this is burning near castaic. it is growing in size. it's that huge plume of smoke that's burning in more of a rural area. but thousands of people have been put on evacuation warnings. we'll keep an eye on new developments from this fire and giving you any updates as they do come in. our other top story this afternoon, some federal workers are facing a looming deadline as president donald trump moves to end diversity, equality and inclusion programs in the government. that deadline is just hours away. and that's not the only thing president trump is canceling. natalie brand has the details from washington. >>>>in a new memo obtained by cbs news, the trump administration has instructed federal agencies to cancel any diversity, equity and inclusion programs and close dea offices by 5:00 today. all employees working in those roles are to be notified that they will be placed on paid leave as the administration seeks to shut down dei programs. >>>>our country is going to be based on merit again. can you can you believe it? >>>>the administra

evacuations ordered for areas near lake castaic.n elementary school, a high school, students being taken to other schools for their own safety. some neighborhoods are under evacuation orders. parts of i-5 are closed. please join us online as we continue this breaking news coverage. our next newscast is coming up at four. [music] yeah. >> welcome to like it or not, a show where we talk about all sorts of topics and try to figure out whether we like it or not. i'm your host today, claudine wong, joined by mark tamayo cristina rendon. and let's just kind of get right into it. i want to take you out on the town. okay? so we're just going to starhe

a new problem for firefighters and the community of castaic. than 30,000 people are under evacuation orders. that huge fire still burning fast-moving fire for more than 10,000 acres broke out 1030 this morning. now, there is some containment at this at 14%. and jeff, what can firefighters expect there over the next couple of hours? well, they're going to see wind gusts anywhere from 20 to about 50mph. so it's still going to be gusty overnight. red flag fire warnings go until 10 p.m. on friday, but there will be some good news in the form of some rainfall here shortly. now, as we look at our temperatures back here across the bay area, it is cold down to 39 in napa, 41 here in livermore. and we're going to detail more on those temperatures. and as i just mentioned, that chance of some rainfall developing right now. let me get you more details on that in your microclimate forecast and are closer to that weekend thursday. sounds good, doesn't it? we'll begin here with temperatures in the 30s to 40s. so another chilly start. so the jacket you've had

this is castaic fire. the latest wildfire sparked in southern california today being fueled again by the return of those dangerous santa ana winds. we're tracking the latest on this new fire. hopefully, i can make it. i'm not positive i can. it's a steep climb to recovery for so many businesses destroyed in those fires. and for those that survived, the struggles are just as deep. and i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. i'll have a look at some updated rain chances this weekend, and i'll get you the latest on the fire conditions in southern california. i'll see you back here with my forecast in just a few minutes. trending on our website. sonoma state university cutting its entire athletic program, eliminating several majors as well. you can read about the financial cuts behind the sweeping move. check it out at nbcbayarea.com. click on sonoma state in that trending bar. we'll strong santa ana winds, fueling a new wildfire down in southern california. it's called the hughes fire. it's forced a temporary c

the fire prompting mandatory evacuations in the castaic lake area and into the heart of castaic, threateningnesses as well. even castaic high school evacuated, so no doubt a lot of concern when this fire broke out this morning. what should be relief for people hopefully going back to their homes soon, especially in those warning areas for people up in the bay area familiar with the los angeles area. this is just south of the grapevine. the five freeway was shut down at one point that has since reopened, but again, conditions are much better compared to yesterday. reggie and amanda, we'll send it back to you. >> that was marc cota-robles reporting from southern california. crews have put out another fire that broke out yesterday, this one along interstate 405, in bel air, about a mile north of the getty center. the brush fire burned 40 acres. it did prompt evacuation warnings. our sister station in los angeles reports a chp helicopter was circling the area looking for a possible arson suspect. >> southern california is still recovering from its worst wildfires ever. those are the fires that b

it's called the hughes fire near castaic. among the primary concerns is the wind, and we become all too familiar with these questions as we bring in jeff ranieri. jeff, as we look at these flames here, the first question for the firefighters and for forecasters is really, where is that wind going and how intense are those winds? and we're going to show you that right now. and you can see on this map perspective here we have los angeles well off towards the south. yeah. the palisades fire way down here then santa clarita off towards the north. so a closer view of this will show this is burning to the north of santa clarita. and it actually started right around lake castaic. so it's been burning right around the lake now, as you just reported it. i have to say this is excellent news. they've started to open up interstate 5. they must have been able to keep some of those flames back from interstate five, because the biggest fear right now, with the way the wind is blowing, is that embers could jump the five, the fire jumps the f

this is over the fire near castaic lake. and it is just black as night as they have exploded in size since this afternoon. thousands of people, again, tens of thousands at this point are evacuating. that makes all the difference. >> and this is burning through a lot of areas. if you have driven down southern california, you drive right by castaic lake and that scale that i will show you in a minute. and we'll show you how close it is to the community. and they wouldn't show us a whole lot yet, but i can show you the smoke plume here where it is big enough now and significant enough that they are showing as a large plume of smoke for at least the next 12 hours, depending on how long it will take to get them under control. that's one scale. and let's get a little tighter and show you the specifics on the location there and they will drive right by these. you've seen it. once you go through the grapevine, 45 minutes later, you'll drive right by it and that is the perimeter that we will show you a moment ago. and much of the slo

