The Castaic Area Town Council thanked local agencies at Wednesday’s meeting and talked about how the responses by Castaic’s schools, law enforcement and firefighters worked together to prevent significant local losses during the Hughes Fire.
While there was plenty of gratitude expressed for the work that kept the 10,425-acre fire from burning any homes in Castaic or Val Verde, it also was an opportunity for the agencies to discuss what might have been done differently or lingering challenges.
The advisory group for the L.A. County Board of Supervisors meets virtually on the third Wednesday of every month to discuss concerns and pending developments in the community.
The cause of the fire is still reported as under investigation as of Friday, according to the U.S. Forest Service incident page for the fire. Neither the Sheriff’s Department nor Angeles National Forest officials were available Friday to provide an update on the status of the investigation.
Evacuations
The first comments came from Deputy Robert Jensen, spokesman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, who gave thanks. His words were aimed at not just other first responders, he said, but also residents for their partnership, as thousands of homes were evacuated and more than 1,500 people had to be escorted to safety during the emergency.
“I’ve never seen a multiagency cooperation quite like I’ve seen during the Hughes Fire, and that’s not to pat ourselves on the back or anything like that, that’s to genuinely thank your community and thank Castaic, thank Val Verde for not only the support and the kind words, and all the donations, Jensen said, “but genuinely, your partnership, and I mean that with all sincerity.”
Jensen specifically commended the effort of Castaic Union School District Superintendent Bob Brauneisen, who was working with deputies on campus to help coordinate campus evacuations. Jensen also alluded to the challenge posed by the fast-moving nature of the Hughes Fire, which required officials to move the command post more than once.
Insurance concerns
Darcy Stinson, who also represents Region 4, asked whether the 91384 ZIP code could be added to the state moratorium on fire-insurance cancellation.
He said the fire came very close to a lot of homes in that area, which was not included in an order State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Jan. 10 in response to wildfires.
Kris Hough, who represents Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Acton, said she had reached out on behalf of residents and was told there would be an amendment coming, asking if everyone can “sit tight,” until that was announced.
“That’s what they’re telling me,” she said, “so I’m hopeful that will come through soon.”
Lara previously ordered a retroactive withdrawal of any policy-cancellation notices that might have been sent out between Oct. 9 and Jan. 7, a roughly 90-day period before the fires. He also ordered a moratorium on policy cancellations and non-renewals for up to one year as a way to help affected homeowners in the areas impacted by fires.
L.A. County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley, said at that January news conference that navigating the insurance process is the No. 1 issue she hears from constituents.
Castaic Union School District
Brauneisen praised the help and support given from the command post, which helped with the speed of campus evacuations, he said.
Between the students, teachers and support staff, more than 2,000 were escorted to safety, he said, orders that grew from one campus to all four. Northlake Hills students, for example, were taken to the Castaic Sports Complex.
The spots for students were chosen for their ability to provide a secure location, and the entire evacuation and reunification with parents took approximately two hours, he added.
“The major issue for us is splitting our resources and having multiple evacuation sites. Really for us, we need to have one evacuation site and pool all our resources together,” he said.
“The other thing … is the closing of the freeway, and the Parker (Road) and Lake Hughes exits,” he said, adding the freeway closures made multiple evacuation sites a challenge.
One of the takeaways from the incident was a decision to investigate a more centrally located evacuation site, which would be away from potential freeway congestion, too, he said.
He also thanked deputies who went “above and beyond” with a phenomenal response: some picked up parents, taking them to the sports complex, reuniting them with their children and then taking them back to their car because they were stuck in traffic.
He said one challenge identified was security at the campus-evacuation scene, as some parents arrived on campus and wanted to pick up their children as the buses were being loaded. Brauneisen said that was not possible based on the need to keep safety and scheduling in mind.
James Stephens, who represents Region 1 and said he lived near Castaic Elementary, commended Castaic school district officials and suggested sending additional information to parents about the procedures for a fire response might be helpful.
