California wildfires: More than 30,000 flee as fire erupts north of Los Angeles

22 January 2025, 22:52 | Updated: 23 January 2025, 10:22

More than 30,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes north of Los Angeles after a new wildfire broke out in California.

The latest blaze - dubbed the Hughes Fire - started late on Wednesday morning near Lake Castaic, around 40 miles from the Eaton and Palisades wildfires that devastated parts of LA earlier this month.

Within hours, the blaze had burned across more than 10,000 acres (41sq km), the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. They added that the fire is at 14% containment.

Los Angeles County officials said in a news conference that more than 31,000 people - greater than the entire population of Castaic - were told to leave over warnings of "immediate threat to life".

Another 23,000 people are in zones under evacuation warnings.

Planes were seen making runs over the mountains to drop water and fire suppressants.

As California continues to reel from a month of wildfires, President Donald Trump said the government should not provide aid to help rebuild until authorities use water from the northern part of the state.

In a Fox News interview, he repeated false claims that the state's fish conservation efforts there are responsible for fire hydrants running dry in urban areas.

The president has accused Governor Gavin Newsom of refusing to redirect water from northern California as it protects the Delta smelt - an endangered species of fish. Mr Newsom has denied the claim

"I don't think we should give California anything until they let water flow down," he said.

'Driving into hell'

Helicopters have also reportedly scooped water out of the lake to drop on the latest fire to stop it from approaching Interstate 5, where a 30-mile stretch of the Mexico-to-Canada highway had already been closed.

Speaking to NBC4, a local affiliate of Sky's US partner network NBC News, one witness said scenes from the nearby 5 Freeway "looked like you were driving into hell".

"There was red fire coming up from below," she told the broadcaster. "It was pretty terrifying... It looks like a smoke bomb went off."

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Smoke from the fire caused "worsening air quality" forcing Ventura College to close, while Los Angeles Zoo shut its doors over "Red Flag" weather conditions.

It comes as the National Weather Service (NWS) branch in Los Angeles said areas around the city - including Oxnard and Burbank - are under critical fire conditions until 8pm on Thursday (4am on Friday in the UK).

High winds to continue

Low humidity and high winds have been driving the spread of the fires across southern California, which has not seen significant rainfall for nine months.

The continuing gusts have left officials concerned that the Palisades and Eaton fires could break their containment lines. At least 28 people are believed to have died since the blazes began on 7 January.

According to Cal Fire, the Palisades fire, which started as a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades, has destroyed thousands of homes and burned more than 23,000 acres. It is currently at 70% containment.

The Eaton fire broke out just hours later, and spread to 14,021 acres and destroyed more than 10,000 homes and businesses. It's currently at 95% containment.

(c) Sky News 2025: California wildfires: More than 30,000 flee as fire erupts north of Los Angeles