me encuentro en el Área de castaic, al norte de los Ángeles y esta es la situaciÓn.maÑana, obligando a miles de residentes a evacuar sus hogares. los bomberos del condado de los Ángeles tienen elementos desde el aire y tierra tratando de combatir las llamas. pero en estos momentos lo que dicen las autoridades es que estÁn preocupados por los vientos que soplan a una fuerte intensidad y que son amenazantes. los bomberos nos seÑalaban que estÁn tratando de crear lÍneas de contenciÓn para evitar que las llamas se propaguen hasta las zonas residenciales. la buena noticia es que el fuego hasta el momento no ha dejado ninguna estructura daÑada ni tampoco ha causado daÑo a personas. pero las autoridades estÁn en alerta, ya que en el transcurso de la noche no pueden utilizar los elementos aÉreos para combatir las llamas desde el aire. en el transcurso del dÍa, los bomberos seÑalaban que simplemente estÁn tratando de observar el fuego, ya que esta es vegetaciÓn que estÁ seca. no hemos tenido lluvia en la regiÓn en los Últimos meses y eso, por supuesto, ha generado un combusti

this cal fire map shows the hughes fire is burning around castaic lake. you saw the lake in the photo earlier in the video, not far from santa clarita. so it is north of both the eaton and palisades fires. now let's take a live look at the fire. information is coming in minute by minute. just in the last half hour, the five there freeway there, interstate five shut down there due to the rapidly spreading flames. a total of 35,000 people are in mandatory or warning evacuation zones, and that includes several schools in and around castaic. there is now a triple wildfire threat in l.a. county. here is the latest on the two other major wildfires burning there since january 7th. the largest is the palisades fire, at nearly 23,500 acres. that is 36mi■!s. t is now 69% contained. the eaton wildfire has grown to just more than 14,000 acres, with 91% containment. cal fire reports 28 deaths from both of those fires. those fires have prompted new demands for an investigation into the emergency alert system, abc news reporter zohreen shah tells us there are questions

un nuevo incendio llamado en castaic, al norte de los angeles.

and that castaic lake is right here. the fire is moving this way down the ramp and it was a natural fire break. so a good portion of this fire got trimmed off and couldn't jump the lake, even though the winds were strong earlier. and they thought it could, it might, but it didn't. and then the fire kind of wrapped its way. this is where they're actively fighting the fire now, right along the east shore, kind of the southeast shore of lake castaic, up in the recreational district up there. so the story with the winds right now, ten miles an hour, the humidity is low, though still 9%, but temperatures are cooler. so the firefighters are getting a break. overall, the red flag warning lasts until tomorrow. winds could pick up again tonight into tomorrow morning, but the forecast is for lessening winds as the hours move on. that's the latest. i'll have more during weather. >> okay thank you bill. well, president trump will travel to southern california on friday to survey the fire damage. l.a. county supervisor kathryn barger

near castaic lake and the junction there. 14% contained. acreage covering 10,000. have to get a handle on this. we're watching some of the video from yesterday. this thing blew up. if you saw some of our reporters up there huge plume of smoke in the sky. that is just one fire. we'll move from our newsroom area. pardon my back over to the weather department here to check in on our colleagues because you've got the one fire there in the hughes fire. jimmy, go ahead and lead me on in here and you have two other fires burning. one is the sepulveda fire right along the 405 freeway. i always consider that central l.a. marissa torres is watching this for us. >> we still have active fires burning but improvements. with the hughes fire that it looks like crews have been able to push some of the flames further back into a more wilderness area to the north and pushing it further away from homes is always a positive. 14% containment. not done with the winds yet. we have to get through this morning and into the afternoon. gusting off shore winds. very dry. we're worried about t

and then here is here's the castaic lake. and you see that where that fire is burning and expanding in size. as we take a look at some of the wind reports right now, some sites here that warm spring sites that's up in elevation gusting to 45 miles an hour. other reports gusting at around 10 to 16 miles an hour. but you got a lot of topography here. and as a result, you find one isolated spot. you can have a much stronger wind. and everybody has a very low relative humidity, around 7 to 8%. so in the single digits, that's going to be a big challenge. the red flag fire warning continues for all these areas in southern california until 8 p.m. thursday. winds will actually pick up later on tonight and into thursday. so as we take a look here at this high wind warning, this actually begins 10:00 tonight until 2 p.m. thursday. that is out toward the fire zone, and winds could be gusting over 50, maybe topping 60 miles an hour. here's a look right around the fire zone itself. and as you can see, as we take this into later on tonight

