Firefighters battling LA fires as rain expected to come soon

Firefighters on Friday battled several blazes in Southern California ahead of a rainy weekend that was expected to bring much-needed reprieve as deadly infernos raged in Los Angeles County for the third week.

The Hughes Fire broke out near Castaic in the Santa Clarita Valley on Wednesday morning and quickly spread to cover more than 10,400 acres, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee or be prepared to leave their homes at a moment’s notice. Like other recent wildfires in Southern California, it was fueled by relentless winds and low humidity.

New blazes cropped up in San Diego County this week, including one showing “extreme fire behavior” near the border with Mexico. The Border 2 Fire that started Thursday had swelled to over 6,200 acres by Friday evening, with evacuation orders and warnings in surrounding areas. Another brush fire that started in the early morning hours Friday nearby also prompted new evacuations.

Meanwhile, another brush fire broke out Thursday morning that threatened the California State University Channel Islands campus in Ventura County. The Laguna Fire burned quickly at first but was stopped in its tracks after spreading about 90 acres, and earlier evacuation orders were downgraded, the Ventura County Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. The university said classes resumed Friday after campuswide cancellations Thursday due to the blaze.

As an air-quality alert went into effect in areas of San Diego, red flag warnings in Los Angeles and Ventura counties ended mid-morning on Friday, when forecasters said wind gusts that had been as high as 65 mph the previous day would lower. Thursday had been the day of greatest concern for this round of dangerous fire weather with fuel “ready to burn,” the National Weather Service in Los Angeles said, warning that any fire that started could easily get out of control.

Despite the relentless weather conditions, crews made progress on the Hughes Fire, bringing containment to 79%. That came after a night of “extreme fire behavior, terrain, and weather,” according to a status update.

Firefighters are expected to receive a helping hand from rain in the forecast for the weekend, which could start as early as Saturday morning and continue through Monday. But the National Weather Service warned that recently scorched areas could ripen conditions for flash flooding during sometimes heavy rainfall.

A series of wildfires have broken out since Jan. 7 amid ongoing high winds, low humidity and drought conditions. Fire crews across the region have quickly worked to extinguish smaller brush fires while making progress on the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have damaged or destroyed more than 18,000 structures and have killed at least 28 people, Cal Fire said. They’re now 79% and 95% contained, respectively.

During a stop in North Carolina, President Donald Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal aid from California, said he wanted to secure voter identification laws and changes to water policy during a visit to the state in the wake of massive wildfires later Friday.

“I just want voter ID to start, and I want the water to be released, and they’re going to get a lot of help from the U.S.,” Trump said in North Carolina.

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Much-needed rain could bring a whole new threat

Dry conditions on Friday will give way to a desperately needed rainfall expected to start on Saturday across the Southern California area, which has gone about nine months without significant precipitation, forecasters said.

The storm will start Saturday morning over the Bay Area before making its way south later in the day. Los Angeles County is expected to see three-quarters of an inch of rain, with 1 to 2 inches locally in the San Gabriel foothills spread out over roughly 36 hours, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles said.

If the rain falls at a steady, lighter rate, Southern California could be in good shape: enough rain to help ease the firefighting strain, but not enough to trigger another potential disaster. Heavier rain could mean the chance for flash flooding or mudslides over fresh burn scars.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order to hasten cleanup efforts and prevent fire-related debris from flowing into waterways and the city’s stormwater system. Bass’ executive order hopes “to shore up burn areas and stem the flow of toxic debris” and “prevent additional damage to areas already ravaged by fire and also to protect our watershed, beaches and ocean from toxic runoff.”

Toxic debris in LA will damage both land and sea

The series of wildfires raging across Los Angeles this month will leave the area with an unprecedented environmental catastrophe that could last for years, experts say.

The toxic ash settling in backyards and playgrounds and contaminated drinking water could lead to asthma attacks and an increased risk of dementia, which studies have tied to wildfire particulate exposure.

The debris from the tens of thousands of burned houses and businesses is so toxic that homeowners could be barred from cleaning up their own property. Based on how authorities have handled similar ‒ but smaller ‒ fires, homeowners may be required to depend on specially certified workers to sift through the debris for any remaining valuables and to ready sites for reconstruction.

The desperately needed rain headed towards the region could send debris from the miles of scorched canyons and hillsides rushing down ravines and through drainage ditches into the Pacific Ocean. Swimmers and surfers have been warned to stay out of the water as the toxins will likely have long-term impacts on water quality and marine life, including on dolphins.

More: Toxic fallout from LA fires will damage both land and sea

Newsom welcomes Trump to California

Trump warmly greeted California Gov. Gavin Newsom upon arriving in Los Angeles Friday to tour wildfire damage, pledging federal support after days of criticizing Democrats over the fires.

“We’re gonna need your support, we’re gonna need your help,” Newsom said. “You were there for us during COVID, I don’t forget that, and I have all the expectations that we’ll be able to work together.”

“We’re gonna get it done,” Trump responded, adding: “We’ll get it worked out, OK?”

Trump noted that California will need a lot of federal support. Newsom agreed.

“We’re gonna take care of things,” Trump responded.

Trump has said federal aid to support fire recovery could be contingent on policy changes. Earlier in the day he floated voting law changes in the state as one condition. He has also hinted at a possible overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Newsom meanwhile signed legislation Thursday pledging $2.5 billion for disaster relief and rebuilding efforts.

“Unlike MAGA Republicans in Washington who talk about delaying relief for political purposes, California is supporting our people with no strings attached. Together, we’ll rebuild Los Angeles,” Newsom said in a statement.

