Yet another blaze broke out in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday night. Dubbed the Sepulveda fire, it had grown to 20 acres by the early hours of Thursday morning.
Why It Matters
The fires raging in California this month have already resulted in the widespread destruction of homes. More than 50,000 people being put under evacuation orders or warnings and air quality is also a growing concern for residents.
At least 28 people have died, the LA country medical examiner’s office said Tuesday.
What to Know
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) posted an alert on the new fire to its website just after 11 p.m. on Wednesday.
In a subsequent update, the department said the fire was burning at approximately 10 acres on the Sepulveda Pass. It said evacuation warnings were in place “for the residents SOUTH of 1500 block of Casiano Rd NORTH of Moraga Dr EAST of Sepulveda Blvd WEST of Chalon Rd.”
According to a live map by Watch Duty, a service that tracks fire activity, the fire had expanded to 20 acres at the time of publication.
Map shows location of Sepulveda and Palisades fires on Thursday 3:55 a.m. ET (00:55 PST). Map shows location of Sepulveda and Palisades fires on Thursday 3:55 a.m. ET (00:55 PST). Watch Duty
The map showed the new fire was located east of the much larger Palisades fire, which has already burned a staggering 23,448 acres around the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
An evacuation order was in place for Zone LOS-Q800, shown in brown in the map below. “Potential threat to life and/or property. Those who require additional time to evacuate, and those with pets and livestock should leave now,” it warned.
An evacuation order was in place for Zone LOS-Q800 (shown in brown). An evacuation order was in place for Zone LOS-Q800 (shown in brown). Cal Fire/ Protect Genasys
Much of Southern California has been under red flag warning from the National Weather Service (NWS) this week, meaning the agency believed there to be an elevated fire risk.
Strong Santa Ana winds had already fueled several large blazes in and around Los Angeles this month, including the Palisades, Eaton, and more recently, the Hughes fire.
What People Are Saying
National Weather Service (NWS) Los Angeles said on X: “Current conditions on the #SepulvedaFire. Temps in the 60s. North-northwest winds 8-15 mph with gusts to 25 mph. Relative humidity 3-8%. Winds are expected to turn more northeasterly overnight and increase toward daybreak. Poor relative humidity recoveries overnight.”
What Happens Next
At the time this article was written, the Palisades fire was 70 percent contained, the Eaton fire was 95 percent contained, and the Hughes fire was a14 percent contained, per Watch Duty.
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