The Lake Fire burns through the hills north of Santa Barbara on July 10, 2024.
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The Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County is still more than 38,653 acres in size and was 38% contained as of Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, the Vista Fire in San Bernardino County, which has been burning since July 7, is now 59% contained. About 2,936 acres have burned near Stockton Flats and Lyttle Creek.
Firefighter injuries: An estimated seven firefighters have suffered from heat related illness, according to the U.S. Forest Service. In total, 12 have been injured, with the others suffering primarily from poison oak exposure.
Evacuations: They've been ordered for the communities around Los Olivos.
Is this normal: We do see fires like this during this time of year, but they often show up in the fall when dry and windy conditions are the norm. Exceptionally hot weather has dried out fuels enough where they're burning quite well.
The Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County is still more than 38,653 acres in size and was 38% contained as of Tuesday morning.
Firefighters have been battling the fire — currently the largest wildfire in the state — since July 5.
At least six injuries have been confirmed, though it's unclear whether that includes fire personnel or civilians. Three residential or commercial structures have been destroyed and one other structure damaged.
Officials said firefighters worked to contain the flames overnight, and observed "minimal active flame and spread." The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Evacuations
Evacuation orders — which can be found here — are still in place for communities around Los Olivos,
The fire has been burning for nearly two weeks. Its steady growth has forced firefighters to approach it from multiple fronts.
A firefighting helicopter performs a water drop as the Lake Fire burns in Los Padres National Forest with evacuation warnings in the area on July 6, 2024 near Los Olivos, California.
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One group of firefighters is focused on the Southern portion of the fire, which is where the largest communities are located. They've been able to limit spread, in part, by doing back burns. Crews have been using big metal cans with a mix of diesel and gasoline to purposely set brush on fire, all in an effort to use up the fuel before the main fire gets there. They've also been firing flares into the brush, a technique that lets them start fires from further out. They'll work to bolster containment lines through Friday.
"In conjunction with putting bulldozers in there, aerial operations and doing firing operations, it definitely improved that area over there," said Captain Scott Safechuck, public information officer with Santa Barbara County Fire.
Those on the northern side of the fire are trying to stop the blaze at the Sisquoc River by prepping brush and using back burns in an effort to take advantage of the naturally occurring fire break.
Portions of the wildfire could decrease in intensity when they hit the burn scar left by the Zaca Fire in 2007.
Cal Fire firefighters from Camarillo walks along the fire perimeter as as the Lake Fire burns in Los Olivos, on July 9, 2024.
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Firefighter injuries
The extreme heat is also taking a toll on firefighters. It's estimated that seven of them have suffered from heat related illness, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Hotter temperatures associated with climate change puts wildland firefighters at an increased risk for heat related illness and death.
A total of 12 firefighters have been injured, the others a result of burns and poison oak exposure. All have been treated and released, some after being taken to area hospitals.
“There’s always the potential for heat related injuries working in extreme conditions like our firefighters do,” said Marc Peebles, public information officer with the U.S. Forest Service. “The number that we have is not necessarily surprising. We’ve had less and we’ve had more.”
There are 3,267 personnel from local, state and federal agencies working on the Lake Fire.
The Lake Fire as seen from Solvang in July 2024.
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Vista Fire
The Vista Fire in San Bernardino County, which has been burning since July 7, is now 59% contained. About 2,936 acres have burned near Stockton Flats and Lyttle Creek.
An evacuation order has been issued for the Mt. Baldy Ski Resort and the Pacific Crest Trail from Lytle Creek to Mt. Baldy.
Parts of the San Bernardino National Forest and Angeles National Forest near Mount Baldy will be closed temporarily following damage from the Vista Fire. The U.S. Forest Service is projecting the closures to last until Oct. 31. Here's a list of affected roads.
In a statement, officials said the closure "is necessary to help ensure that no one is injured within the fire perimeter or surrounding area and that firefighting personnel can safely access the fire."
Any violation is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for an individual or $10,000 for an organization, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
Is this normal?
While fires like these aren't unheard of during this time of year, we usually see larger conflagrations in the fall when bigger vegetation has dried out enough to carry fire and the Santa Ana winds show up, often making fire spread unstoppable.
