The Hughes Fire broke out late Wednesday morning and in less than a day had charred nearly 16 square miles 41 square kilometers of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area about 40 miles 64 kilometers from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week. There was no growth overnight and crews were jumping on flareups to keep the flames within containment lines, fire spokesperson Jeremy Ruiz said Thursday morning.
The fire remained at 14 percent containment. There were no reports of homes or other structures burned. Meanwhile, two new fires were reported Thursday in the San Diego area. Evacuations were ordered after the Gilman Fire erupted in brush near densely populated neighborhoods north of downtown in La Jolla, not far from the UC San Diego School of Medicine campus.
Southeast of downtown, the Border Fire was quickly spreading through a mountainous area of the Otay Mountain Wilderness.
Water-dropping helicopters made quick progress against the Laguna Fire that erupted in hills above the campus, where about 7, students are enrolled. The evacuation order was later downgraded to a warning. Though the region was under a red flag warning for critical fire risk through Friday, winds were not as strong as they had been when the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out, allowing for firefighting aircraft to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fire retardant.
As Amara was packing the car, she learned the fire had exploded in size and decided to hose down the property. Closer to Los Angeles, residents in the Sherman Oaks area received an evacuation warning Wednesday night after a brush fire broke out on the Sepulveda Pass near Interstate Forward progress was stopped within hours and the warning was lifted.
