A brushfire in California is wreaking havoc on the southern part of the state. In just a matter of hours, the fire has grown exponentially leading to hundreds of evacuations.
According to officials, the “Lake Fire” ignited just after 3:30 p.m. PT. Shortly thereafter, it quickly grew to 100 acres in size. The fire burned over 10,000 acres in just three hours, according to Global News.
The fire broke out on federal lands close to Santa Clarita. The city sits about half an hour north of Los Angeles. Since the initial breakout, the fire began moving towards several nearby communities.
The communities most deeply affected by the fire include Lake Hughes and Three Points. As a result of the fire, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office reports between 400 and 500 falling under evacuation orders.
As of Wednesday night, no structures sustained any damage. However, the LA County Fire Department wants those in the area to understand the severity of the brushfire.
During a press conference on Wednesday, David Richardson of the LA County Fire Department spoke out about the fire. “This is a major fire,” Richardson says. “We’ll be here throughout the night. It’s very resource tasking, and we will be here for multiple days to come.”
According to Robert Garcia, the fire chief of the Los Angeles National Forest Service, this week’s fire marks the largest in magnitude since 1968. “This fire is spreading quickly and intensely,” he said.
California Brushfire Churns Up a ‘Fire Tornado’
One shocking clip from the California brushfire shows a “fire tornado” breaking out. Veronica Miracle of ABC7 posted footage on Twitter. “I have never seen anything like this,” Miracle writes. “The #LakeFire is moving fast toward Lake Hughes. It created a fire tornado on this hill and it’s sucking everything inside.”
In the state of California, the wildfire season generally lasts between August and November. Wednesday’s “Lake Fire” comes in as the first major wildfire of the year.
On Thursday morning, fire officials report that the fire is 0% contained, according to CNN. However, officials remain hopeful that the cloud cover and higher humidity may help contain it.
[H/T Global News]
