Fire rages in Los Angeles as 1,200 people evacuated

Lina Portman3 weeks ago

0 2 minutes read

Top line

More than 10,000 acres have burned and 1,200 people have been evacuated as a wildfire rages in Los Angeles County, briefly closing a major highway and closing a nearby lake to visitors.

Firefighters work against the advancing Post Fire early Sunday, June 16, 2024, in Gorman, California.

Highlights

Authorities evacuated at least 1,200 people Saturday as a blaze known as the Post Fire spread toward the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area, about 70 miles northwest of the center -city of Los Angeles, and continued to move south overnight.

Cal Fire's latest report, released shortly before 2 a.m. ET Sunday morning, indicated that the post-fire was 0% contained and officials were struggling to fight the fire due to limited visibility and strong winds.

The fire had burned more than 10,000 acres by Saturday evening and prompted evacuations between Pyramid Lake, a popular camping and boating destination closed to visitors over the weekend due to the fire, and Gorman, W. northern Los Angeles County.

The National Weather Service said Sunday morning that winds in the area continued to gust between 30 and 40 mph. The Post Fire started around 2 p.m.

On Saturday, the fire grew rapidly despite hundreds of people working to contain the blaze using fire trucks and water-wielding helicopters, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The fire is believed to have started as a bushfire, but its official cause remains under investigation.

Firefighters work under a smoking hill left by the station fire.

Firefighters are working against the advance of the Post Fire.

A firefighter monitors the flames of the advancing Post Fire.

Firefighters are working against the advance of the Post Fire.

Firefighters hose down a structure at the Los Padres Forest Station.

To monitor

If the Post Fire continues to spread south. Cal Fire had yet to share an update as of 11 a.m. ET as of Sunday, but as of Saturday evening, the fire was moving toward the city of Los Angeles, home to nearly 4 million residents. The fire is spreading parallel to the I-5 freeway, according to the Times, which connects San Diego, Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Key context

The Post Fire is one of six active fires in California, according to Cal Fire. It is by far the largest fire, followed by the Hesperia Fire in San Bernardino County, which has burned 1,130 acres and is 7% contained. The Post Fire is one of only two California fires currently marked at 0% containment, along with the much smaller Rocky Fire in Butte County. There have been 1,769 wildfires in the state so far this year and more than 41,000 acres have burned.