Santa Clarita Ordered to Evacuate After New Brush Fire Breaks Out

Just as the wildfires in California were starting to die down, a new fire erupted.

This has created an evacuation near Santa Clarita.

The fire broke out on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, near Castaic Lake, which is just north of Santa Clarita.

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Massive winds and dry terrain have enabled the fire to move at a blistering pace, taking out about 500 acres per hour.

The video of the fire looked like a mushroom cloud, and it was only growing with every passing hour.

The Santa Claria Valley Signal reported, “The fire spread quickly along both sides of Lake Hughes Road to the northeast of the lake, and radio dispatch shortly after 11 a.m. indicated spot fires were popping up near the Ridge Route, approaching Interstate 5.

“The incident is being called the Hughes Fire, and was initially reported as near Lake Hughes Road and Dry Gulch Road, but closer to Castaic Lake than Lake Elizabeth, according to radio dispatch traffic.

“Initial radio dispatch reports indicated the fire had already reached 50-100 acres and was crossing Lake Hughes Road. Castaic Sports Complex and Paradise Ranch Mobile Home Park were placed under evacuation order as of 11:20 a.m.”

Now, the question is how far into Santa Clarita the fire will travel.

This is home to Six Flags Magic Mountain, as well as a population of nearly 225,000 people.

So far, more than 15,000 homes and businesses have been lost, as well as 28 people have died.

The death toll will surely rise once workers have started to clear the rubble and start to go through these homes.

The last report I saw, there were still nearly two dozen people missing.

We can only hope they are able to get this fire under control as quickly as possible so we do not see a repeat of what we have already seen in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.