but our thoughts are with the people near that castaic fire, jess. winds weren't so bad they couldn't fly. the water drops saving the day. >> absolutely but i mean we still watch the winds today closely. they're still under red flag warnings until tomorrow morning. with gusts up to around 60 miles per hour so we're not out of it just yet and that rain of course causes an issue when there's debris flow and mudslides throughout these communities. and as californians we know this but sometimes people who are not from here forget that okay, the rain is not necessarilied a good thing days after a fire. so we continue to keep a close eye on that forecast. that rain is going to make its debut up here too. as we head into our saturday forecast. and what i want to show you real fast is what's happening for us right around the corner starting off today lasting into the next couple of days. this morning we'll have a beautiful sunrise around 7:20. the climate prediction center showing drier than normal conditions throughout the next six to ten days but it's impo

so the fire near castaic issue there along i-5. that's east castaic lake. and most of the fires are toward the west on fortune. those winds are blowing in that direction. and that's why firefighters were so concerned they had some evacuation orders there. now we're seeing more issues as well overnight tonight with the fire warnings, continuing least until 10 o'clock in the morning tomorrow. and also along the coastline. now we're seeing some more fires starting near oxnard. the look at fires we've seen that begin to pick up the warm temperatures there to go along with that, too. in the humidity has been extremely dry down into the single digits that is desert dry, but not only there all the way down in san diego. very dangerous fire conditions continue for least another 24 hours. >> all right, still ahead, how one south bay program is helping young people transition out of foster care into their new homes. >> plus, why alameda couety officials say oakland unified school district could soon run out of money. for all those making it big out there... ...should

castaic and the fire is at 14% containment. further south, drivers on the busy 405 freeway stopped to watch as flames raced up this rugged hillside near the getty museum. this is in bel air. jonathan vigliotti has the very latest. >>>>reporter. >>firefighters descended quickly on the sepulveda fire that broke out overnight just off the 405 freeway. >>>>this is obviously near a much more populated area and next to one of the busiest freeways in the world. >>>>and another intense firefight. earlier on wednesday, fire crews battled advancing flames from the hughes fire burning in northern los angeles county. fueled by fierce santa ana winds. >>>>the weather is what's predominantly driving this fire, and it's spread right now. they have been struggling to hold back the flames all afternoon. the concern now being this expanding into the subdivisions here where there are thousands of people that are trying to evacuate. >>>>and while some residents armed themselves with garden hoses, others were wasting no time in leaving. >>>>it's pr

that perfect storm scenario that meant that this fire that started to the north of castaic lake spreads that we've seen in the los angeles area over the last couple of weeks. thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes, mostly in communities to the south of castaic lake. many others had to be put on to evacuation warnings, meaning that they had to be prepared to leave their homes at a moment's notice if they were told to do that. now, the firefighters say they are beginning to get the upper hand. they're not out of the woods yet, and the warnings for the next at least 2a, 36 hours in terms of the weather and the winds are not positive. the red flag warning meaning expect extremely strong winds, that has been extended into friday. but then at the weekend, the los angeles area is expecting some rain. it would be the first rain for months. just a sprinkling of rain, it won't be a heavy downpour, but it could significantly assist the firefighters as they tackle this blaze and continue to get the other fires around los angeles completely under control. the world's biggest icebe

. >> the hughes fire now burning in castaic. that's north of santa clarita it is just ballooned to more than 9,000 acres. now from just 50 acres before 11 o'clock this morning today, more than 30,000 people are under an evacuation order with more than 20,000 other people under evacuation warnings, including folks in ventura county, no containment on this fire yet. chief meteorologist lawrence karnow is in the weather center now with a look at conditions and large. you could just see the winds affected. >> yeah, just unbelievable. you can imagine driving down i-5 for loss and just go over the grapevine, you had near 6 flags, magic mountain and that's near where that fires at castaic. >> and they're seeing some very gusty winds in that area. so specially over the mountain tops down below even some blustery winds. you see so 20 in some 30 mile an hour. plus winds. but over the mountain tops you could be talking about 65 some 75 mile an hour winds. so extremely dangerous fire conditions there. that is a canyon area, too, which tends

it started near castaic lake around 11 o'clock. it has burned more than 5,000 acres since it started just a couple of hours ago. and there are evacuation orders and warnings in place near the lake. there. what we know so far is that it's about 5,000 acres. no containment and that is spreading quickly through this dry brush and trees just on the east side of the lake. it's being fanned by the santa ana winds. that's been real big problem for their that area right now. the cause of the fire >> is not known at this moment, but there are evacuation orders and warnings in place. we are getting a live picture now from our station there, ktla. we're watching a helicopter a plane, do a drop right at this moment is they're trying to gain some containment on this. we can see the thick black smoke that's coming from this fire. again, it's about 5,000 acres and this helicopter does give us a nice look at the roads that are in the area. there was some concerns about having to close the 5 freeway, which is near this. fire is burning to the north

