A fierce wildfire north-west of Los Angeles prompted evacuation orders for thousands of residents on Friday, as extreme heat and dry conditions fuelled its rapid spread. <\/p>\n
The blaze, named the Canyon Fire, ignited on Thursday afternoon along the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties. By Friday evening, it had expanded from 30 acres to nearly <\/b>5,400.<\/p>\n
The fire has been partially contained, with 28% of its perimeter under control by Saturday morning, officials said, and evacuation orders were reduced to warnings.<\/p>\n
On Friday evening, a firefighter suffered major injuries when his truck rolled over a ridge and down a steep hillside.<\/p>\n
Kern County firefighter James Agee was driving a pick up truck when he was involved in a “rollover” about 18:20 local time, according to a statement issued by the county. He was airlifted to hospital with “serious injuries”.<\/p>\n
“James is a strong man with a big heart, and we know he’s facing this challenge with the same strength and character he’s shown throughout his career,” said Kern County Fire Chief Aaron Duncan.<\/p>\n
“We are grateful for the swift actions of our crews and partner agencies, and for the kindness being shown to James and his family.”<\/p>\n
While extreme heat and historically dry conditions had been complicating firefighting efforts, on Friday night, Ventura county said in a statement that “favourable weather conditions” had allowed firefighters to make “good progress in supressing the blaze”.<\/p>\n
By Saturday morning, officials said there were 1,148 people deployed to fight the fire.<\/p>\n
“Crews worked through the night to improve defensive positions and further secure the fire’s perimeter,” said the statement from the LA County Fire Department.<\/p>\n
“Overnight fire activity was minimal as firefighters worked to continue strengthening existing control lines.”<\/p>\n
The fire remains active and is spreading east toward Castaic in Los Angeles County, authorities said.<\/p>\n
With the temperatures forecast to soar to 100\u00b0F (37.7\u00b0C) in the coming days, residents are being urged to stay on alert.<\/p>\n
In the city of Santa Clarita, one of the closest to the blaze, residents have been told to stay away from fire-affected areas.<\/p>\n
“If you’re in Santa Clarita, Hasley Canyon, or Val Verde, take evacuation orders seriously – when first responders say GO, leave immediately. Keep aware – please don’t risk lives,” LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger wrote on X on Friday.<\/p>\n
The Canyon Fire is one of several active wildfires across the state, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).<\/p>\n
The Gifford Fire, the largest active blaze in California, has engulfed almost 100,000 acres and is burning across the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.<\/p>\n
Wildfires have become more frequent in California, with experts citing climate change as a key factor. Hotter, drier conditions have made fire seasons longer and more destructive.<\/p>\n
In January this year, the Eaton Fire and Palisades Fire each tore through two neighbourhoods in Los Angeles, killing at least 31 people and destroying thousands of buildings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fierce wildfire north-west of Los Angeles prompted evacuation orders for thousands of residents on Friday, as extreme…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":132643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-132642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115000800962177594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}