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Firefighters on Friday were about to make progress after a canyon fire exploded on nearly 5,000 acres.
“We’re building boxes around this fire and trying to put them out before we enter any of the potential communities currently under evacuation orders,” said Andrew Dowd, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.
The Canyon fire was the biggest of several fires caused by severe heat days in Southern California. North of San Luis Opisvo County, a much larger Gifford fire burned 100,000 acres.
The fire in the canyon broke out in a 100-degree temperature.
A slight weakening of the high-pressure system and an increase in land flow on Friday and Saturday is expected to lower temperatures by 1-3 degrees. However, the warm valley is still expected to reach 100 degrees. The current model predicts the weather will warm up again on Monday, likely hitting temperatures similar to those on Thursday.
“We expect to see a few degrees of cooling until the weekend, but we will have very warm air masses. The land flow regime will ensure that temperatures do not exceed record levels, but we expect temperatures to exceed seasonal normal as high pressures remain in the southwestern US.”
The fire broke out near Holther Canyon Road, northeast of the pill, around 2pm on Thursday, according to Ventura County officials.
Ventura County officials say the fire was initially reported to be around 30 acres, but is estimated to be estimated within about two hours. By Friday morning, the fire had burned 4,856 acres and spread east towards Castaic and Interstate 5 in LA County. It was 0% locked up, with at least 400 firefighters fighting the flames, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention.
“The fires have settled at night, the air is cooled and active fire attacks continue to occur coordinated between ground resources and helicopters,” Dowd said. “So we certainly still evacuate a considerable number of people and a considerable number of residents have been ordered to evacuate, but we continue to make good progress.”
As Midnight approached, a structure of 2,500 residents and 700 people remained under the evacuation order, but another 14,000 and more than 4,700 people were affected by the evacuation warning, according to Dowd.
Both Ventura and Los Angeles counties were responding to the scene, according to the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office. About 250 firefighters, 11 fixed-wing aircraft and seven helicopters worked to fight the fire, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
Catherine Burger, LA County Superintendent who represents the Santa Clarita Valley, urged residents to pay attention to evacuation warnings.
“The extreme heat and low humidity in our North County have created dangerous conditions where flames can spread at incredible rates,” Burger said in a statement. “If your first counterpart tells you to leave, don’t hesitate. Eton Fire has shown how quickly Devastation can attack.”
The evacuation centre has opened at East Gymnasium at Canyon College on 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.
The recreation area on Lake Pill will be closed until notice, similar to Pill Canyon Road, which connects the town of Pill to the lake.
The American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns about the proximity of the fire to a bandage detention center, where around 5,000 prisoners are housed in four prisons. The center is east of the 5th Expressway and fell just outside the evacuation warning zone Thursday evening.
Senior Prosecutor Melissa Camacho said she has “a serious interest” in the growth of the fire.
“The Hughes fire in January burned within half a mile of the prison, and those who were incarcerated there were no evacuated,” Camacho told The Times. “It’s tragic to see the fire and spend another sleepless night in prison, less than eight months, when 5,000 people and their loved ones, looking at the fire and praying it won’t reach them.”
The LA County Sheriff’s Department, which operates the facility, said it is actively monitoring the fire conditions and is constantly communicating with fires and county officials.
“As with the evacuation plan implemented at Pepperdine University in Malibu, the fire department advised that shelter strategies are the safest option for custody staff and inmates given the building’s construction type and current fire behavior,” she said, with brushes removed in the area around the building and a wide range of defensive spaces.
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