the hughes fire raging out of control in castaic, devouring 30 acres per minute.ueled by bone dry conditions and powerful santa ana winds. students running out of this high school. midday skies darkening with smoke and that ominous orange glow. at least five schools so far evacuated. >> i was really scared, because i thought i was going to get really hurt. >> reporter: at least 55,000 people in the evacuation zone. >> we got the dogs out, my niece that's a baby in here, we got her out. >> reporter: what you're seeing is the epic firefight from the sky. look how low that fire, helicopters swooping down over that tree, dousing it in this area. there have got to be over 100 firefighters here trying to contain this. tony caballero and his neighbor spending hours hosing down their homes. >> i knew it was coming this way. embers just kind of shoot over this way. >> reporter: this fire just one of nearly a dozen new wildfires erupting over the past 24 hours in southern california. back at the scene of the hughes fire, residents preparing for the worst. >> we've been deal

burning near castaic. the fire started around 11 a.m.urned more than 9000 acres, but no buildings have been damaged.t >> evacuation orders and warnings are in place in parts of both los angeles and ventura counties, affecting about 50,000 people. this map highlights those areas red for orders. those are mandatory yellow for warnings. voluntary. voluntary evacuations i-5 runs through the evacuation zone and it has been reopened. >> of course, we've been following the weather down there, but we want to focus on our forecast here. >> yes, it's going to be cold again tomorrow morning. sandyha patel is here with that. >> absolutely. ama and dan, we have a frost advisory going up for the north and east bay valleys tonight into tomorrow morning. but let's focus on the rain this month. it has been dismal. san francisco is heading towards its third driest january on record. 19 hundredths of an inch, 6% of normal. look at oakland. 6%. only 11 hundredths in san jose, 5% of where you should be. on live doppler seven. no rain to speak of. tomorrow mo

that perfect storm scenario that meant that this fire that started to the north of castaic lake spreadher fires that we've seen in the los angeles area over the last couple of weeks. thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes, mostly in communities to the south of castaic lake. many others had to be put on to evacuation warnings, meaning that they had to be prepared to leave their homes at a moment's notice if they were told to do that. now, the firefighters say they are beginning to get the upper hand. they're not out of the woods yet, and the warnings for the next at least 2a, 36 hours in terms of the weather and the winds are not positive. the red flag warning meaning expect extremely strong winds, that has been extended into friday. but then at the weekend, the los angeles area is expecting some rain. it would be the first rain for months. just a sprinkling of rain, it won't be a heavy downpour, but it could significantly assist the firefighters as they tackle this blaze and continue to get the other fires around los angeles completely under control. here are some nic

it's in castaic right now. it's about 500 acres and they're calling this a fast-moving brush fire because just in the past 90 minutes or so, it's consumed that much amount of land. it is 0% contained and there are evacuation warnings and orders in place right now for the nearby area because there's so much smoke. it's impacting traffic along the 5 freeway and we can see they're part of the lake there. other some water. this is burning in the los angeles national forest as the cameras going kind of move around a little bit. we can see exactly the type of terrain that it's burning just this thick, dry brush in this rugged area. that's gonna make it difficult for fire crews in order to get access and they're still dealing with the palisades fire in the eaton fire. both of those burning to the south of this fire that's burning right now, the hughes fire. so we're keeping our eye on this developing situation out of los angeles. another fire, a big one just in the past 2 weeks starts parking here. so updates or also

you're looking across castaic lake here. you can see the smoke cloud above that. and they are -- we have been watching over the last few hours, and we have some video we can show you of a quite remarkable air attack against that flare-up that we have watched again and again as two super scooper airplanes have been dipping down on to the lake here, picking up a load of water. they contact the lake for about 15 seconds. they fill up those planes and then again and again they have done -- those pilots have done round after round, knocking down those flames. and they've made a very significant inroads here as you see those -- that smoke cloud which was pretty significant just 30 minutes ago, they've knocked it down quite considerably now. there are a couple of helicopters still doing drops. hard to make those out from the distance we are at here. we have also had a couple of the dc-10's, the huge let's as they call then, large aircraft tankers flowing overhead, and it looks as if they decided they do not need those. although as i look at that, there is another plume o

the hughes fire has quickly taken hold of a large area near lake castaic, and has scorched more thanmoved from their homes. our north america correspondent peter bowes is on the ground in los angeles and sent this report. there is hope that forecast rain will help the efforts to bring the blaze to an end stop. the blaze to an end stop. several fires are continuing to burn and the strong winds remain a problem. the biggest new fire in the hills to the north of los angeles started just outside castaic lake about 24 hours ago. firefighters there are largely bringing that fire under control, successfully keeping it away from residential areas close by. and that largely goes for the other new fires that have started over the last day. and you can just see the strength of the winds right now. and these are the winds that clearly hamper firefighters. the other two fires, one closer to the centre of la brentwood and the bel air area — that burned overnight, and then a coastal community to the northwest of los angeles. and the common theme here is that because of the extra resources that have

