California brush fires force evacuations and tens of thousands of power shutoffs

Several brush fires stoked by hot, windy weather forced evacuations in southern California, and tens of thousands of people woke up in the dark after their electricity was turned off.A rapidly spreading blaze in Malibu, west of Los Angeles, prompted evacuation orders and warnings for a large swathe of the Santa Monica Mountains. Firefighters also worked to contain fires in the city of Azusa, north of LA, and Camp Pendleton, the large military base north of San Diego.In the Santa Monica Mountains, more than 285 firefighters battled the Bryson fire overnight, which grew to about 200 acres (81 hectares) and threatened a Los Angeles county juvenile detention and rehabilitative facility. Fire officials planned to give an update Friday morning.A large cloud of black smoke over the hilltops could be seen on nearby cameras and miles away. Wind gusts of up to 30mph (48km/h) were reported early Friday and were forecast to increase, the National Weather Service said.With humidity levels dropping, “this will favor a critical fire weather threat,” the service said.The wind-driven fire in Azusa burned more than 40 acres (16 hectares) on Thursday and briefly prompted evacuation orders for a neighborhood in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains. Forward progress on that blaze has been stopped.At Camp Pendleton, evacuation orders were issued in the Las Flores area of the military base on Thursday afternoon, but lifted by evening, military officials said in a statement.California is facing several days of extreme fire-risk weather, with dry conditions, high temperatures and gusty winds intensifying the risk that a fire quickly gets under control.Dry, warm and gusty north-east winds known as Santa Anas, which blow from the interior of southern California toward the coast and offshore, were forecast in the south of the state, with the strongest winds expected through Friday afternoon.“It’s a pretty widespread event of elevated fire weather, so the whole SoCal region should really be on alert,” said Rose Schoenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.Because some of the state’s worst wildfires in recent years have been sparked by power equipment, utilities proactively shut off power to more than 150,000 customers across the state.In Los Angeles, the city’s mayor, Karen Bass, who faced criticism for her city’s response to deadly fires in 2025, directed the fire department to deploy personnel and equipment ahead of the winds. The fire department also requested assistance from the state’s office of emergency services.In January 2025, fires in the Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods, which were fanned by Santa Ana winds, killed more than 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes.Schoenfeld said the Santa Ana winds are not going to be as strong as during those fires, when they were gusting 60mph to 100mph (96km/h to 160km/h).___