Firefighters across southern California are battling multiple blazes amid a severe fire weather event driven by gusty northeast winds and low humidity. The Bryson fire in the Santa Monica Mountains west of Los Angeles prompted evacuation orders and warnings for a wide area, with more than 285 firefighters deployed overnight. The fire threatened a Los Angeles County juvenile detention and rehabilitative facility, officials said.
A second fire in Azusa, north of Los Angeles, burned more than 40 acres but forward progress was stopped by Thursday evening, allowing evacuation orders to be lifted for a neighborhood in the San Gabriel Mountains foothills. At Camp Pendleton, the large military base north of San Diego, evacuation orders issued for the Las Flores area were lifted by evening.
Wind gusts of up to 30 mph (48 km/h) were recorded early Friday and were forecast to increase, with the National Weather Service warning of critical fire weather conditions through Friday afternoon. "It's a pretty widespread event of elevated fire weather, so the whole SoCal region should really be on alert," said Rose Schoenfeld, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Utilities preemptively shut off power to more than 150,000 customers across the state, citing the risk of power lines sparking fires during high winds — a concern underscored by some of California's worst recent wildfires. The proactive measure comes after the devastating January 2025 fires in the Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods, which killed more than 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes when Santa Ana winds gusted up to 100 mph.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who faced criticism over her city's response to the January 2025 fires, directed the fire department to deploy personnel and equipment ahead of the winds and requested assistance from the state's Office of Emergency Services. Schoenfeld noted the current Santa Ana winds are not expected to be as strong as those during the January fires, which peaked at 60 to 100 mph.
Fire officials planned to give an update Friday morning on containment progress across all active blazes.