that perfect storm scenario that meant that this fire that started to the north of castaic lake spreade other fires that we've seen in the los angeles area over the last couple of weeks. thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes, mostly in communities to the south of castaic lake. many others had to be put on to evacuation warnings, meaning that they had to be prepared to leave their homes at a moment's notice if they were told to do that. now, the firefighters say they are beginning to get the upper hand. they're not out of the woods yet, and the warnings for the next, at least 2a, 36 hours in terms of the weather and the winds are not positive. the red flag warning meaning "expect extremely strong winds," that has been extended into friday. but then at the weekend, the los angeles area is expecting some rain. it would be the first rain for months. just a sprinkling of rain, it won't be a heavy downpour, but it could significantly assist the firefighters as they tackle this blaze and continue to get the other fires around los angeles completely under control. despite th

, because we are getting new images of wildfire, these aerials coming into us from la county over castaichat the los angeles area has been warned of a critical fire, angeles area has been warned of a criticalfire, criticalfire conditions from strong winds in southern california on wednesday, today the national weather service apparently saying there is a red flag warning for the santa ana winds in effect in the area through thursday evening, with gusts of “p thursday evening, with gusts of up to 65 miles an hour. we know of course that the fires across la in recent days have killed at least 28 people, destroying more than 15,000 structures and have charge some 63 square miles. —— charred. and some wildfires still burning. people are under evacuation orders with curfews, and we seen of course the trauma that people have face to really run for their lives and have lost their homes and these are the images there that you can see those flames burning there in the castaic area of la county. we will keep you updated on events there in california. british children are facing a "happiness recessi

the hughes fire is burning near castaic lake along i-5, not far from magic mountain, just northeast of there. at one point, some parts of five were closed in both directions. that main artery is now back open. the fire just exploded in size after starting mid-morning yesterday, it reached more than 10,000 acres in the span of just 12 hours. after a quick ground and air assault, firefighters are starting to get the upper hand here. at last check, the fire was 14% contained. no homes have burned, but more than 30,000 people are under immediate evacuation orders. another 21,000 are being told to prepare to evacuate. >> we're actually we're very nervous. so i rushed home. i went and got my daughter from school up the road. immediately we packed up the car, got all our belongings, our paperwork, documentation and i just started soaking my house. i, you know, wetting it down as good as i can. >> firefighters are concerned about the dry, windy conditions and the reminding people that embers can travel for miles. >> president trump travels to southern california to survey the fire damage. at a

thousands had to be evacuated from their homes, mostly communities to the south of castaic lake, many yet and the warnings for the next at least 2a, 36 hours in terms of the weather and winds are not positive, the red flag warning meaning expect extremely strong winds has been extended into friday but at the weekend the los angeles area is affecting rain, the first rain for months, just a sprinkling, will not be a heavy downpour, but it could significantly assist the firefighters as they tackle this fire and continue to get the other fires around los angeles completely under control. the world's biggest iceberg has broken away from antarctica and is approaching the british territory of south georgia, home to large penguin and seal colonies. fishermen and government are bracing for impact. georgina rannard has this report. this is the largest iceberg in the world and probably the laziest. for decades it loitered, stalking antarctica, but one day in december, a 23 a finally broke through, now captured in satellite pictures, speeding into iceberg alley, a place where icebergs go to die.

so that's a huge fire by castaic lake. and or in the castaic area. and for that one, we have 14% containment. >> a. >> little over 10,000 acres. it is actually what we might consider a more traditional wildland fire, uh, you know, running through the grass and brush, uh, pushed by winds down, uh, using the red flag winds that we knew were going to be present. and we have to point out that those are not gone. we will continue to have red flag warning through friday. so we're not out of the woods by any means yet. and there's a potential for another one next week. so we just need everyone to be braced and ready to evacuate if needed. >> any damage to structures? any word of injuries this morning we don't have any reports of structure damage or injuries, but as we transition in the morning, we'll have a better idea of what's going on. >> uh, more importantly, we had all the surge resources available. in fact, some of the cal fire strike teams were staged out there in santa clarita and were able to immediately respond. and assist with the fire fight. >>

it's near castaic lake in los angeles county. we think that's where these images are from right now because the cameras been moving around a bunch. there are evacuation orders and warnings in place for this. new wind driven wildfire. this is the mountains just north of los angeles that started earlier this morning and is quickly browned burned through about 8,000 acres. and there's just tons of smoke going over the area. so we're going update on this fire coming up at 4 o'clock. the have some new details for you. there's also this major benefit concert that's set to help raise funds for all the victims in los angeles from the wildfires. live nation is organizing the fire 8 event. it's set to take place at the intuit dome and the kia forum on january. 30th proceeds are going to go towards rebuilding infrastructure and supporting the displaced families. lady gaga, pink, billie eilish green day. that's just some of the acts we're going to be performing and tickets are on sale right now. quick check in with gayle about what's happeni