County Fire
Maria Grycan, community services liaison at the Los Angeles County Fire Department in the Santa Clarita Valley, also thanked the council for the kind words.
Regarding the cause of the fire, she said the only thing she could comment on was the fact that investigators “have not ruled out arson, but we do not have a cause yet,” she said Wednesday.
“From the Fire Department’s standpoint, it was a really smoothly run incident,” she said Wednesday, thanking the other first responders and local school leaders.
The department’s area resources were still very much involved in the Eaton Fire response when the Hughes Fire erupted around 10:45 p.m. Jan. 22, she said.
She also praised the efficacy of the Genasys system, the social media app that officials sent the public to during the fire as a way to alert residents about potential evacuation alerts or orders.
Castaic High School
Bob Lewis, Castaic Area Town Council president, shared a report on the Hughes Fire response from William S. Hart Union High School District officials on behalf of Castaic High School. The Hart district governing board held its meeting at the same time as the town council’s.
Hart district officials reported that school had been dismissed for the day when the evacuation order was issued, but about 55 students remained, who were transported to West Ranch High, and then Valencia High via bus with help from first responders, Lewis said.
“There was frustration, with people, with parents trying to reach out to their children … at the high school because as most people know, the high school is in a dead zone when it comes to cell service,” he said, adding the district had engaged with service providers about the potential for a nearby facility that might improve service.
Lewis, who represents Region 4 and the neighborhoods of Meadowood, Bravo, Encore and Castaic east of Interstate 5 and south of Lake Hughes Road, said multiple businesses were contacted by the district to no avail.
“When we explored this issue, the service providers indicated that there were not enough homes in the area to expand their service,” according to an email Friday from Debbie Dunn, communications coordination for the Hart district.
Lewis said the district also discussed upgrading its open campuswide wifi signal that students and parents can access as a way to help.
Road closures
For his part, Capt. Ed Krusey also shared thanks on behalf of the California Highway Patrol Newhall Area Office, which is headquartered in Castaic.
Krusey said he was doubly grateful as a resident of the area, and candidly acknowledged he could have ordered the closures earlier, with the benefit of hindsight.
“In Unified Command, we triggered the closure of the off-ramps — in my opinion, I could have asked for it a little bit earlier,” he said, adding once the flames reached the base of the hills along the lower lake, the full closure of Interstate 5 was ordered.
The fire never actually reached the freeway from his vantage point behind the Castaic Sports Complex, but it got “pretty darn close.”
The closure was early enough to make sure all the road was completely evacuated, he added, and there was no significant backup on the local lanes, saying overall the response worked “exceptionally well.”
Pitchess plans
LASD Cmdr. Stacy Morgan spoke about the response at Pitchess Detention Center, the 1,000-acre complex that houses four jails, a training range, equestrian center and related facilities.
“I know that we’re visible to you guys, but you don’t hear from us very often,” she said, adding she wanted to explain the jail’s procedures in an emergency.
“You have to feel secure that the way that we’re moving (inmates), that’s it’s going to be done safely,” Morgan said.
There were about 4,500 inmates total at the complex, with 459 inmates in the South Facility on Jan. 22, when the evacuation alert became an order, Morgan said, but by that point, jail officials had already been making moves to secure inmate transportation.
The facilities leadership had experience with such situations, she said, as the Rye Fire in 2017 burned a portion of the equestrian center.
Morgan said based on the fire’s movement at the time, officials suggested sheltering in place at the North County Correctional Facility, which has 40-foot-tall concrete walls, as the safest bet. All of the inmates were moved back two days later when the evacuation orders were lifted, she added.
The inmates were moved back two days later when the evacuation order was lifted.
“Fire got there very quickly, it was amazing, the work that they did,” she added. “We didn’t have any damage to any buildings or any structures … so it was very successful for us.”
