A rapidly growing wildfire straddling the Ventura-Los Angeles county line Thursday afternoon triggered evacuations in and around Piru and Castaic amid a major heat wave that officials warned could foster extreme fire growth and behavior.
The Canyon fire was initially reported to be about 30 acres, but within about two hours that estimate jumped to over 1,000 acres, according to Ventura County officials. By 7:30 p.m., the fire had burned 1,500 acres and was spreading east toward Interstate 5 in L.A. County, threatening the communities of Hasley Canyon, Val Verde and Hathaway Ranch as well as power lines in the area.
The blaze broke out around 2 p.m. near Holser Canyon Road, northeast of Piru — a small, unincorporated town not far from Castaic Junction, where Interstate 5 meets Highway 126, according to Ventura County officials.
Around 4,000 residents and 1,400 structures were affected by evacuation orders, while an additional 12,500 people and more than 4,000 structures were affected by evacuation warnings, according to Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andrew Dowd.
Dowd said affected residents were almost entirely in L.A. County. “In the area of the fire that’s in Ventura County, we do have four evacuation zones, but it’s a very sparsely populated area, very rural area, and the fire is moving east out of that area,” he said.
-
Share via
Both the Ventura and Los Angeles counties’ fire departments were responding to the scene, where crews were facing temperatures up to 100 degrees with wind gusts up to 25 mph, according to the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office. Around 250 firefighters, along with 11 fixed-wing aircraft and seven helicopters, were working to battle the fire, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
“We’re trying to build a box around this fire and put it out before it gets into any of the potential communities that are currently under evacuation orders,” said Dowd. “Our firefighters are working tirelessly in the heat and steep terrain to make that happen.”
In Ventura County, evacuation orders were issued for the Lake Piru Recreation Area as well as the communities of Camulos and Piru. In L.A. County, evacuation orders were issued for the communities of Del Valle, Val Verde, Hasley Canyon and Castaic. Several surrounding areas were under evacuation warnings.
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley, urged residents to heed evacuation alerts.
“Extreme heat and low humidity in our north county have created dangerous conditions where flames can spread with alarming speed,” Barger said in a statement. “If first responders tell you to leave, go—without hesitation. The Eaton Fire showed us how quickly devastation can strike.
An evacuation center was opened in the East Gymnasium of the College of the Canyons, at 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.
Evacuation orders were issued near Piru in Ventura County because of a fast-moving brush fire on Aug. 7, 2025.
(KTLA-TV)
Fixed-wing firefighter airplanes were grounded shortly around sunset per aviation regulations, but firefighting helicopters will remain at the scene overnight working with ground crews to try to get a handle on the blaze, Dowd said.
“Those helicopters are in constant communication with our ground resources to identify targets of opportunity, places where they can go in and bring in strategic water drops,” he said. “We have a quick [water drop] turnaround time because of our proximity to Lake Piru.”
Dowd said he was cautiously optimistic that crews would make strong progress on the fire overnight as winds and temperatures died down.
“There are light winds that are pushing the fire eastward, but we’re not seeing a significant wind-driven fire like we saw with Palisades or the Eaton fire or the Mountain fire in Ventura County,” he said. “Those were wind-driven fires with long-range spotting that was occurring, and this is much more of a fuel- and terrain- and temperature-driven fire.”
The American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns about the fire’s proximity to the Pitchess Detention Center, where about 5,000 inmates are housed in four jails. The center is east of the 5 Freeway and fell just outside an evacuation warning zone Thursday evening.
Senior staff attorney Melissa Camacho said she was “gravely concerned” about the growing fire.
“January’s Hughes fire burned within a half-mile of the jails and not a single person incarcerated there was evacuated,” Camacho told The Times. “It’s heartbreaking that, less than eight months later, the 5,000 people in the jails and their loved ones will spend another sleepless night watching a fire and praying that it doesn’t reach them.”
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, which operates the facility, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dowd said he could not predict the fire’s behavior but noted that agencies will often take advantage of large roads such as freeways to create a natural geographic buffer against its spread.
Barger issued a local emergency proclamation shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday to enable L.A. County to expedite the deployment of resources to assist residents and combat the fire.
“Our priority is to protect lives, homes, and critical infrastructure, and this proclamation will help ensure that we have the tools and support necessary to meet the urgent needs of our communities,” she said in a statement.
Lake Piru Recreation Area is closed until further notice, as is Piru Canyon Road, which connects the town of Piru to the lake.
The Canyon fire is the fourth major blaze in the region in recent days, including the Gifford fire burning across the Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo county line. That fire, which ignited last week, is now California’s largest this year at more than 98,000 acres.
Source link