another massive wildfire has just exploded today along i-5 near castaic. this is just north of santa clarita they're calling this one. the hughes fire. we're looking live here at a fire retardant drop from one of the planes. it started just before 11 o'clock this morning at 50 acres

at least now this is lake castaic here, right in this area. and the fire, you see which way the winds are blowing. this is the general outline of the fire, right? the hughes fire. it's big for sure. and it's growing fast. low population areas. but look where it's burning into. it's coming right into the lake area. so the nose of this fire has got a natural firebreak that is going to break off a good. a two thirds of that fire is going to have trouble getting around this. this is the area that they're worried about the most because it's coming in on the edge of the fire, which could then get across interstate five. so you see a natural fire break here, which is pretty awesome. but again, mike, one of the big things here is and this was different in the palisades fire. you had big trees. you had landscaping live pictures to the story here is you've got low sagebrush and you've got oaks. they burn very differently. so embers being blown out ahead are going to have a harder time going way ahead, even though it's windy, because they're not 100ft in

called the hughes fire, and it's burning north of the eaton and palisades fire, where it is near castaic lake. it has forced that shutdown of i-5 in both directions through the grapevine. here is a live look at the fire right now where it is a wider shot that you can see the smoke that's put up. the plume stretching for miles. right now they're dealing with a red flag warning that will last until tomorrow night. that's a long time. they're expected to intensify tonight, reaching gusts up to 60 miles an hour, and we've seen how quickly that can carry a fire. this is video that shows why it is such a big concern, intense flames on both sides of the road there it in castaic. right now nearly 20,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. thousands more are under evacuation warnings. from the video, we could see cars turning around as those flames surrounded the roadway. and while a lot of people in the area are packing up and heading out, others, they're taking a wait and see approach. >> and this is not my first rodeo. >> what are you waiting for? >> i'm just going to watch it to see if it g

there's also the hughes fire that's burning near castaic lake. it started yesterday and is now 14% contained. the massive palisades fire is now 72% contained. and the eaton fire, that is 95% contained. reporter ramirez is at our sister station, kgtv. he's on the front lines of the 10,000 acre hughes fire. >> exactly. a little over two weeks after those two major wildfires broke out, you probably heard the sirens here. we've been watching emergency vehicles, fire engines making their way through here. castaic, about 40 miles north of downtown los angeles. we're near the five freeway and lake hughes. and just take a look. we noticed that plume of smoke picking up there near just behind homes on the ridge top there near castaic lake, to our north, in steep canyons and grassy hillsides, where the fire continues to burn away from the freeway. and we hope it doesn't get any closer to those homes there. we want to show you the video here. just take a look at what this fire activity did overnight, as it burned through thousands of acres in just the first

he said we learned that essentially, firefighters saved castaic. so that's such a great -- that's such great news. behind us, we have crews loading up some boxes, so this is just kind of the scene here. people are still -- there's still a massive presence at this command post. people are not going anywhere until california feels safe. zinhle, ellison. >> the laguna fire has prompted a new round of evacuations. that is something that's become routine in southern california for weeks now. homeowners and first responders, they must be exhausted. can you tell us more about that, dana? >> reporter: they're exhausted but i think someone said this yesterday, that we learned a valuable lesson two weeks ago during the deadly palisades and eaton fires. you were here. some people, they did not evacuate. whether they couldn't physically or they were trying to protect their homes, and official said that some of those people were the ones that got severely burned, and unfortunately died. so what we're seeing is people, they're a little more on edge. when new fir

however, communities around castaic and castaic lake are certainly being impacted by all of the smoke, as well as the fire spreading around the perimeter of castaic lake. and so, you know, as we head through the remainder of the overnight hours, the pre-dawn hours of thursday, we're dealing with a continued red flag, conditions, highly critical conditions. everyone has to stay at a high state of readiness, not only for these fires, but any other fires that if they were to form, could grow rapidly, grow explosively, and everyone needs to know where to go and have that go kit and have multiple ways to receive emergency information from emergency management officials and law enforcement. because again, those seconds make the difference between life and death when it comes to these evacuation orders. >> absolutely. and ariel, the winds at what is the forecast in terms of how long those winds may continue to last, or will there be a reprieve here in the coming days? >> you know, unfortunately, we're looking at the strong winds to continue on and off, especially over the higher elevations a

now earlier we saw an elementary school in castaic putting students on buses. one resident said she was working from home when the fire erupted and started packing up to leave. >> what's your concern? >> in this wind, it will do what it has been doing. >> so the winds have been a challenge here. let's get right over to chief meteorologist paul heggen with a look at the conditions. >> reporter: a strong santa ana winds have developed once again where it is airing over the mountains of southern california and it is very dry. humidity levels have been down 3% to 4%. and so another day and night that are in place for southern california, these have been expanded to 10:00 on friday morning, so just to be on the safe side where they have extended that time of the red flag warnings. the worst conditions will be tonight and during the daylight hours tomorrow. let's go and talk about the hour-by-hour wind gusts through the next 24 hours. the strongest winds won't be in the community, but in the hills. so look at where the darker colors are showing up in the higher eleva

