Fast moving Hughes Fire breaks out in Castaic, prompting evacuations

8 days ago

LAist

Fast moving Hughes Fire breaks out in Castaic prompting evacuations

Around 19,000 people are under evacuation orders after the fire quickly grew to more than 5,000 acres. The 5 Freeway corridor is also closed.

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This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:

Around 19,000 people are under evacuation orders after the Hughes Fire broke out Wednesday near Castaic Lake and quickly grew to more than 5,000 acres. The 5 Freeway is also shut down in the Tejon Pass area because of the fire.

Castaic High School, which has around 1,330 students, has been evacuated with students released to parents or moved to West Ranch High School in Stevenson Ranch.

Castaic Union District office clerk Renee Stewart told LAist that all schools have been evacuated, which is around 2,000 students per the California Schools Dashboard.

The evacuated schools are:

Castaic Elementary School
Castaic Middle School
Live Oak Elementary School
Northlake Hills Elementary

Northlake Hills Elementary students went to the Castaic Sports Complexwhile students that have not been picked up by their parents from other schools are in the Ralph's parking lot at the intersection of Old Road and Halsey Canyon Road.

Einer Rivera, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, told LAist 476 people from the Pitchess Detention Center have been evacuated to North County Correctional Facility.

Given that the North County Correctional Facility is within the evacuation zones, Sheriff Robert Luna said the department is prepared to pivot to Plan B if needed.

"The Plan B that they would be being transported to other facilities around the county and they would be transported by any means possible," he said. "We do have buses that are on the way up there."

A red fire pick up truck drives through the flames of a vegetation fire as smoke billows into the sky.

Evacuation warnings are also in place for around 15,000 residents.

Saugus Union School District has canceled classes and asked parents to pick up students immediately from Tesoro del Valle Elementary and West Creek Academy.

"Neither school is in current evacuation areas, however the unpredictable nature of brush fires in high winds requires this cautionarystep," Superintendent Colleen Hawkins wrote in a statement.

The Los Angeles Unified School District announced that is has postponed indoor and outdoor athletic events for schools in the San Fernando Valley area because of the fire.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory until 10 p.m. Wednesday and high wind warnings are in effect from overnight until 2 p.m. Thursday. The NWS also extended a red flag warning in the area until 10 a.m. Friday.

The basics

Acreage: 5,054 acres as of late Wednesday morning
Containment: 0%
Structures destroyed: None reported
Deaths: None
Injuries: None
Personnel working on fire: Unknown

Evacuation map and orders

A multi-colored map shows the outline of a fire zone.

Evacuation orders have been issued by the Los Angeles County Fire Department for the following areas:

CAS-CASTAICLAKE
CAS-RIDGE
CAS-PARADISERANCH
CAS-CAMBRIDGE
CAS-GREENHILL
CAS-HASLEY
CAS-HILLCREST
CAS-RIDGE
CAS-ROMERO
CAS-SLOAN
LAC-E008
LAC-E029
LAC-FRANCISQUITO
SCL-KELLYJOHNSON
SCL-REYESADOBE
SCL-STERLING
SCL-TESORODELVALLE
Ventura County Zone 1

Evacuation warnings

Authorities say those who require additional time to evacuate and those with pets and livestock should leave immediately. [These areas are shown in the map above.]

CAS-BISCAILUZ
CAS-INDUSTRY
CAS-LIVEOAK
CAS-OAKCANYON
CAS-VALVERDE
GOR-E004
GOR-HUNGRYVALLEY
LAC-E005
LAC-E009-B
LAC-E011-A
LAC-E011-B
LAC-E016
LAC-E018
LAC-E029
LAC-E030
LAC-FRANCISQUITO
SCL-BLACKPINE
SCL-CALEX
SCL-DECORO
SCL-KELLYJOHNSON
SCL-MOUNTAINVIEW
SCL-PACIFICCREST
SCL-RANCHOTESORO
SCL-REYESABODE
SCL-RIONORTE
SCL-STERLING
SCL-WESTHILLS
SCL-RYE.

Evacuation centers

Valencia High School, 27801 Dickson Dr., Valencia
For small animals:
- Palmdale Animal Care Center, 38550 Sierra Hwy., Palmdale
- Aguora Animal Care Center, 29525 Agoura Rd., Agoura Hills
- Lancaster Animal Care Center, 5210 W. Ave. I, Lancaster
For large animals:
- Lancaster Animal Care Center, 5210 W. Ave. I, Lancaster
- Pierce College, 6201 Winnetka Ave., Woodland Hills

Road closures

Ridge Route Road at Lake Hughes Road
Ridge Route Road at Templin Highway
Lake Hughes Road at Pine Canyon Road
Dry Gulch at San Francisquito Canyon Road
The off ramps from I-5 northbound at Parker Road and Lake Hughes Road

Caltrans announced all northbound lanes on the 5 Freeway are closed north of State Route 126. Motorists can use State Route 14 instead. Drivers are being asked to avoid the area and expect heavy traffic on State Route 126 and the 101.