The Hughes Fire Joins Immense Destruction Among Other LA Fires

The Hughes Fire rapidly spread to more than 9,400 acres, fueled by strong winds and dry brush, forcing mandatory evacuation orders for more than 31,000 people.

The wildfire further taxed firefighters, who managed to bring two major fires in the metropolitan Los Angeles area mainly under control. In just a few hours on Wednesday, the Hughes Fire grew to two-thirds the size of the Eaton Fire.

“It’s more sparsely populated. However, out here, we are dealing with high winds, which we also saw the other fires, along with … a very receptive fuel bed and step together again,” a spokesperson for the firefighters, Matthew Van Hagen said.

Nurse and Valencia resident Kayla Amara drove to Castaic’s Stonegate neighborhood to collect items from the home of a friend who had rushed to pick up her daughter at preschool. As Amara packed her car, she learned the fire had exploded in size and decided to hose down the property, according to KCRA.

“Other people are hosing down their houses, too. I hope there’s a house here to return to,” Amara told the news outlet. “It’s been stressful with those other fires, but now that this one is close to home, it’s just super stressful.”

Officials warned residents of the Castaic Lake area that they faced “immediate threat to life,” while Southern California remained under a red-flag warning for extreme fire risk due to strong winds. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told a press conference that 31,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders and another 23,000 faced evacuation warnings.

“As a result of the red-flag warning, some 1,100 firefighters were deployed around Southern California in anticipation of fast-moving fires,” Cal Fire said. “While the new fire raged, the two deadly fires that have ravaged Los Angeles since January 7 came under greater control.”

Southern California has gone without rain for nine months, contributing to hazardous conditions, but some rain was forecast as of fairly recently, possibly giving firefighters relief to a degree.

The Eaton Fire scorched 14,021 acres east of Los Angeles with 91% containment, while the Palisades Fire, which consumed 23,448 acres on the west side of Los Angeles, stood at 67% containment.

“Since the two fires broke out on January 7, they have burned an area nearly the size of Washington D.C., killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures,” Cal Fire said. 180,000 people were under evacuation orders, according to Los Angeles County officials.

A series of smaller wildfires has been extinguished or brought largely under control in Southern California throughout the chaos of the major wildfires. Meanwhile, California Republicans are pushing back against suggestions by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans that federal disaster aid for victims of wildfires should come with strings attached.

Trump plans to visit California to see the damage firsthand on January 24, but it wasn’t clear whether he and Democratic Governor Gavin Newson will meet during the visit.

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