Hughes Fire

Hughes Fire
Part of the January 2025 Southern California wildfires
The Hughes Fire viewed from the Hasley Hills neighborhood of Castaic at 12:45 p.m. on January 22
Date(s)	January 22, 2025 10:42 a.m. (PST)
Location	Los Angeles County and Ventura County, California, U.S.
Coordinates	34°32′35″N118°33′32″W / 34.543°N 118.559°W / 34.543; -118.559
Statistics [1] [2]
Status	Extinguished
Burned area	10,425 acres (4,219 ha; 42 km2; 16 sq mi)
Impacts
Deaths	Unknown
Non-fatal injuries	Unknown
Evacuated	50,000+
Structures destroyed	Unknown
Ignition
Cause	Under investigation
Map
Interactive map (map data)
General location of the fire in Greater Los Angeles Show map of the Los Angeles metropolitan area The general location of the fire in California Show map of California

The Hughes Fire was a wildfire that burned in Los Angeles County in Southern California. The fire burned over 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares). ^[3] The fire began near Lake Hughes Road near Castaic Lake and its cause is under investigation. ^{[1] [4]} It prompted evacuation orders in the region around Castaic Lake. ^[5]

Due to the high Santa Ana winds in the area, the fire exploded to 5,000 acres just a few hours after it started, ^[4] and ballooned to 10,176 acres by the end of the day. ^[6] It was one of eight January 2025 Southern California wildfires.

Progression

On January 22, 2025, Cal Fire released their first status report at 10:54 AM, estimating around 50 acres already actively burning. ^[7] Less than an hour later at 11:43 AM, the size of the fire had increased by one order of magnitude to 500 acres. ^[8] The fire would continue its exponential spread, and at 1:03 PM cover around 5,054 acres. ^[9]

By the morning of January 23 at 8:35 AM, overnight firefighting effort using ground and air support achieved 14% containment, preventing the spread to neighboring Elderberry canyon. At this point, the fire has burned 10,176 acres. ^[10] Roughly twelve hours later at 8:12 PM, the fire became 24% contained, and status report indicate a successful air and ground assault by firefighters. ^[11] Firefighting efforts continued over the next two days, with infrequent status updates from Cal Fire.

On January 26, 8:43 PM Cal Fire announced 92% containment at 10,396 acres burned. ^[12]

Impacts

The fire forced an estimated 31,000 residents to be evacuated from their homes as Evacuation Orders included all of Castaic and extended into parts of Valencia, Sagus, Angeles National Forest and even Ventura County. The fire impacted campsites in the Castaic Lake area. All schools in the Castaic Union School District were evacuated as a precaution. Castaic High School was also evacuated due to poor air quality. ^[13]

See also

• 2025 California wildfires
• List of California wildfires
• Post Fire, a large wildfire that burned near the Castaic region in 2024.

References

1. "Hughes Fire". California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection . January 22, 2025. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
2. "Hughes Fire Incident Update PM 01-24-2025". inciweb.wildfire.gov. InciWeb. January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
3. Fry, Hannah; Solis, Nathan; Blakinger, Keri; et al. (January 22, 2025). "Hughes fire scorches over 9,000 acres near Castaic; as thousands flee, 5 Freeway reopens". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
4. "Hughes Fire". Watch Duty . January 22, 2025. Archived from the original on January 29, 2025. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
5. Fry, Hannah (January 22, 2025). "Hughes fire: Evacuations, road closures, shelters". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on January 22, 2025. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
6. Weber, Christopher; Sanchez, Marcio Jose (January 23, 2025). "Hughes Fire: Firefighters slow wildfire that rapidly burned thousands of acres in Los Angeles County". KCRA. Associated Press . Retrieved January 23, 2025.
7. "Hughes Fire: Incident Update on 01/22/2025 at 10:54 AM | CAL FIRE". Cal Fire . Archived from the original on February 1, 2025. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
8. "Hughes Fire: Incident Update on 01/22/2025 at 11:43 AM | CAL FIRE". Cal Fire . Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
9. "Hughes Fire: Incident Update on 01/22/2025 at 1:03 PM | CAL FIRE". Cal Fire . Archived from the original on February 1, 2025. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
10. "Hughes Fire: Incident Update on 01/23/2025 at 8:35 AM | CAL FIRE". Cal Fire . Archived from the original on February 1, 2025. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
11. "Hughes Fire: Incident Update on 01/23/2025 at 8:12 PM | CAL FIRE". www.fire.ca.gov. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
12. "Hughes Fire: Incident Update on 01/26/2025 at 8:43 AM | CAL FIRE". www.fire.ca.gov. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
13. Smith, Perry (January 23, 2025). "Hughes Fire forces 30,000 evacuations". Santa Clarita Valley Signal. Archived from the original on February 5, 2025. Retrieved February 5, 2025.