Several brushfires stoked by hot, windy weather forced evacuations in southern California, and tens of thousands of people woke up in the dark after their electricity was turned off. A rapidly spreading blaze in Malibu, west of Los Angeles, prompted evacuation orders and warnings for a large swathe of the Santa Monica Mountains. Firefighters also worked to contain fires in the city of Azusa, north of LA, and Camp Pendleton, the large military base north of San Diego.
In the Santa Monica mountains, more than 285 firefighters battled the Bryson fire overnight, which grew to about 200 acres (81 hectares) and threatened a Los Angeles county juvenile detention and rehabilitative facility. Lindsey Horvath, the Los Angeles county supervisor, thanked firefighters "who held the line to make sure that despite these challenging winds, no lives or structures were put in harm's way." She said the fire was 17% contained as of Friday morning and asked residents to keep roads clear for emergency responders.
The Los Angeles county fire chief, Anthony Marrone, said the combination of strong Santa Ana winds, high temperatures and dry vegetation "will keep the fire threat high across LA county" into the weekend. A red flag warning has been issued across the region. There were "only minor injuries" among the more than 400 firefighters working to contain the Bryson blaze, Marrone said. The Getty Villa, an antiquities museum near Malibu, closed on Friday, and state parks in the Santa Monica mountains are also closed.
The wind-driven fire in Azusa burned more than 40 acres (16 hectares) on Thursday and briefly prompted evacuation orders, though forward progress has since been stopped. At Camp Pendleton, evacuation orders in the Las Flores area were lifted by evening. Meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld of the National Weather Service warned that "the whole So Cal region should really be on alert." Utilities shut off power to more than 150,000 customers across the state as a precaution, since some of the state's worst recent wildfires were sparked by power equipment.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing