Topline:
Firefighters continue to make progress in containing the massive Hughes Fire that broke out Wednesday near Castaic Lake, growing to more than 10,396 acres and forcing mass evacuations.
What we know so far: The Hughes Fire broke out Wednesday off Lake Hughes Road near Castaic Lake. It was 56% contained by Friday.
Keep reading... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Firefighters continue to make progress in containing the massive Hughes Fire that broke out Wednesday near Castaic Lake, growing to more than 10,000 acres and forcing mass evacuations.
Around 38,000 people remain under evacuation warnings even as containment has reached 56%.
The Federal Aviation Administration has also issued a Temporary Flight Restriction in the airspace above the fire, meaning people cannot fly drones in the area.
The fire started shortly before 11 a.m. on Lake Hughes Road near Castaic Lake and burned through hundreds of acres within minutes. In the first three hours of the fire, 5,000 acres burned.
3 hour time-lapse of the #HughesFire that has grown from 500 to over 5,000 acres.pic.twitter.com/C63X5ICYmD
— Hexdline (@HexdlineNews) January 22, 2025
— L.A. County Fire Department (@LACoFDPIO) January 22, 2025
The National Weather Service extended a red flag warning in the area until 10 a.m. Friday — with a high wind advisory in place until 2 p.m. Thursday.
The smoke from the fire prompted alerts about poor air quality in Ventura County for Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Oxnard, Piru, Santa Paula, Simi Valley and Ventura. Parts of L.A., Riverside and San Bernardino counties also are under smoke and windblown dust and ash advisories.
Evacuation warnings have been issued for several areas in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Caltrans reopened both sides of the 5 Freeway Wednesday evening after closing lanes between Grapevine Road and State Route 126.
Area school districts will reopen most schools Friday after closing Wednesday and Thursday.
“After conferring with the fire department battalion chief and reviewing the latest air quality reports… we are happy to report that it is safe for our students and staff to return to school tomorrow morning,” the Castaic Union School District wrote in a statement.
Superintendent Bob Brauneisen previously said in a statement to families and staff that poor air quality and the need to assess facility safety extended the closures, which affected about 2,000 students.
William S. Hart Union High School District said in a statement that it will reopen all campuses except for Academy of the Canyons, which is on the campus of College of the Canyons and currently serving as a command center. The closures earlier in the week affected about 5,000 students.
The Saugus Union School District told LAist in an email that all campuses will be open. The district previously closed its offices and three schools in mandatory evacuation and evacuation warning zones, affecting nearly 2,500 students.
Los Angeles Unified schools in the San Fernando Valley limited outdoor activities such as recess, sports and lunch Thursday. Schools “particularly impacted by air quality” may release students early, the district wrote in a statement.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials moved 476 people from the Pitchess Detention Center, located in the evacuation zone.
Einer Rivera, a spokesperson for the department, said those jailed were taken to North County Correctional Facility.
That facility is also within the evacuation zones. Sheriff Robert Luna said the department is prepared to pivot to Plan B if needed.
"The Plan B that they would be being transported to other facilities around the county and they would be transported by any means possible," he said. "We do have buses that are on the way up there."
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Topline:
After California lawmakers passed a state housing law that allows taller apartment buildings near train lines, Los Angeles leaders are facing a tradeoff: If they want to delay full implementation of the law, they’ll have to choose some parts of the city to upzone.
The background: Mayor Karen Bass and a slim majority of the L.A. City Council expressed opposition to SB 79, but Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law last year. Starting July 1, the law is set to allow apartment buildings up to nine stories tall next to subway stations, as well as smaller buildings within a half mile of light rail and rapid bus stops.
The waiting option: L.A. leaders are now scrambling to pull a delay lever built into the law. The provision allows cities to put off implementation of some parts of the law until 2030, as long as they agree to allow more housing development in certain neighborhoods in the interim.
Read on… to learn how discussions to delay SB 79 are shaping up at city hall, and what deadlines elected leaders are facing.
After California lawmakers passed a state housing law that allows taller apartment buildings near train lines, Los Angeles leaders are facing a tradeoff: If they want to delay full implementation of the law, they’ll have to choose some parts of the city to upzone.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 79 into law last year. Starting July 1, the law is set to allow apartment buildings up to nine stories tall to be built next to subway stations and smaller buildings within a half-mile of light rail and rapid bus stops.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and a slim majority of the L.A. City Council had expressed opposition to SB 79, in keeping with the long-standing preference of many city leaders to leave untouched the three-quarters of L.A.’s residential land zoned for single-family homes.
Now, some L.A. leaders are scrambling to pull a delay lever that was built into SB 79. The provision allows cities to put off the law’s broadest effects until 2030, as long as they agree to allow more housing development in certain neighborhoods in the interim.
“If we don't do this, what happens is SB 79 goes into effect full-on,” said Bob Blumenfield, chair of the council’s Planning and Land Use Committee, during a meeting on Tuesday. “I really want to avoid that happening.”
The state law lets cities delay implementation in neighborhoods deemed to be “low resource,” in areas at high risk of fires or sea level rise or are designated as historically significant. Even with those carve-outs, some higher-income neighborhoods near train stops will still be subject to upzoning.
The city’s Planning Department produced a report last week laying out three different approaches for the City Council to delay SB 79. All of them involve local incentive programs that would allow developers to build apartment buildings in neighborhoods currently zoned for single-family homes.
The first option would allow buildings up to four stories tall, while the second and third options would permit buildings up to eight stories.
During the committee meeting Tuesday, homeowners spoke against the changes the new law would bring and the city’s upzoning plans.
“Single-family neighborhoods are where families put down roots — they are the beating heart of Los Angeles and SB 79 runs a stake right through that heart,” said Shelley Wagers with the Beverly Grove Neighborhood Association. “We must use every tool to prevent irreversible harm and buy time.”
Advocates for increased housing development said they favored the report’s third option, which would allow mid-sized apartment buildings within a half-mile of existing train stops, as well as planned stations and rapid bus stops.
Scott Epstein, policy director for Abundant Housing L.A., said that approach “offers the best opportunity to meet our housing targets and ensure that neighborhoods rich in transit services and high-quality schools are doing their part.”
The Planning and Land Use Committee could not get a three-person majority to agree on the best path forward, so the decision will now go to the full City Council for further debate.
Blumenfield said his recommendation as committee chair was to allow mid-rise apartment buildings in many neighborhoods, but only near existing train stops, not planned stations or rapid bus stops. He also recommended more exemptions for certain historic preservation zones.
Nithya Raman, a committee member who is also running for L.A. Mayor, said she found the report’s recommendations difficult to follow. Passing a delayed implementation plan could stave off changes in some neighborhoods, but only for a while, she said.
“Eventually we will have to do something,” Raman said. “So the question is just what do we do now and what do we do later.”
But council members have little time to figure out which approach they prefer. City planners told the committee that in order to have a delay ordinance in place by July 1, the council would need to decide what direction to take by early March.
Topline:
A new lawsuit alleges L.A. County’s $2 million settlement payout to its CEO was an illegal gift of public funds and asks a judge to order it paid back. The August payout to Fesia Davenport was first revealed by LAist, months after it was approved and paid in secret by the county.
The allegation: The lawsuit, filed by attorney Alexander K. Robinson on behalf of county resident Ana Cristina Lee Escudero, alleges the payout is illegal because Davenport did not have a valid legal dispute with the county. It also claims county supervisors illegally used the litigation exemption to discuss and approve the settlement in closed session, despite a letter from Davenport informing supervisors she had “no intentions of litigating this matter.”
The response: A lawyer hired by the county, Mira Hashmall, called the lawsuit “baseless” in a statement. She previously said the settlement served a “legitimate public purpose" by avoiding potential litigation. Messages for comment on the lawsuit were not returned from Davenport, County Counsel Dawyn Harrison’s office or the five county supervisors’ offices.
What the CEO had alleged: Records show the CEO payout was in response to claims by Davenport that she was harmed by a ballot measure approved by voters in 2024 that will create an elected county chief executive job at the county after her employment contract expires. Her payment demands said she suffered “reputational harm, embarrassment and physical, emotional and mental distress” caused by the ballot measure. Davenport went on medical leave in October and has not yet returned.
The law: Under the state Constitution’s provision on illegal gifts of public funds, local government settlement payouts are illegal if they’re in response to allegations that completely lack legal merit, according to a court ruling describing how such cases have been decided. And a payout cannot exceed the agency’s “maximum exposure” from a claim, according to another appeals court ruling.
The backlash: Leaders of unions that represent most of the county government’s workers previously told LAist many of their members have been shocked and outraged to learn Davenport negotiated a $2 million payout to herself, after they say she told workers there was no money to give them raises.
Topline:
As federal immigration enforcement raids continue across Los Angeles, a broader demographic of people is stepping up to volunteer their time to monitor and document immigration raids in their neighborhoods, according to Ron Gochez, organizer with the rapid‑response network Unión del Barrio.
More details: While longtime Latino organizers have led the patrols, their numbers are growing thanks to the new volunteers who aren’t necessarily Latino. Unión del Barrio has outgrown their usual meeting space at the United Teachers union building in Koreatown, which used to draw a few dozen people.
Spike in volunteers: Other immigrant advocacy groups say they’re seeing a similar surge in support. Representatives at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center report a spike in volunteers, donations, and attendance at “Know Your Rights” workshops.
Read on... for more about the increase in volunteers.
This story was originally published by The LA Local on Feb. 25, 2026.
As federal immigration enforcement raids continue across Los Angeles, a broader demographic of people is stepping up to volunteer their time to monitor and document immigration raids in their neighborhoods, according to Ron Gochez, organizer with the rapid‑response network Unión del Barrio.
“We have senior citizen retirees showing up saying, ‘I’m an old white woman — how can I help?’ We have students from community colleges and universities. We have people who look like longtime activists and people who look like they’ve never done this before,” he said. “It’s solidarity being shown by Angelenos of all shapes, sizes, colors and ages.”
While longtime Latino organizers have led the patrols, their numbers are growing thanks to the new volunteers who aren’t necessarily Latino.
Unión del Barrio has outgrown their usual meeting space at the United Teachers union building in Koreatown, which used to draw a few dozen people.
Along with their patrols, the group supports families impacted by immigration raids and issues real-time alerts over social media.
In late January, the day after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, about 400 people showed up for a training session, Unión del Barrio organizer Ron Gochez said.
“The very next day, we had 1,000 people on a Zoom training for educators — and we couldn’t have more because the Zoom limit was 1,000,” Gochez said.
Organizers in Pasadena expected a few dozen volunteers at All Saints Episcopal Church and were surprised when nearly 800 showed up for the training session, according to Pasadena Now.
For the first time, the majority of volunteers at a recent training session were white, Gochez said.
“I think the administration and ICE thought that by killing Alex (Pretti), that people would be scared and intimidated and would stop participating,” he said.
Instead, it has had the opposite effect.
Other immigrant advocacy groups say they’re seeing a similar surge in support. Representatives at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center report a spike in volunteers, donations, and attendance at “Know Your Rights” workshops.
The legal advocacy group says they’re going to continue sustaining deportation defense, managed information hotlines, and expect that engagement to remain strong as federal immigration enforcement intensifies.
Residents living near Koreatown and Pico Union have seen a sharp increase in immigration raids in recent months. Unión del Barrio volunteer, Oscar, who provided only his first name out of concerns over retaliation from the federal government, has seen firsthand the effects of the raids.
“This part of Los Angeles — Pico Union, K-town, MacArthur Park, Westlake — has been hit incredibly hard throughout the last year,” Oscar said, pointing to raids along the El Salvador Community Corridor in Pico Union. “They’ve gone up and down Pico multiple times.”
Westlake, a dense immigrant neighborhood predominantly made up of renters and noncitizen workers, has also been identified as one of the most vulnerable areas in L.A. to ICE raids, according to a county-sponsored study.
Oscar leads patrol training sessions, but before joining Union del Barrio, he patrolled his neighborhood with a friend to report on immigration enforcement. “It just didn’t feel like enough,” he said. “I wanted to be part of a space of dedicated organizers.”
Overall, he’s seen more people working together across racial and gender lines, with a common goal of protecting their communities, helping deliver groceries to impacted famlies, monitor their neighborhoods and feel like they have something to do in the face of the ongoing immigration raids.
“People are coming in angry, determined,” he said. “but ultimately I think people feel empowered during the training.”
Unión del Barrio has expanded beyond its usual territory in South Los Angeles and the group now patrols in Boyle Heights, Long Beach, the San Fernando Valley, Beverly Hills and Brentwood, Gochez said.
