The Hughes Fire, which has burned a total of 10,425 acres, and initially forced thousands in Castaic and Saugus to evacuate earlier this week, is at 79% containment as of Friday evening with the fire’s cause yet to be determined, according to L.A. County Fire Department and Angeles National Forest officials.
Due to critical fire danger, the Angeles National Forest will be temporarily closed through Friday, Jan. 31, for public safety and protection of natural resources, the ANF morning update said.
The fire, which initially broke out on Wednesday morning around 10:40 a.m., quickly grew from 50 acres to more than 5,000 in just a matter of hours, forcing approximately 30,000 evacuations from the Castaic area, and another 20,000 residents were under evacuation warnings.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, ANF officials stated in the update.
In a followup phone call with The Signal, Los Angeles County Fire Department Public Information Officer Fred Fielding said that the cause of the blaze will be investigated in a joint effort between the Fire Department and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
“That will be a joint investigation, but it’ll take a while before they can figure out what has caused this fire or what they suspect has caused this fire,” Fielding said. “Cause is under investigation but undetermined as of now.”

Evacuation orders have been lifted due to the fire traveling towards the forest. For updates on evacuation orders, visit bit.ly/3E78Ngj.
“Firefighters worked tirelessly overnight to secure containment lines and put out hot spots. The hard work of fire crews successfully contained a slop-over on the northwest edge of the fire,” the incident update read. “On the southern flanks of the fire, crews engaged in structure protection efforts, improved contingency lines, and tactically patrolled the fire perimeter.”
Over 1,700 firefighting personnel from both the Angeles National Forest and Los Angeles County Fire Department are continuing to battle the blaze, as the Red Flag Warning of Santa Ana winds is no longer in effect.
“There will be a directional change in the winds moving from Santa Ana conditions to onshore winds this afternoon,” the Friday morning update said. “This may create erratic shifts that crews are prepping for to immediately and aggressively attack any new problem areas … despite extreme fire behavior, steep terrain, and low humidities.”
ANF officials reassured residents that fire personnel will remain available within Castaic, and other communities within the Santa Clarita Valley that may be potentially threatened by the fire.

