Updated 4 p.m. Thursday
Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday for tens of thousands of people as firefighters with air support slowed the spread of a huge wildfire churning through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles where dangerous winds gained strength again.
The Hughes Fire broke out late Wednesday morning and, in less than a day, had charred nearly 10,000 acres of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area about 40 miles from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that have been burning for more than two weeks.
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.
“We had helicopters dropping water until around 3 a.m. That kept it in check,” he said.
Containment of the fire reached 24% as of Thursday afternoon. Nearly 54,000 residents in the Castaic area were still under evacuation warnings, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday. 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.
And in Ventura County, a new fire briefly prompted the evacuation of California State University Channel Islands in Camarillo. Water-dropping helicopters made quick progress against the Laguna Fire that erupted in hills above the campus, where about 7,000 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, 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 on the Hughes Fire.
Red flag warnings were extended through Friday morning in L.A. and Ventura counties.