Fast-moving Hughes Fire forces evacuations near Castaic

Firefighters on the ground and in the air rushed to slow a rapidly spreading brush fire that exploded near Castaic on Wednesday, forcing evacuations around Lake Castaic and impacting traffic on the 5 Freeway.

The blaze, dubbed the Hughes Fire, was reported shortly before 10:45 a.m. by the Angeles National Forest.

It was spreading through dry brush and trees largely on the east side of the lake, fanned by Santa Ana winds. The fire was initially reported at 50 acres but had exploded to more than 5,000 acres by 1 p.m., according to Cal Fire, with no containment.

The cause of the fire was unknown.

Officials told KTLA 5 News that roughly 19,000 people, including residents of Castaic, were being evacuated from communities south and west of the wildfire. Thousands more were under evacuation warnings.

Included in the evacuation zone were several schools, including Northlake Elementary, Castaic Middle, Castaic Elementary and Castaic High schools. A temporary evacuation center was set up at Valencia High School, 27801 Dickson Drive, Valencia, CA 91355.

Road Closures:

• Ridge Route Rd at Lake Hughes
• Ridge Route Rd at Templin Hwy
• Lake Hughes at Pine Cyn
• Dry Gulch at San Francisquito Cyn Rd
• I-5 NB at Parker Rd Off Ramp and I-5 NB at Lake Hughes Rd off-ramp will be shut down.

As a result of the blaze, the 5 Freeway will possibly be closed in the area, the California Highway Patrol warned. As of early Wednesday afternoon, closures were limited to off-ramps of the freeway, the CHP told KTLA.

“State resources have been deployed to the Hughes Fire in the Angeles National Forest to assist in the federal response,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on social media. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide the federal government with whatever it needs to extinguish this fire.”

Will Conybeare and Marc Sternfield contributed to this report. Check back for updates on this developing story.

Source link