Unfortunately, due to high temperatures, vegetation across much of the state is drier than normal for this time of year. Two years of good rain and few fires has resulted in an increase of grass growth in some areas, raising the amount of fuel available to burn. If that dry grass catches on fire, given there's so much dry vegetation, fire can quickly spread to larger fuels, making it more difficult to stop.
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published February 8, 2026 11:53 AM
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a bill signing ceremony in 2022.
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Topline:
On Saturday, Newsom posted on social media proclaiming today, Super Bowl Sunday, as "Bad Bunny Day" in California in an over-the-top tweet written in all caps.
The proclamation: "AS MANY PEOPLE KNOW, I AM A TREMENDOUS LOVER OF 'THE SPANISH'... THAT IS WHY I AM DECLARING TOMORROW IN CALIFORNIA AS “BAD BUNNY DAY” WHEN BAD BUNNY PERFORMS AT THE BIG GAME IN THE GOLDEN STATE WITH HIS SOOTHING, BEAUTIFUL VOICE, AND HIS VERY NICE LOOKS," reads the message tweeted out through Newsom's office.
We looked into it: The declaration was so extra, we decided to look into it. Read on to learn what we found.
Bad Bunny has fans the world over. One of them apparently is Gov. Gavin Newsom.
On Saturday, Newsom posted on social media proclaiming today, Super Bowl Sunday, as "Bad Bunny Day" in California in a rather tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top tweet written in all caps.
"AS MANY PEOPLE KNOW, I AM A TREMENDOUS LOVER OF 'THE SPANISH'... THAT IS WHY I AM DECLARING TOMORROW IN CALIFORNIA AS 'BAD BUNNY DAY' WHEN BAD BUNNY PERFORMS AT THE BIG GAME IN THE GOLDEN STATE WITH HIS SOOTHING, BEAUTIFUL VOICE, AND HIS VERY NICE LOOKS," reads the message tweeted out through Newsom's office.
AS MANY PEOPLE KNOW, I AM A TREMENDOUS LOVER OF “THE SPANISH.” IT IS A BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE SPOKEN BY MANY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE IN THE GREAT STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND ACROSS THE WORLD. I AM ALSO A HUGE FAN OF PUERRRRRRRTO RICO. THAT IS WHY I AM DECLARING TOMORROW IN CALIFORNIA AS “BAD…
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) February 7, 2026
"Obviously in this case, the governor is making light of the President's criticisms of Bad Bunny performing during today's Super Bowl halftime show," said Chris Micheli, an adjunct professor of law at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, as well as the author of a number of textbooks on California state government.
So, is the proclamation for real?
To answer that question, let's take a detour into the state proclamation process.
"The governor has a wide authority on proclamations," said Micheli, who also works as a lobbyist for groups like the California Manufacturers & Technology Association.
Proclamations generally fall into two categories, he said. One is official actions, such as states of emergency in the case of disasters, to direct resources for relief. The second is proclamations that are ceremonial and commemorative in nature, where the governor may designate a specific day, week or a period of time to recognize a person or an event — like Black History Month or Ronald Reagan Day.
The Bad Bunny Day proclamation, Micheli said, falls in the second category. But, he added, proclamations are signed by the governor and attested by the Secretary of State in written declarations. As such, it's easy to interpret the Bad Bunny Day tweet as done in jest.
Here's what the Governor told LAist
"The Governor declared Bad Bunny Day via tweet. Enjoy!" The governor's office told us in an email seeking confirmation on Sunday.
Micheli said that means the governor would likely follow up with an official written declaration.
Here's the thing with ceremonial proclamations, though. Micheli said they need to be re-upped every year by the governor — they don't automatically renew.
So yes, let's celebrate Bad Bunny Day on this Super Bowl Sunday. Let's hope to do it again next year, and the years after.
By Adriana Gallardo, A Martínez, Lilly Quiroz | NPR
Published February 8, 2026 6:12 AM
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Bad Bunny is headlining today's Superbowl halftime show — a historic moment for some, a controversial choice for others.
The backstory: Bad Bunny, made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards when he became the first artist to win album of the year for a Spanish-language album. The artist has been vocal in his opposition to federal ICE raids.
Why now: But this Sunday, Bad Bunny will meet a larger and potentially more politically divided audience at the Super Bowl. Since late September when the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced their invitation to Bad Bunny, many took to social media to voice their indignation at the choice to platform an artist who has only released music in Spanish.