“We have eyes and ears everywhere,” Gochez said. “I’m very comfortable saying there are thousands of people patrolling in the greater L.A. area.”
Although the group rarely solicits donations, Gochez said they have seen an uptick in funding, which helps cover costs from patrolling and printing “Know Your Rights” flyers and other materials.
Despite the heightened attention, Unión del Barrio has not altered its training curriculum, making sure that volunteers are following the law, but also aware that their safety is not guaranteed when they head out to monitor the immigration raids.
Organizers strongly discourage undocumented individuals or those on probation or parole from participating in community patrols, instead encouraging them to contribute in other ways.
“We’re not trying to become martyrs,” Gochez said. “We don’t want to be arrested, beaten or killed. But there is risk involved.”
Topline:
The L.A. City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to make permanent a city pilot program that diverts police away from some mental health crisis calls.
The background: Since launching in 2024, clinicians with the city’s Unarmed Model of Crisis Response pilot have handled more than 17,000 calls for service, ranging from mental health crises to wellbeing checks. According to city reports, about 96% of those calls were resolved without police.
The response: “We can’t keep deploying armed officers to handle mental health crisis calls because the outcome is Angelenos paying with loss of life and millions of their tax dollars for legal settlements,” Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who co-authored the motion to enshrine the program, said at Tuesday’s meeting.
What’s next: The motion approved Tuesday also directs city officials to form a working group made up of the LAPD, the L.A. Fire Department and other agencies to address inefficiencies in the dispatch system.
Read on... for more on how the program is also helping the city's finances.
The L.A. City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to make permanent a city pilot program that diverts police away from some mental health crisis calls.
Since launching in 2024, clinicians with the city’s Unarmed Model of Crisis Response have handled more than 17,000 calls for service, ranging from mental health crises to wellbeing checks. According to city reports, about 96% of those calls were resolved without police.
“We can’t keep deploying armed officers to handle mental health crisis calls because the outcome is Angelenos paying with loss of life and millions of their tax dollars for legal settlements,” Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who co-authored the motion to enshrine the program, said at Tuesday’s meeting.
According to Hernandez, in 2023, more than a third of LAPD shootings involved someone experiencing a mental health crisis.
Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson said the data from city reports was "incontrovertible and unassailable," showing the program’s success at diverting police and fire first responders away from mental health crisis situations.
Council members said the move to make the unarmed model permanent was also a matter of fiscal responsibility. According to a news release from the offices of Hernandez and Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, on average it costs the city roughly $85 per hour to dispatch LAPD officers, while a response from a UMCR team costs roughly $35 per hour.
Last fall, progressive policy advocacy group LA Forward, convened a summit of local and state officials with the goal of making UMCR permanent and expanding it.
Godfrey Plata, deputy director of LA Forward, told LAist his group was “incredibly excited” to see the city make the pilot program permanent.
Plata said he sees enshrining the program as a first step in expanding the program citywide, which his group hopes to do by the 2028 Olympics.
In 2024, the city partnered with three nonprofit organizations — Exodus Recovery, Alcott Center and Penny Lane Centers — to provide teams of trained clinicians in service areas spread across L.A. The teams are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the Police Department’s Devonshire, Wilshire, Southeast, West LA, Olympic and West Valley divisions.
Crisis response workers are trained in de-escalation techniques, mental health, substance use, conflict resolution and more, according to a report on the program from the Office of City Administrative Officer. The teams don’t have the authority to order psychiatric holds for people in crisis, but they can work with them to find help locally, and spend more time on follow up than law enforcement can.
In its first year, Los Angeles’s Unarmed Model of Crisis Response sent teams of unarmed clinicians to more than 6,700 calls for service, ranging from mental health crises to wellbeing checks. Only about 4% were redirected to the LAPD. Average response times have been under 30 minutes.
Examples of these interactions include members of the teams taking food to a woman who was crying and hungry, working with a business owner to engage with someone sleeping in a parking lot and sitting with a family for nearly three hours to help resolve a conflict involving a relative.
The motion approved Tuesday also directs city officials to form a working group made up of the LAPD, the L.A. Fire Department and other agencies to address inefficiencies in the dispatch system. The goal of the working group will be to centralize unarmed crisis response dispatch and improve response times.
