evacuation orders have been downgraded to warnings while containment of the wildfire rose over Thursday. A day earlier, the blaze was first reported around 10:45 a.m. near Castaic Lake, off Lake Hughes Road just north of Castaic Reservoir Road, spreading to 500 acres within an hour and continuing to grow through the afternoon and evening Wednesday.
With high winds driving the flames, the fast-moving wildfire exploded to more than 10,000 acres by 10 p.m. that night, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. At one point, 31,000 people were under mandatory evacuations, which were issued in LA County by noon before being expanded to include some of neighboring Ventura County.
The fire began threatening some communities just west of Castaic in Ventura County later on Wednesday. But on Thursday, no mandatory orders were still in effect in Ventura County and only some warnings remained.
The unincorporated community of Castaic is located in northwest Los Angeles County, about 15 miles northwest of Santa Clarita and just alongside the Angeles National Forest. The Santa Clarita Valley is home to Six Flags Magic Mountain, where a huge plume of smoke from the Hughes Fire was visible in the skyline near the amusement park Wednesday.
Throughout Wednesday night, firefighters managed to make progress and got the blaze partially contained by the next morning.
By 2:30 p.m. Thursday, a little over a day after it started, the wildfire was 10,176 acres and 24% contained, Cal Fire officials said.
Its acreage remained the same as the night before, when containment went up from 0% for the first time. While firefighters have managed to keep the flames from spreading further, they had initially faced challenges including relatively strong Santa Ana winds — gusts of up to 34 mph fanning the flames — and very dried out, flammable terrain due to a lack of rainfall in recent months.
“The first responders are doing great work to contain this fire. Certainly, we are not out of the woods yet,” Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler told reporters during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
No injuries have been confirmed by authorities and there have been no damaged or destroyed structures reported by Cal Fire.
The Hughes Fire burns a hillside in Castaic, Los Angeles County on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. Bloomberg via Getty Images
Gov. Gavin Newsom said state resources were being sent down to Southern California, with federal personnel from the Angeles National Forest also involved in the firefighting efforts. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide the federal government with whatever it needs to extinguish this fire,” Newsom wrote in a post to X.
Last summer, the Post Fire burned over 15,000 acres in an area of Los Angeles and Ventura counties just north of the Hughes Fire.
An aggressive overnight firefight — by ground and air
As they worked through the night, firefighters kept the wildfire from reaching Elderberry Canyon, the Castaic Power Plant and surrounding communities, authorities said. Several aircraft flew in from other parts of the region — including the Channel Islands, Hemet and Chino — to drop more than 30,000 gallons of fire retardant and about 113,000 gallons of water, according to Cal Fire.
“Overnight firefighters, with support from aircraft and dozers, fought aggressively and were challenged by extreme fire behavior, terrain, and weather,” Cal Fire said in an update around 10:30 a.m. Thursday. “Today firefighters expect extreme fire behavior and will continue to aggressively fight the blaze day and night with support from aircraft.”
Until 10 a.m. Friday, a red flag warning will remain in effect over the Hughes Fire and Santa Clarita Valley as weather conditions of low humidity and strong winds bring wildfire risks. Forecasters have said Thursday will see the most concerning conditions in the areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties facing red flag warnings.
“Any fire that starts can grow fast and out of control,” the National Weather Service said in the advisory issued Thursday morning.
Cal Fire said firefighters are focused on establishing and maintaining control lines around the wildfire to prevent any growth.
Firefighters work to create a containment fire line to control the Hughes Fire in Castaic, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, on Jan. 23, 2025. APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images
A “chaotic scene” as wildfire erupts
Mandatory evacuation orders expanded throughout Wednesday afternoon as the wildfire exploded in size, burning more than 9,000 acres within about six hours as people fled the area and heavy traffic built up on some roads. Authorities were trying to keep people calm as the situation evolved — a changing series of updates and evacuations quickly unfolding just as they did earlier this month.
On Jan. 7, two major wildfires sparked on opposite sides of Los Angeles County, killing at least 28 people as they tore through tens of thousands of acres and burned down entire communities, including homes, schools, churches, grocery stores and other buildings throughout the especially hard-hit areas of Altadena and Pacific Palisades.
“We’re just asking people to, I know it’s hard to say, but stay calm and just listen to first responders,” California Highway Patrol Officer Isabel Diaz said Wednesday afternoon, as the Hughes Fire continued to spread. “It’s a very active and chaotic scene at the moment, and we’re just all trying our best to get everyone out safely.”
During a 4 p.m. news conference Wednesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said 31,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders and 23,000 more under warnings. However, updated figures were not provided by authorities Thursday following the lifting of some evacuation orders.
Roughly 4,500 inmates from Pitchess Detention Center were evacuated during the fire, he said.
“It’s evolving. It’s gonna change. We’re ready for just about anything,” Luna said.
Authorities closed the I-5 Freeway to allow personnel to swiftly respond to the fire. “We needed to have better ingress and regress for emergency vehicles coming through the 5 Freeway corridor,” Luna said, adding that the freeway was reopening Wednesday night since enough resources had been brought into the area. “We want to give the 5 back to our community.”
All lanes of the freeway were reopened by 6:30 p.m.
“Critical fire conditions” though less dire than earlier this month
“While we are seeing critical fire conditions and expecting them until tomorrow, these are not the same conditions that we saw just two weeks ago,” State Fire Marshal Chief Daniel Berlant told reporters Wednesday. “The weather is definitely continuing to be a challenge…(but) firefighters are making good progress with all of the surged resources.”
When the Hughes Fire first started Wednesday morning, Santa Ana winds with gusts of around 28 mph were blowing through the area, according to forecasters, reaching over 30 mph later into the afternoon as the blaze grew.
“It does have a high potential for spread because we are looking at 32-mph winds as we speak,” LA County Fire Department Captain Sheila Kelliher Berkoh said that day. “Those winds are supposed to pick up as the afternoon progresses into the evening.”
However, while those winds were relatively strong, they were much calmer than the Santa Anas seen earlier this month — when the deadly, destructive Eaton and Palisades fires quickly exploded in size. At the time, gusts in some parts of Southern California reached up to 100 mph, with some nearly as strong in areas near those devastating fires. But, this time, the winds were calmer.
“The winds were strong but they were not those 70-, 80-mph winds,” Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony C. Marrone said. “The situation we’re in today is much different than the situation we were in 16 days ago.”
Still, authorities said a major concern in the Hughes Fire has been the terrain.
Little rainfall in recent months has left vegetation in the area especially dry, and therefore, particularly flammable and prone to starting and fueling wildfires. Experts say this is partly why California fires during the fall and winter months can prove worse than those during the summer — terrain dried out through the hot summer months can become a flammable hotbed for fires.
“This time of year is especially dangerous,” said Fred Fielding, spokesman for the LA County Fire Department. “It’s been almost 300 days since we’ve had any significant rainfall.”
Angeles National Forest Chief Robert Garcia described the wildland condition as “critical,” saying the Angeles National Forest had been closed between Jan. 19 and Jan. 24 due to that very concern and how the terrain could worsen the risks of fires.
Evacuation orders and warnings
A map showing where evacuation zones are located — and what areas are currently facing mandatory evacuation orders or warnings — can be found here. More information on the latest updates and resources for evacuees can be found here.
A temporary evacuation center has been set up at Valencia High School, which is located at 27801 Dickson Dr. Valencia, Calif. 91355. Meanwhile, a shelter for large animals being evacuated is at Lancaster Animal Care Center and Pierce College while shelters for small animals have been set up at the Palmdale, Agoura and Lancaster Animal Care Centers.
Los Angeles County officials established another temporary evacuation center at Hart High School at 24825 Newhall Ave, Santa Clarita, CA 91321.
According to Cal Fire, an evacuation shelter has also been established at College of the Canyons East Gym at 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91355.
Residents of LA County can sign up for emergency alerts here. The city of Santa Clarita told residents to visit the city’s website here for the latest updates to ongoing evacuation orders and other information related to the Hughes Fire.
Officials announced the initial round of mandatory evacuation orders by noon and added more areas as the fire continued to burn throughout the afternoon.
Below you can find a searchable map showing evacuation orders updated in real-time.
Road closures
All lanes of the I-5 Freeway through the Grapevine were being shut down due to the fire, according to the California Highway Patrol. The closures are in place at SR-126 for northbound traffic and at Grapevine Road for southbound traffic.
By 6 p.m., all lanes of I-5 were reopened by CHP, allowing traffic to once again flow through the area.
Earlier, two off-ramps along the I-5 — at Parker Road and Lake Hughes Road — were shut down. CHP reported the I-5 was being affected by heavy smoke stemming from the Hughes Fire so motorists were told to use caution when driving.
Below is a list of closures current as of 12 p.m. PST on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
- Ridge Route Road at Lake Hughes
- Ridge Route Road at Templin Highway
- Lake Hughes at Pine Canyon
- Dry Gulch at San Francisquito Canyon Road
School evacuations and closures
All schools within the Castaic Union School District are being closed Thursday, Jan. 23 after being evacuated Wednesday in the hours after the Hughes Fire started. Parents and guardians were being told to pick up their children from the campuses, or in some cases, from other places where the students were taken as their schools evacuated.
Northlake Hills Elementary in Castaic was evacuated to the Aquatic Center and Castaic Sports Complex in Castaic, which are both located in the 31000 block of Castaic Road. Meanwhile, Castaic Middle School and Castaic Elementary School were both evacuated to the parking lot of a Ralph’s grocery store located at Hasley Canyon.
“Parents need to respond there,” California Highway Patrol officials wrote in a post to X at 12:53 p.m. PST.
Later Wednesday, the Castaic Union School District released a message to students’ families saying more updates — on whether schools will continue closing later in the week — would be given at 11 a.m. and at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
Check back for updates to this developing story.
Marissa WenzkeMarissa Wenzke is a journalist based in Los Angeles. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from UC Santa Barbara and is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School.
