Hughes Fire in LA County burns 10,000 acres, evacuations lifted but mudslide concerns remain

The 10,000-acre Hughes Fire near the Los Angeles County community of Castaic, which sent thousands fleeing this week, was more than 95% contained Sunday with all mandatory evacuation orders lifted.

Despite this, a round of heavy precipitation prompted some concerns for residents due to the heightened threat of mudslides in the freshly burned area. 

"Flash flooding and debris flows caused by excessive rainfall are possible in and near the burn scars," said the National Weather Service in a release over the weekend. "Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop."

The wildfire was first reported around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday 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. 

Voluntary evacuation warnings remain in place for just a few areas while all mandatory orders were lifted by Friday evening. 

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.

The fire began threatening some communities just west of Castaic in Ventura County later on Wednesday.

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.

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 Thursday morning. "Today firefighters expect extreme fire behavior and will continue to aggressively fight the blaze day and night with support from aircraft."

A red flag warning remained in effect over the Hughes Fire and Santa Clarita Valley until Friday morning, with Thursday expected to see the worst of the weather conditions. "Any fire that starts can grow fast and out of control," the National Weather Service said in the advisory issued Thursday morning.

A "chaotic scene" as wildfire erupts

Mandatory evacuation orders were expanded over 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 news conference that evening, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said 31,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders and 23,000 more under warnings. 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 was 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." The Angeles National Forest will be closed until Jan. 31 for public safety and protection of natural resources. Forest officials have issued several closures over the past couple of weeks due to the ongoing fire danger. 

Evacuation orders and warnings

A map showing where evacuation zones are located — and what areas are currently facing orders or warnings — can be found here. A temporary evacuation center was set up at Valencia High School, located at 27801 Dickson Dr. Valencia, Calif. 91355, and Hart High School, located at 24825 Newhall Ave, Santa Clarita, CA 91321. 

An evacuation shelter was also established at College of the Canyons East Gym at 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.

Meanwhile, a shelter for large animals was at Lancaster Animal Care Center and Pierce College while shelters for small animals were set up at the Palmdale, Agoura and Lancaster Animal Care Centers.

Residents of LA County can sign up for emergency alerts here. 

Below you can find a searchable map showing current evacuation zones for LA County wildfires.

Road closures 

All lanes of the I-5 Freeway through the Grapevine were shut down due to the fire before later being reopened, according to the California Highway Patrol. Below are more road closures, listed by Cal Fire on Friday, Jan. 24.

• Lake Hughes Road, The Old Road to Pine Canyon Road
• San Francisquito Canyon Road, Spunky Canyon Road to Copper Hill Drive
• Templin Highway, Golden State Highway to Ridge Route Road
• Ridge Route Road, Parker Road to Templin Highway
• San Francisquito Canyon Road, Copper Hill Drive to Elizabeth Lake

School evacuations and closures

All schools within the Castaic Union School District were 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.

After fire crews made progress in containing the fire, the district said all schools would re-open on Friday.

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 on Wednesday.