From heat waves to floods, Southern California has been experiencing a weather rollercoaster, and it’s not over yet. Early Thursday morning, the National Weather Service instated a red flag warning for fire danger across Los Angeles and Ventura counties. According to the announcement, the warning will remain in place until 8 p.m. Saturday.
Low humidity and winds moving upward of 25 miles per hour have increased the potential for brush fires, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. To protect people and property, LAFD said the Department of Transportation enforces 1,700 parking restriction signs in areas within high fire risk zones during Red Flag warnings. The National Weather Service suggested residents create an evacuation plan and prepare for power outages.
“I mean, I’m pretty used to [the potential of a fire outbreak],” said Priscilla Castro, a freshman majoring in biology. “Living in [Southern California], I feel like it’s kind of a norm, and we always have specific routes that we would take or where we would go in case a fire comes near us.”
According to the National Weather Service, the Santa Ana winds, responsible for fueling the L.A. fires of 2025, are projected to hit Los Angeles Thursday afternoon and last through Friday afternoon, with gusts of up to 70 mph. At 4 p.m. Thursday, a brush fire in Azusa burned more than 40 acres east of Pasadena as fire crews battled to tame it, according to Cal Fire’s incident log.
“Residents need to take these conditions seriously and prepare now,” L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger told the Los Angeles Times. Barger’s 5th District covers fire-prone areas including the Angeles National Forest and the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.
While fire weather watches provide preemptive alerts, red flag warnings call for immediate action, according to an explainer from Wildfire Safety Systems, an independent company that designs fire refuge products. An issued red flag warning means residents within affected areas should be ready to evacuate their premises, the explainer notes.
“We know how quickly these conditions can turn dangerous, and we know that preparation saves lives,” Barger told the L.A. Times. “I urge every household to treat this warning as a call to act today.”
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has a live map of current fires and related evacuation orders. Residents can also sign up for alerts through Alert L.A. County.
Areas with the highest risk include coastal regions that received minimal amounts of rain, Daniel Swain, a University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources climate scientist, told the L.A. Times.
Additional parking restrictions are put in place for red flag days, with street parking prohibited in Very High Fire Hazard Safety Zones, according to LAFD. Signs should have already been posted in affected areas, but those unsure can also check this online map..
While Swain does not expect winds to be as destructive as those during 2025’s Altadena and Palisades fires, Southern California Edison, the utility company whose power lines were reported by fire officials to have sparked the Eaton blaze, told CBS News it is taking precautions by preemptively shutting off power in high-risk areas.
SCE’s website said 26 public safety power shutoffs were active as of 8 p.m. Thursday, with 985 scheduled According to SCE, planned outages could affect up to 220,000 residents throughout Southern California and parts of the San Joaquin Valley.
Edited by Miranda Huang.