What to Know

  • The Canyon Fire broke out early Thursday afternoon east of Lake Piru in Ventura County, where temperatures were nearing 100 degrees.
  • The brush fire is one of at least four burning this week in Southern California.
  • The Gold Fire in San Bernardino National Forest was estimated at more than 1,000 acres early Thursday.
  • The Gifford Fire in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties was at 96,106 acres Thursday.
  • The Rosa Fire started Monday in the San Bernardino National Forest between Anza and Pinyon Pines and grew to nearly 1,700 acres by Thursday.
  • More than 4,400 wildfires have been reported this year in California, up from 3,800 at this time last year.
  • More than 221,100 acres have burned this year, well beyond the 83,200 acres through July 2024, according to CALFIRE statistics.

A brush fire started Thursday east of Lake Piru in Ventura County and led to evacuations as this week’s warm temperatures in Southern California reached their peak.

The Canyon Fire was estimated at about 50 acres and burning in the direction of ranch homes. The fire started north of Highway 126 east of the Los Angeles County line and flames were expected to spread into Los Angeles County.

Evacuations were ordered for the Lake Piru Recreation Area and parts of the surrounding area. An evacuation warning was issued for the few ranches in the extreme west end of Holser Canyon.

NewsChopper4 is on its way to the location.

Water-dropping aircraft, including an airtanker, responded to the location, where temperatures neared triple digits with low humidity and winds gusting to 25 mph.

Lake Piru is a reservoir located in Los Padres National Forest northwest of Los Angeles.

The wildfire was one of at least four burning Thursday in Southern California.

More than 4,400 wildfires have been reported this year in California, up from 3,800 at this time last year. More than 221,100 acres have burned this year, well beyond the 83,200 acres through July 2024. The five-year average for that time is 4,100 fires and 125,700 acres burned.

Nationwide in 2025, 42,342 wildfires have burned over 3.4 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. At the start of August, firefighters are working to suppress 36 large fires, including several in California.