All evacuation warnings have been lifted regarding the Canyon Fire in California after firefighters appeared to gain the upper hand in battling the wildfire, which broke out amid a heatwave and rapidly spread to over 5,300 acres in two days and destroyed at least seven structures, including two homes, authorities said.
As of Sunday morning, fire crews had increased containment on the blaze from 28% on Saturday evening to 62%, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The fire also spread into Los Angeles County, endangering homes and forcing thousands of evacuation over the weekend near the city of Castaic.
“As of this morning, all evacuation warnings in Los Angeles and Ventura counties have been lifted,” Cal Fire said in an updated statement on Sunday morning.
As of Sunday, the fire had burned 5,370 acres, according to Cal Fire.
On Thursday, a local emergency proclamation issued by officials enabling the county to “expedite access to critical resources and cut through bureaucratic red tape to enhance firefighting and recovery efforts,” according to a statement from Los Angeles County.
The Canyon Fire had grown to over 5,000 acres in a matter of hours and was 25% contained, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department Friday morning. On Thursday, the fire had burned 1,500 acres.
At least two homes and five small outbuildings were burned in the flames, officials said.
More than 1,100 firefighters are battling the blaze, which broke out in extremely hot weather — accompanied by minimal humidity — which officials said are the perfect conditions for the flames to increase.
Evacuation zones and shelters
At the height of the fire on Friday and Saturday, more than 5,700 homes and structures in Los Angeles County were threatened and and nearly 8,000 residents were forced to evacuate, officials said.
Many residents of Ventura County were also initially under evacuation orders or evacuation warnings, which have all been cancelled, officials said.
The emergency declaration issued by officials granted authorities the flexibility to “coordinate across agencies, mobilize additional firefighting personnel and equipment, and streamline procurement processes,” officials said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to Cal Fire.
Firefighters were also making progress in containing the Gifford Fire, which as of Sunday had burned 114,621 acres, mostly within the Los Padres National Forest in Solvang, California, according to Cal Fire. The wildfire, which began on Aug. 1 and became the largest wildfire in the years, was 21% contained as of Sunday morning, officials said.
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