As Hughes Fire Explodes in L.A. County, Weary Californians Decide: Stay or Go?

As the Hughes fire exploded in size on Wednesday, people living around Castaic Lake in northern Los Angeles County weighed the question of whether to stay or go.

The danger felt all the more real because of the deadly Eaton and Palisades fires that have been ravaging other parts of the county.

Greg Wolf, 64, was hunkered down with his family inside his house in Castaic despite a mandatory evacuation order. Ash was raining down and there were plumes of smoke in the sky, but he said they were staying put because the winds had appeared to die down and the fire appeared to be south of them.

Mr. Wolf said he is normally unbothered by warnings about fires. But this time, he was nervous.

“What happened in Altadena and the power of the wind in the Palisades — I’ve never seen anything like that in California,” he said.

Fueled by fierce winds, the Eaton and Palisades fires grew rapidly and caused widespread devastation in Altadena and Pasadena to the northeast of Los Angeles, and in Pacific Palisades and Malibu to the west. The two rank among the most destructive blazes in California’s history.

The Hughes fire seemed to be growing at a similarly shocking rate, burning more than 8,000 acres by 4 p.m., barely four hours after it started.

It had burned mostly brush in and around the Castaic Lake State Recreation Area, but evacuation orders were issued for wider swaths of the area. The evacuation zones include Northlake Hills Elementary School, Castaic Elementary School and Castaic Middle School. Other schools closed out of caution, though they were not under evacuation orders.

Manny Trujillo watched the fire spread into a dry riverbed across the street from his home in Castaic. There have been fires nearby before, he said, but nothing like this. As the flames crept closer, he couldn’t decide whether or not to leave.

“I don’t want to panic,” he said. “But what do you take?”

The fire at first threatened the Lake Hills Community Church, which overlooks Castaic Lake, but David Cummings, the lead pastor, said the building appeared to be untouched. He had watched from the church’s remote security cameras and spotted firefighters in the area before the power went out.

About half of the church’s 140 parishioners live in Castaic.

“We’ve been able to evacuate them down to homes in Santa Clarita, but now some of those homes are under evacuation so we’re re-evacuating,” Mr. Cummings said.

The fire had reached the northern part of Santa Clarita, said Mayor Bill Miranda. He said he was not aware of any homes that were damaged in the city, which is south of the lake and is home to about 225,000 people.

Some of its residents were taking no chances.

People who live on the Camino Azar cul-de-sac in Santa Clarita’s new Tesoro Highlands community were evacuating midafternoon Wednesday, after watching wearily as the fire grew for several hours and checking in with one another.

“It moves very fast,” Immanuel Chiang, 57, said as thick clouds of smoke billowed just northwest of his hillside community. “I just came and started packing.”

Like his neighbors, Mr. Chiang moved to the new development just three months ago.

Mr. Miranda said he felt confident about Santa Clarita’s preparations, with evacuation centers set up, including for animals, and a command center established near Castaic Lake. The area has been through fires before: In 2019, the Tick fire burned nearly 5,000 acres.

“We’re experienced with fires, that’s a good thing,” he said. “But the fact that we have so many fires, that’s not a good thing.”

Mr. Miranda urged people to be prepared, noting that winds were forecast to pick up tonight and could shift quickly.

By Wednesday evening, some Castaic evacuees were gathered at the Ralph’s shopping center. Among them were Ted and Jennie Hartman, who were preparing to head to neighboring Valencia to get dinner with their 7-year-old son.

Around midday, their son’s elementary school notified them that all children needed to be picked up. At 4 p.m., the family heard officials on bullhorns saying they needed to evacuate.

“I think they were worried about embers,” said Mr. Hartman, 57, a state worker, who has lived in Castaic since 1986 in a neighborhood of mostly two-story homes.

As they left for dinner, the Hartmans said they did not know where they would be sleeping tonight.