Evacuation orders lifted as California’s Canyon Fire reaches 28% containment

Evacuation orders were lifted Friday evening in parts of Southern California as firefighters battling the Canyon Fire made progress taming the blaze. The fire has scorched an estimated 5,400 acres and is currently 28% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

The evacuation orders, which affected thousands of residents in Ventura County and Los Angeles County, were downgraded to warnings, meaning there’s still a potential threat to life and property.

The Canyon Fire is burning in a mountainous area north of Los Angeles and has been spreading toward the community of Castaic in L.A. County.

Ventura County officials said Friday that firefighters were making “good progress in suppressing the blaze, aided by favorable weather conditions and the continued use of firefighting aircraft making repeated water and retardant drops to slow the fire’s advance and support crews on the ground.”

Still, the fire remains an active threat and continues to spread further east into L.A. County.

In an update posted Friday on X, the L.A. County Fire Department said three firefighters suffered minor injuries while battling the blaze and were taken to a local hospital “out of an abundance of caution,” but were expected to fully recover.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued wildfire smoke advisories for parts of L.A. County, particularly along the I-5 corridor near Castaic Lake. Air quality issues are expected to linger through Sunday morning, according to the agency, which monitors air quality conditions for much of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Air pollution from wildfire smoke is a significant concern because it contains small particles that are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter — around 4% of the diameter of an average strand of human hair. This type of air pollution is dangerous because the particles are small enough to reach deep inside the lungs, which can exacerbate or increase the risk of asthma, lung cancer and other chronic lung diseases.

The Canyon Fire ignited Thursday afternoon near Holster Canyon and spread rapidly, engulfing more than 1,500 acres in several hours.

The blaze is one of several large fires that are currently burning in California, including the huge Gifford Fire that ignited Aug. 1 in the Los Padres National Forest. That fire has consumed more than 100,000 acres and remains only 21% contained, according to Cal Fire.