Moments after the Hughes Fire exploded, L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonathan Hatami said he raced out of the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster and drove back to Santa Clarita, where his children and hundreds of others were being evacuated from West Creek Academy as the sky overhead darkened with smoke.
“You had some parents crying. You had younger kids … they were crying. You could see the smoke from the school, everybody is kind of on edge,” said Hatami, whose kids are 8 and 10.
The latest fire forced thousands of residents to flee, closed a major north-south freeway artery, threatened inmates in a massive prison and showed no reprieve for firefighters and emergency responders who have been battling blazes across Southern California for weeks. While Hatami and his family don’t have to evacuate yet, his wife, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, was dispatched toward the flames this afternoon.
The veteran prosecutor said his entire family is experiencing “fire fatigue” after more than two weeks spent waiting for wind-driven flames to threaten their home.
They are currently residing in an evacuation warning zone, but Hatami said he’s got packed bags waiting by the door.
“We’re sort of on standby to see what might happen, we’re ready to go,” he said. Pictures taken from Hatami’s backyard showed enormous gray smoke clouds looming in the distance, and he winced at the thought of his wife being even closer to the flames.
“Everybody is on edge. It’s a lot. I love California. I love Los Angeles, but this is definitely stressful,” he said. “It’s hard to go to work when you’re worried your house could burn down and your kids are at school and your wife is out there and you don’t know what’s going to happen with her.”
The Hughes Fire quickly charred 5,000 acres and forced thousands to flee from their homes amid a month of extreme fire conditions that have plagued Southern California.
The Hughes fire started off of Lake Hughes Road just before 11 a.m. and quickly prompted evacuations orders in and around Lake Castaic, which by afternoon extended toward Ventura County to the west and near Sandberg to the north. More than 19,000 people were ordered to evacuate and another 14,000 people were in areas where evacuation warnings were issued.
