LOS ANGELES, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — Thousands of people are under evacuation orders as a fast-moving wildfire continues to rage in Southern California on Friday amid a major heat wave.
The Canyon Fire broke out around 1:25 p.m. local time (2025 GMT) on Thursday near Piru, a small historic town located in eastern Ventura County and dozens of kilometers northwest of Los Angeles. The blaze grew rapidly to over 4,800 acres (about 19.4 square km), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
As of Friday morning, the containment has reached 25 percent, said the LA County Fire Department on social media.
The blaze, burning east with a rapid rate of spread, has crossed into Los Angeles County, Cal Fire said in an incident update.
Authorities said that five zones are under evacuation order in Los Angeles County with about 2,700 residents evacuated and 700 structures affected. Another six zones in Los Angeles County remain under evacuation warning, with 14,000 residents and 5,000 structures covered by the warning.
In Ventura County, five zones are under evacuation order and two areas are under evacuation warning, according to the county’s fire department.
There are around 400 personnel assigned to the fire, Cal Fire said.
The temperature in the area reached 37.8 degrees Celsius on Thursday, with 15-17 percent humidity, according to the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS).
“Although a few degrees of cooling is expected through the weekend, a very warm air mass will remain in place,” said NWS Los Angeles, adding that onshore flow will keep temperatures from exceeding record levels, but temperatures are expected to remain above seasonal normals “as high pressure aloft lingers over the Southwestern United States.”
