Canyon Fire Spreads Across 5,000 Acres North of Los Angeles—With Thousands of Residents Evacuated

Thousands of people in Southern California have been ordered to flee their homes after a fast-moving brush fire that broke out in the mountainous terrain north of Los Angeles spread to nearly 5,000 acres in a matter hours. 

The Canyon Fire sparked before 2 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday outside the small town of Piru, CA, as temperatures in the parched, sun-baked area climbed to 100 degrees amid a punishing heat wave. 

By 11 p.m., the inferno exploded to 4,864 acres, even as some 400 fire personnel battled the raging flames on the ground, aided by 11 fixed-wing planes and seven helicopters.

As of Friday afternoon, the fire has spread to 5,370 acres, but the firefighters’ efforts were paying off, with containment reaching 25%, according to the latest update from Cal Fire. The blaze was moving east across dry, rugged terrain into Los Angeles County, threatening to engulf the towns of Halsey Canyon, Val Verde, and Hathaway Ranch.  

There have been no deaths or injuries reported so far, and officials have yet to release any figures concerning destroyed or damaged homes and businesses in the affected area.

“It’s pretty devastating,” a resident told the station KTLA5. “My wife took off with my pets. I could feel the warmth from here.”

In Los Angeles County, roughly 2,700 residents have been evacuated, and 700 structures were under an evacuation order, officials said.

Another 14,000 residents and 5,000 structures were covered by an evacuation warning putting inhabitants on alert.

The six evacuation zones in Ventura County were relatively unpopulated, Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andrew Dowd told reporters Thursday. Fewer than 60 people were cleared out from the Lake Piru recreation area in the Los Padres National Forest. 

“We’re trying to build a box around this fire and put it out before it gets into any of the potential communities that are currently under evacuation orders,” Dowd said, reported the Los Angeles Times.

L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the district in the path of the wildfire, urged residents to follow evacuation orders without delay. 

“Extreme heat and low humidity in our north county have created dangerous conditions where flames can spread with alarming speed,” Barger said in a statement. “If first responders tell you to leave, go—without hesitation.”

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in the area hovered between 90 and 100 degrees, with 15% to 20% humidity.

The Canyon Fire is only one of a dozen brushfires currently scorching parts of California.

The biggest of them, the Gifford Fire, which broke out Aug. 1 along State Route 166, by Friday had spread to nearly 100,000 acres and was just 15% contained. 

Another brush fire, dubbed the Oxbow 2 Fire, on Aug. 1 destroyed the Oxbow Bridge connecting Arizona and California. 

This latest crop of blazes burning across California comes eight months after the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed parts of L.A.’s upscale Pacific Palisades enclave and Altadena, CA, killing 31 people and incinerating more than 16,000 homes and other properties.