andres gutierrez is in castaic with the latest. >> reporter: fire crews are making progress battling the wind driven flames tearing through bone drive vegetation in california's latest large wildfire. >> i can't officially say it's been stopped in its perimeter yet, but it's slowed way down, looking really good. >> reporter: the hughes fire started wednesday morning and quickly erupted to more than 10,000 acres, about 16 square miles, forcing around 30,000 people to evacuate their homes and businesses. fire crews say they have a better handle on this fire compared to the ones that devastated the pacific palisades and altadena earlier this month, killing more than two dozen people and wiping out entire neighborhoods. >> the difference in these fires, we're sitting at 35, 40-mile-an-hour winds. i was on the palisades fire that first night with wind gusts 80 to 100 miles an hour and they were relentless. it's like fighting a hurricane with fire attached to it. >> reporter: this is obviously near a much more populated area and next to one of the busiest freeways in the world. >> reporter

an elementary school in castaic was part of earlier evacuations today.ple nearby said they weren't waiting around to get to safety. >> as soon as i heard about it, i figured it was going to be tough to get home. so, better to leave early than not be able to get home at all. >> it was tough to get back with the traffic. >> we made it almost just in time. probably another ten minutes, and they probably would have closed lake hughes road. >> people are escaping the hughes fire. others are heading back to what's left of their neighborhood from the palisades fire. crews are busy shoring up the pacific palisades and altadena ahead of incoming rain. burn scars in the palisades and eaton fires could increase the threat of mudslides and floods in the region. sandbags and barriers are being brought in to help keep toxic and hazardous material out of the ocean. >> we need the rain desperately. but it is a really, really scary time, especially just thinking about the effects that this will have on the water. uh, we have some really, really unique and important ecosy

that fire started this morning near castaic lake in a sense exploded to more than 10,000 acres and forced thousands of people to evacuate. but the fire is now at 14% contained. that's good news. the cause of the fire remains unknown. tonight. the smoke, though. >> forced the temporary closure of the 5 freeway through the grapevine in both directions. tonight, firefighters are attacking those flames from the air and the ground hoping to gain even more control before any santa ana winds increase in the overnight hours. chief meteorologist lawrence karnow is here. lawrence, it's a good sign that the crews are able to fight it from above. that means the the winds aren't as terrible as they were a couple of weeks ago with the palisades fire. yeah, they do have cast lake right there as well. so they've got a water they can dip into. >> to help fight that fire. unfortunately, southern california has hardly had any rainfall at all after a long, hot summer. now we're talking about 18, 100's of an inch of rain since the beginning of the wet season. so-called wet season. so our drought monitor showi

the blaze erupting just before 11 wednesday morning on lake hughes road near castaic.e first reported at some 50 acres before exploding in size, scorching thousands of acres within just a few hours. authorities ordering 31,000 people to evacuate some 23,000 told to prepare to leave. we're just kind hope for the best and >> hang tight. and so we have to leave then we go. >> thick, black smoke looming over surface streets told with traffic. the wind-driven flames prompting the closure of interstate 5 from the grapevine to state route one. 26 for several hours before reopening by 07:00pm of these fires to grow very quickly. and they do to the weather and the topography. >> and that feels that we're seeing it went pretty quick fire. captain jay tracy is from the city of fresno. now, a designated spokesperson for the hughes fire. >> one of the thousands of firefighters who responded to so cal's wildfire crisis. he says roughly 4,000 firefighters are battling the blaze, including a massive air attack using airplanes and helicopters to head to the last witch of the very large

this is in castaic right near santa clarita. so just to give you an idea that perspective wise, also right near magic mountain, six flags to kind of place it on the map for you. notice the wind speeds right now from the north northeast at about 19mph. you might be thinking, well, that's not as gusty as what we've seen play out before. however, look at this humidity level here. we're talking less than 10% 6% humidity. so it i very dry. and all of that vegetation can quickly ignite, which we have seen unfortunately play out time and time again. temperature wis. we're still above average in the 70s, but i think the biggest factor here that will play out will be just how dry it is. i also want to talk about that red flag warning, because it was extended for all of the areas that you see highlighted in this red until thursday now. so again, all of these areas that includes parts of san bernardino stretching into parts of la as well, and even down through san diego, we're now seeing these red flag conditions, at least that red flag wa

another massive wildfire has just exploded today along i-5 near castaic. this is just north of santa clarita they're calling this one. the hughes fire. we're looking live here at a fire retardant drop from one of the planes. it started just before 11 o'clock this morning at 50 acres quickly grew to 5,000 acres. it is now north of 8,000 acres. no containment on this fire. it is burning in federally owned land. we just got an update is now 9,000 acres. this thing is moving awfully quickly because >> of those winds whipping around there. the the good news here that no structures have been damaged, roughly 19,000 people, they're being evacuated from communities just south and west of this wildfire. thousands more are under evacuation warnings, including several schools. it is intense indeed. and with that, we say good evening. thanks for being with us tonight for kron. 4 news at 5. i'm grant lotus and i'm vicki liviakis. this of course comes as la continues to clean up from the devastating eaton and palisades fires. thankfully, as of right now, as we mentioned