– Zac Anderson, Thao Nguyen, Francesca Chambers and Phillip M. Bailey

Trump tours Palisades Fire damage

Trump spoke with local officials at a livestreamed roundtable Friday evening after meeting with residents affected by the Palisades Fire and witnessing the devastation in a helicopter ride over the area.

“I don’t think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating it is, until you see it,” Trump said at the roundtable, later adding: “The federal government’s standing behind you 100%.”

Trump also said at the roundtable that homeowners have expressed concerns about how long it could take to rebuild and urged local officials to speed up the permitting process.

“We are 100% committed to getting this neighborhood rebuilt again,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told Trump. Officials need to be mindful of “hazardous waste,” Bass said, but added that if people are rebuilding “essentially the same… they really shouldn’t have to go through much of a process.”

“What’s hazardous waste? You’re gonna have to define that,” Trump responded, adding: “I just think you have to allow the people to go on their site and start the process tonight.”

“And we will,” Bass responded.

Trump also hinted at his reservations with FEMA and water management in California, saying the state “must adopt commonsense policies to prevent fires.”

Live video earlier in the day showed Trump walking through a Pacific Palisades neighborhood past burned houses, trees and cars with his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and emergency officials.

Wearing a dark suit with no tie and a black MAGA hat with gold lettering, Trump stopped to speak with homeowners impacted by the fire.

A man could be heard on the video feed saying people feel “abandoned” and “let down” by local authorities.

– Zac Anderson

Water scarcity hindered wildfire response

Trump has criticized California’s policies for sharing the plentiful water supply found in the northern part of the state with the parched south. The diversion results in the discharge of some water into the ocean, something Trump has described as a callous waste.

Trump claimed Friday that the devastation could have been prevented “if they had water, which they had plenty of but they didn’t use it.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom has dismissed those attacks as groundless, and experts have said that the diversions, in part designed to protect agricultural interests, have played little or no part in the difficulties encountered in fighting the fires.

When the fires first broke out, water shortages did hit Pacific Palisades the hardest, Janisse Quiñones, CEO of the LA Department of Water and Power, said at a news conference earlier this month.

Demand for water in the area rose to four times its usual amount for 15 hours straight, and water in the area’s three 1-million-gallon tanks petered out, leaving firefighters without enough water to fight the flames, she said. Authorities attempted to refill the tanks but couldn’t do so fast enough to restore enough pressure to the system to move the water to higher elevations, added Quiñones who is also the agency’s chief engineer.

Newsom has launched an investigation into LADWP’s water supply failures and more than a dozen victims of the Pacific Palisades wildfire later filed a lawsuit against the department, the largest U.S. municipal utility. The LADWP should have maintained water in the nearby Santa Ynez Reservoir, which can hold as much as 117 million gallons of water and had been empty since February 2024, according to the complaint.

Fire near the Mexican border grows

The Border 2 Fire grew from 800 to 5,300 acres and was just 10% contained Friday afternoon, prompting school closures and evacuation orders to the North and West of the Otay Mountain Wilderness, according to Cal Fire.

“Fire crews experienced extreme fire behavior last night with long range spotting,” Cal Fire said Friday.

Chula Vista Elementary School District and Sweetwater Union High School District closed several schools due to ongoing safety and air quality concerns related to the fire.

The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District issued an advisory warning residents smoke was blowing toward the west and southwest Otay Mesa and surrounding areas. “This is expected to continue into Friday morning, although winds should become a bit lighter overnight,” the advisory said.

Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour event moved to San Diego due to wildfires

Tiger Woods’ Genesis Invitational is being moved from its home in Pacific Palisades, California, because of the wildfires that continue to devastate the Los Angeles area.

The third signature event of the PGA Tour season announced on Friday that the tournament would move from Riviera Country Club to Torrey Pines Golf Course. Genesis is scheduled for Feb. 13-16.

Woods, who hosts Genesis and whose foundation is the beneficiary, is expected to play in the event.

— Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post

Crews work around the clock to extinguish fire

Over 1,100 firefighters had been “strategically pre-positioned” across Southern California to address the “ongoing critical fire weather,” according to Cal Fire. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said more than 4,000 firefighters were battling the Hughes Fire.

Cal Fire said firefighters on Thursday focused on holding the fire in its current footprint and additional personnel were being staged within the unincorporated community of Castaic.

The night before, crews dropped 30,678 gallons of fire retardant and over 100,000 gallons of water on the fire.

Why did the Hughes Fire spread so fast?

The Hughes Fire roared from nothing to nearly 10,000 acres in just a matter of hours. It was the latest massive inferno in a series of fires across Southern California, most of which spread incredibly fast, a hallmark of many of the state’s most catastrophic fires.

These rapid-pace fires have exploded against a backdrop of extreme drought, lack of rain and howling Santa Ana winds, a dangerous combination that’s proved deadly as the wildfires continue to rage.

The area has gone without significant rain for the last nine months, leading to extremely dry vegetation ripe for fueling the flames.

California’s wildfires have become increasingly destructive in recent years. According to Virginia Iglesias of the University of Colorado, human development in fire-prone regions, especially in the wildland-urban interface, where neighborhoods mingle with forest and grasslands, has introduced new, highly flammable fuels.

She added that while climate change sets the stage for larger and more intense fires, “humans are actively fanning the flames.” Read more.

-Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

How contained are the Southern California wildfires?

• Palisades Fire – 23,448 acres; 79% containment

• Eaton Fire – 14,021 acres; 95% containment

• Hughes Fire – 10,425 acres; 79% containment

Contributing: Michael Loria, Trevor Hughes, Terry Collins, Thao Nguyen, Christopher Cann, and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California wildfires: Firefighters battle blaze; rain coming?