{"id":1600,"date":"2026-05-18T21:41:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1600"},"modified":"2026-05-18T21:41:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:41:43","slug":"fast-growing-southern-california-brush-fire-prompts-evacuation-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1600","title":{"rendered":"Fast-growing southern California brush fire prompts evacuation orders"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"32477448-ce6d-48e3-ab97-0960e7877e85\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Vehicles drive on a road toward large plumes of wildfire smoke rising from hills in the distance\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e83ea09322cbbbfa29ed97dbfaba9cccf1292dc7\/0_0_6500_4335\/master\/6500.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310.1192307692308\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Smoke from the fire billows over Simi Valley in southern California on Monday.<\/span> Photograph: Daniel Cole\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"32477448-ce6d-48e3-ab97-0960e7877e85\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Smoke from the fire billows over Simi Valley in southern California on Monday.<\/span> Photograph: Daniel Cole\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Fast-growing southern California brush fire prompts evacuation orders<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Fire reported in Simi Valley, north-west of LA, as mandatory evacuation orders were issued for over 20,000 residents<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A fast-growing brush fire ignited on Monday morning in southern <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/california\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">California<\/a>, prompting evacuation orders and damaging at least one home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Sandyfire was reported just after 10am in Simi Valley, a city in Ventura county about 30 miles north-west of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/los-angeles\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The blaze <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fire.ca.gov\/incidents\/2026\/5\/18\/sandy-fire\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">had spread<\/a> to more than 700 acres shortly before 2pm. The fire had no containment as of Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for more than 20,000 residents in the southern part of the city, the New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/05\/18\/us\/sandy-fire-simi-valley-california.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">estimated.<\/a> The city has a population of more than 125,000 people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Aerial footage from local TV stations showed at least one home on fire. Fire officials did not provide an exact count. Multiple helicopters could be seen performing water drops over the blaze, while mass clouds of gray smoke blanketed the neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Crews were scrambling to keep flames from moving down slopes into the suburban neighborhoods of Thousand Oaks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A National Weather Service advisory warning of winds 20 to 30mph was issued for the area until 3pm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe are still anticipating a change in the weather to our advantage,\u201d said Ventura County Fire\u2019s Andy Van Sciver said, <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7.com\/live-updates\/sandy-fire-simi-valley-several-structures-burned-184-acres-scorched\/19125501\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">according to ABC 7 News.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><em>The Associated Press contributed reporting<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/california\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">California<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/los-angeles\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Los Angeles<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/west-coast\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">West Coast<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/world\/wildfires\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Wildfires<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Fast-growing%20southern%20California%20brush%20fire%20prompts%20evacuation%20orders&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/18\/simi-valley-fire-california-evacuations?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F18%2Fsimi-valley-fire-california-evacuations&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/18\/simi-valley-fire-california-evacuations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smoke from the fire billows over Simi Valley in southern California on Monday. Photograph: Daniel Cole\/Reuters View image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1601,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions\/1601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}