The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
The Hughes fire has exploded to more than 10,000 acres, forcing tens of thousands of Californians to flee their properties in a region already reeling from blazes that have caused catastrophic damage and taken dozens of lives.
The new fast-moving wildfire grew rapidly near Castaic Lake, about 45 miles northwest of Los Angeles, after it broke out at around 10.53am local time on Wednesday.
More than 31,000 residents are under evacuation orders, and a further 21,000 under evacuation warnings. There were no reports of casualties, or damage to homes or businesses, as of Thursday morning.
Firefighters on the ground and in the sky are wrestling to extinguish the wind-fuelled flames – at its worst, spreading over 23 football fields every minute – which has now been 14 percent contained.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the deployment of state resources and said he will “provide the federal government with whatever it needs to extinguish this fire”. The new fire is burning just north of the two massive blazes – the Palisades and Eaton fires – that devastated multiple neighbourhoods in the Los Angeles area earlier this month.
Trump threatens to withhold aid for wildfires
Just hours before the new Hughes fire broke out near the Castaic Lake late on Wednesday night, Donald Trump threatened to hold back further federal assistance to California, as it reels from a series of devastating brush fires.
Trump has been scathing in his critique of both state and federal response to Los Angeles wildfires, which have caused catastrophic damage and taken the lives of 28 people, in the weeks before returning to the White House on Monday.
Peddling a false claim that California Governor Gavin Newsom – among other officials – refused to allow water from the northern part of the state to flow down into LA, Trump made the thinly-veiled threat to Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down,” he told Sean Hannity during a Fox News interview that aired Wednesday night.
In pictures: Fireighters race to contain Hughes fire
Arnold Schwarzenegger pledges $1m towards LA wildfire relief
Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he will donate $1m to help in relief efforts for those affected by the wildfires raging across Los Angeles.
The Hughes fire broke out just north of two massive blazes that destroyed multiple neighbourhoods in the Los Angeles area earlier this month. Hundreds of families have been displaced by the fires that claimed 28 lives, including former child star Rory Sykes.
The Terminator star took to social media to reveal his $1m pledge would be going to three foundations, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the California Fire Foundation, and the LA chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
Shahana Yasmin has the story.
Congressman warns strong winds may hamper firefighters’ progress
Mapped: Where is the Hughes fire burning and what areas are under evacuation orders?
Sepulveda fire: ‘Forward progress stopped’ at 40 acres
The Sepulveda fire has been held at 40 acres with all “forward progress stopped,” as firefighters work to mop up hotspots, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Evacuation warnings are beginning to be lifted, with no structures damaged or injuries reported, the LAFD said in its most recent update on the fire.
Firefighters are on scene conducting mop up operations to ensure no hot spots remain, risking further fire spread.
Traffic on the 405 Freeway will likely remain impacted, the LAFD said.
It follows the fire breaking out at Getty Center Drive exit at about 11 p.m. on Wednesday. It continued to churn through Bel Air on the eastern side of the 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass.
Prisoners at Castaic’s 5,000-person jail complex will be ‘kept safe from Hughes fire’
Wildfire rages perilously close to Rupert Murdoch’s Californian vineyard
Rupert Murdoch’s California vineyard is among the properties urged to evacuate due to the recently-erupted Sepulveda fire in Bel Air.
The 93-year-old media mogul’s Moraga Estate, located on Moraga Drive in Moraga Canyon, is alarmingly close to the brush fire that erupted near Getty Center Drive exit at about 11 p.m. on Wednesday.
Murdoch is known to frequent the vineyard and winery which he purchased for $30 million in 2013. He married his fifth wife, Elena Zhukova, at the sprawling 16-acre estate last June.
LA mayor vows to take ‘aggressive action’ against the Sepulveda fire
Firefighters are now tackling the newly-formed Sepulveda fire in Bel Air via air, as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has vowed to take “aggressive action” against the new blaze.
The brush fire is burning on the eastern side of the 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass, and is believed to have torched 20 acres. It erupted near North Sepulveda Boulevard and Getty Center Drive exit at about 11 p.m. local time on Wednesday, officials said.
“Air support and other aggressive actions have been deployed to fight a new fire just east of the 405,” Bass tweeted early on Thursday morning. “To all Angelenos in the area, follow guidance from public safety officials to stay safe.”
In pictures: Firefighters battle Hughes fire
Source: independent.co.uk
