LOS ANGELES (Clifornia, US), Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A brush fire started on a sweltering Thursday afternoon east of Lake Piru in Ventura County and led to evacuations as this week’s warm temperatures in Southern California reached their peak.
The Canyon Fire was estimated at about 50 acres early Thursday afternoon before quickly spreading to more than 4,800 acres as it burned away from the community of Piru and in the direction of a few scattered ranch homes. The fire started north of Highway 126 east of the Los Angeles County line.
As of Thursday night, the blaze crossed into Los Angeles County, prompting evacuation orders for the Castaic area.
Evacuations were ordered for the Lake Piru Recreation Area and parts of the surrounding area. An evacuation warning was issued for the few ranches in the extreme west end of Holser Canyon.
At least 4,200 residents were under mandatory evacuation orders across LA and Ventura counties, according to the LA County Fire Department.
Water-dropping aircraft, including an airtanker, responded to the location, where temperatures neared triple digits with low humidity and winds gusting to 25 mph. Firefighters were using Lake Piru, a reservoir located in Los Padres National Forest northwest of Los Angeles, to refill firefighting aircraft.
The wildfire was one of at least four burning Thursday in Southern California.
More than 4,400 wildfires have been reported this year in California, up from 3,800 at this time last year. More than 221,100 acres have burned this year, well beyond the 83,200 acres through July 2024. The five-year average for that time is 4,100 fires and 125,700 acres burned.
Nationwide in 2025, 42,342 wildfires have burned over 3.4 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. At the start of August, firefighters are working to suppress 36 large fires, including several in California. — NNN-AGENCIES