Puerto Rican superstar, Bad Bunny, made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards when he became the first artist to win album of the year for a Spanish-language project, with him winning for his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos. In addition to the top prize, Bad Bunny, whose given name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, took home the award for the best música urbana album and best global music performance for his song "EoO".
In his acceptance remarks, and not unlike other moments throughout his career, the artist used the spotlight to express his political views.
"Before I say thanks to God, I'm going to say ICE out," Bad Bunny said during his acceptance speech for best música urbana album. "We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens — we're humans and we are Americans," he added in response to the ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the country.
The crowd in Los Angeles, largely met his statements with applause and ovation.
But this Sunday, Bad Bunny will meet a larger and potentially more politically divided audience at the Super Bowl, where he is set to headline this year's halftime show. Since late September when the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced their invitation to Bad Bunny, many took to social media to voice their indignation at the choice to platform an artist who has only released music in Spanish.
To learn more about Bad Bunny's political history and what we might expect at the Super Bowl, Morning Edition host A Martinez spoke with Petra R. Rivera-Rideau, who chairs the American Studies Department at Wellesley College and the co-author, alongside Vanessa Díaz, of the new book, P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance. The two academics are also behind the Bad Bunny Syllabus, an online teaching resource based on Puerto Rican history and Bad Bunny's meteoric rise since 2016.
Below are three takeaways from the conversation.
Students come for Bad Bunny and stay for the history
Rivera-Rideau teaches "Bad Bunny: Race, Gender, and Empire in Reggaetón" at Wellesley and said the course uses Bad Bunny's work as a hook to get students into the seminar.
"But we really actually spend most of our time talking about Puerto Rican history and Puerto Rican history is part of U.S. history," she said. "And Bad Bunny music has consistently made references to this history."
Rivera-Rideau pointed to an example from 2018 when Bad Bunny debuted on a U.S. mainstream English language television show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The artist opened with a critique of the Trump administration's handling of Hurricane Maria, which had devastated his island in 2017.
"After one year of the hurricane, there's still people without electricity in their homes. More than 3,000 people died and Trump is still in denial," Martínez Ocasio said.
Latinos remain "perpetually foreign" to some
Puerto Ricans are born U.S. citizens — but this has not always protected them from being caught in recent ICE operations.
"I think part of that has to do with the kind of racialization of Spanish and the racialization of Latino communities of which Puerto Ricans are a part," she said. "And I think what it indicates is that, to me, Latinos in the United States, many of whom have been here for generations, are often understood to be perpetually foreign as a group of people that just does not belong."
The Party is the Protest
Rivera-Rideau said if Apple Music's trailer for the Super Bowl halftime show — which features Bad Bunny dancing with a group representing a smattering of ages, faces and abilities — is any indication of what audiences can expect on Sunday's stage, the theme might be joy in the face of a difficult moment for immigrants and Latinos in the U.S.
"One of the things we talk about in our book is that Bad Bunny is part of resistance, he does engage in protests but it's often through joy," she said. "We have a chapter in our book called 'The Party is the Protest' and I actually feel like that's what I expect at the Superbowl, a party and a protest.
Copyright 2026 NPR
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Suzanne Levy
is a senior editor on the Explore LA team, where she oversees food, LA Explained and other feature stories.
Published February 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Can Bad Bunny outshine Kendrick?
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Topline:
For LAist Senior Editor Suzanne Levy, who grew up in the U.K., the Super Bowl is a fascinating experience. Yes, there's the football — but for her that's the least interesting thing about it.
Why it matters: Want to know how the Super Bowl looks to much of the rest of the world? Read on.
Why now: It's Super Bowl Sunday... let the commercials and the half-time show begin!
The Super Bowl, to someone who a) grew up in the UK, and b) doesn’t really get football, is a strange experience.
Of course, I’m talking American football, not English football, by the way. If England gets into the World Cup quarter final you might find me at 7 a.m. in a pub in Santa Monica drinking a nice cup of tea and cheering the TV.
The Super Bowl is a national cultural event, and there’s so much excitement running up to it, yet when it happens, the thing that everyone is fixated on is the thing you’re least interested in. As in, the football — the men with padded shoulders who pile into a heap. I mean, I get the ones in the middle are doing something, but the ones at the edges are just for show, right?
All the running and the throwing and the tackling … well that just gets in the way of all the entertainment.
