Fire Crews 5370-acre Canyon Fire fully contained; Evacuation Orders and Warnings in place
Caleb Nguyen
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – Fire crews are tackling a 5,370-acre fire deemed the Canyon Fire, just south of Lake Piru in Ventura County. The fire ignited on Thursday afternoon at approximately 1:30 p.m. along the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
The Canyon Fire has spread at a rapid rate. By Friday morning, it had expanded from 30 acres to over 5370 acres, and as of Thursday evening is at 100% percent containment.
Officials say the fire is currently the most threatening to the communities of Halsey Canyon and Hathaway Ranch – the fire appears to be moving east, away from the community of Piru.
More than 2,700 residents were ordered to evacuate, and an additional 14,000 were placed under evacuation warnings, according to a statement from the Ventura County Fire Department. These evacuations have since been lifted.
Evacuation orders were in place for the following zones of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties according to FIRIS Intel 24:
Lake Piru Recreation Area (PIRU-01, LAKE PIRU 04, LAKE PIRCU 05, LAKE 06, PIRU-14)
East of Piru Canyon Road, to the Los Angeles County Line
East of the Community of Piru (East of Center Street / Highway 126 to the Los Angeles County line)
Rural Communites of Halsey Canyon and Val Verde (CAS-VALVERDE-B,CAS-VALVERDE-D, CAS-OAKCANYON, CAS-HASLEY, CAS-ROMERO, CAS-GOLDENSTATE-C, CAS-GOLDENSTATE-D)
Evacuation warnings were also in place for the following areas, according to FIRIS Intel 24:
Northwest and Northeast of Lake Piru (LAKE PIRU-01, LAKE PIRU-02)
Rural Communities of Halsey Canyon and Val Verde (CAS-GOLDENSTATE-B, CAS-SLOAN, CAS-GREENHILL, CAS-CAMBRIDGE, CAS-HILLCREST, CAS-GOLDENSTATE-B)
Find more detailed maps of evacuation orders and warnings for Ventura County and Los Angeles County
The map below shows the current burn area of the Canyon Fire as the bright red area, the areas currently under Evacuation Orders as the light red shaded areas, and areas under Evacuation Warnings as the yellow shaded areas. The Ventura and Los Angeles county border is the blue line running north to south.
Your Morning News had the opportunity to speak with Andrew Dowd, Public Information Officer for Ventura County Fire Department, on Friday about the fire and learned that, “extreme heat and dry conditions are making firefighting efforts more difficult.”
On Aug. 8, the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District issued an Air Quality Alert due to smoke from the Canyon Fire as well as the large Gifford Fire still burning along the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara county line.
According to the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, conditions that limited the spread of smoke deteriorated overnight and local air quality has fallen into the unhealthy range of the Air Quality Index.
The Air Quality Alert will remain in effect until conditions improve, shared the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District Friday. For the latest information about air quality in Ventura County, click here and for information about air quality statewide, visit here.
More information on this evolving fire will be provided in this article and over the air as it becomes available to Your News Channel.