aunque el incendio en castaic estÁ levemente contenido, hoy se desataron cuatro incendios mÁs en sanverside. los Ángeles. tambiÉn los bomberos los combaten por aire y por tierra. una madre exige justicia. una disputa domÉstica terminÓ con la vida de sus dos hijas. el exnovio de una de ellas y el tÍo del joven son seÑalados como responsables del crimen y estarÍan prÓfugos. y una hispa se historia en las nominaciones al oscar. carla sofÍa gascÓn es la primera persona abiertamente trans nominada a mejor actriz y la pelÍcula emilia pÉrez tiene 13 nominaciones. asÍ comenzamos. >> noticias telemundo en la noche con aranza loizaga. >> bienvenidos y muchas gracias por acompaÑarnos. comenzamos en newark, nueva jersey, con una redada de ice que se efectuÓ sin orden judicial y terminÓ hoy no solo con el arresto de inmigrantes indocumentados, sino tambiÉn detuvieron ciudadanos estadounidenses, entre ellos un veterano de las fuerzas armadas. asÍ lo denunciÓ hoy el alcalde de la ciudad, gilbert vega, de telemundo, nueva york. nos acompaÑa con los detalles. adelante. >> asÍ es. buenas noches. y fue

within just a few hours, the fire in the castaic area north of l.a. exploding to over 5,000 acres. santa ana winds generating gusts over 30 miles per hour with stronger winds forecast into this evening. at a local high school, a chaotic evacuation. students rushing to safety against the ominous glow of the fast-moving inferno just over the horizon. mandatory evacuation orders are in place with many structures threatened. aerial tankers have been dropping fire retardant on the advancing flames, while some residents arming themselves with garden hoses to protect their homes. this latest wildfire striking a region still reeling from the devastation of the deadly eaton and palisades fires. liz kreutz is on the fire line tonight with the latest on what they're now calling the hughes fire. liz? >> reporter: yeah, lester. this is a fast-moving fire. you can see the flames here coming down the hillside. it's been moving acres by the minute. you can see the smoke right now all fueled by these strong winds. this is what officials have been worried about and warning about all week. >> let go.

this was the scene at castaic high school yesterday. you could see students evacuating ashose flames got ever so close to their building. all schools in that district are closed today as a precaution. as for the two destructive fires that started more than two weeks ago, the palisades fire, now 72% contained. the eden fire is now nearly fully contained. combined, both burned nearly 40,000 acres, destroying north of 15,000 structures. sadly, 27 people have died. cinthia pimentel, of course, been following all of this here. i know we heard there, liz mentioning that red flag warning into effect until tomorrow. that certainly is going to be because what the wind that we're seeing there, the wind and the other factor, the humidity, it is bone dry out there. we see some numbers in the low values. and as that approaches zero there, marcus, the worst that is. so the humidity is one thing, the winds are another. and we've been talking about this all morning long right now a critical period to watch as those winds are still gusting in the ridges

the hughes fire that broke out yesterday is burning near santa clarita and castaic, near the grapevine along interstate five. the fire has burned more than 10,000 acres, but firefighters say the situation is much better than the one they were in two weeks ago, when the massive palisades and eaton fires broke out. >> we have so many resources from northern california, from the western united states, international resources, aircraft resources, the number of helicopters and fixed wing retardant tankers that are available to us really allow us to attack a fire like this. >> so far, there are no reports of injuries. red flag conditions in la are expected to last through tomorrow, but firefighters are also expecting some rain relief in the days ahead. reporter laura aguirre explains that depending on where it falls and how much it could unleash a whole different kind of problem. >> thousands of firefighters battle worn by weeks on the front lines continue to fight for total containment of multiple fires today, with a weekend forecast that could bring rain relief and a possible new threat. f

tonight, though, firefighters starting to get the upper hand on the hughes fire near castaic lake off interstate five. containment. it is up to 14%. so far, no reports of any structures damaged or destroyed, but thousands have been ordered to evacuate the area. more from the front lines in just a few minutes. also here at 11, the trump administration moving quickly to act on its immigration plan after the president signed an executive order giving the military a role in immigration enforcement. the justice department has ordered federal prosecutors to investigate state or city officials who they believe are interfering with the administration's efforts. tonight, communities across the bay area are feeling more anxious. while sanctuary cities work to reaffirm their support, and sonoma state university announced dozens of layoffs and changes to programs as the school attempts to close a nearly $24 million budget deficit, 46 faculty members will not have their contracts renewed, as well as several other lecturers for management. staff positions will also be eliminated, and a handful of d