OK, OK, I’m kidding. I do get excited when a halfback grabs the ball and starts up the field, elbowing people out of the way, but even that can get a bit wearing when it happens over and over again. Just let the guy get to where he wants to go already!
And that’s where the Super Bowl is ideal. It comes with ready prepared breaks in the action, so there’s no chance to get bored. There’s the commercials. Over the years, some of them have been so great, like that one with the kid and the Force, and that Eminem Detroit one.
Some, not so much. That’s where I do my armchair critiquing. “Well I hoped they paid him a whole boatload of money for that one, his credibility’s down the toilet,” or, “Oh come on, ad agency, for a million dollars per millisecond, that’s all you can come up with?”
But it’s the hope, the desire, that this moment you’ll be blown out of your chair. Wait, that sounds a lot like watching football. Hmm.
Then there’s the half time show, which I always watch. “Call me when it starts!” I yell at my family as I walk out to do some very important laundry folding. As the music begins, I rush back in. Lady Gaga, Beyonce and now … Bad Bunny. As I watch pure perfection, I keep telling myself, they’re doing it live, in front of a billion people. They are not missing a damn note. Or step. Except that left shark. Hell, even the Weeknd won me over eventually.
And then there’s the last quarter. I make sure I watch that. It’s the psychodrama of it all. The looks on the coach’s faces as they chew their gum, serious, determined. The fans, holding their breath. The commentators asking Tom Brady what it was like when he was doing it. And then.. the whistle blows. And one half of the stadium is ecstatic, giddy with delight, while the other half stares into the abyss. It's a Shakespearean tragedy come to life. For all the commercials and the music, this really is the can’t miss part, which brings me back year after year. Go Patriots! Go Seahawks! Let the game begin.
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published February 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Bad Bunny is introduced during the Super Bowl LX Pregame & Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Press Conference at Moscone Center West on February 05, 2026 in San Francisco, California.
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Topline:
On Sunday, fans are gathering at bars and house parties to bear witness to Bad Bunny's historic performance at Benito Bowls viewing parties all across the Southland.
Why it matters: Super Bowl halftime shows are always a big deal. But to many in Los Angeles and beyond, Bad Bunny's performance marks a particularly important cultural — and political — moment.
Why now: "We're going through a lot of heaviness here in our community with ICE [and] people disappearing. It's sad, we're angry," said Bianca Ramirez, LAist's director of operations and a longtime fan of Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio.
Super Bowl halftime shows are always a big deal. But to many in Los Angeles and beyond, Bad Bunny's performance marks a particularly important cultural — and political — moment.
On Sunday, fans are gathering at bars and house parties to bear witness to the event at so-called Benito Bowl viewing parties all across the Southland.
"We're going through a lot of heaviness here in our community with ICE [and] people disappearing. It's sad, we're angry," said Bianca Ramirez, LAist's director of operations and a longtime fan of the Puerto Rican superstar.
In the face of continual crackdown, she said, resistance will take the form of pride and joy on Sunday. It'd be the first time the halftime show will be performed entirely in Spanish by a headliner.
" This is definitely unprecedented," Ramirez said.
Just a week before taking the Super Bowl stage, Bad Bunny notched another first, winning album of the year at the Grammys for the Spanish-language DeBí Tirar Más Fotos.
LAist's Bianca Ramirez with her Bad Bunny plushie.
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"[It] was such a proud moment for our Latino community, not [just] here in Los Angeles, but around the world," Ramirez said, characterizing the album as one of the artist's most political to date. "He dives into gentrification and making sure that we protect Puerto Rico and its roots. He does criticize the Trump administration a lot in that album."
DeBí Tirar Más Fotos also won Best Música Urbana album.
"Before I say thanks to God, I'm going to say ICE out," the artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, said as he accepted that award.
Later today, Ramirez is heading to a Benito Bowl — one of many gatherings held by Bad Bunny fans across the Southland. In her case, it's a backyard hang with childhood friends to celebrate a history-making concert "where these two other football teams so happen to be playing at the same time."
Ramirez has her fingers crossed that the performance includes the song that first got her hooked.
"Hopefully he surprises us with Cardi B [and] he plays I like it," she said. "Bring it full circle for me as a fan."
No matter what, it's an iconic day.
"It's just gonna be a moment for us to hang out and celebrate Latinidad and just [the] proudness that Bad Bunny brings to our communities and beyond," she said.
