(NewsNation) – Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation directing $2.5 billion in relief to support response and recovery efforts for Los Angeles.
Newsom signed the laws after the state Legislature approved them with bipartisan support earlier in the day. The measures include $2.5 billion for the state’s emergency disaster response efforts such as evacuations, sheltering survivors and removing household hazardous waste. Lawmakers also approved $4 million for local governments to streamline approvals for rebuilding homes, and $1 million to support school districts and help them rebuild facilities.
“This is about distilling a sense of hopefulness,” Newsom said at a news conference in Pasadena, a city recovering from one of the destructive fires that ignited earlier this month.
The aid won approval a day before President Donald Trump is set to visit California for a look at damage from the blazes. He’s suggested any federal wildfire relief should come with conditions, though congressional Republicans who represent the state have pushed back on that idea. Former President Joe Biden already approved some disaster aid for the region earlier this month.
Crews responded to two new fires that erupted in San Diego County Thursday afternoon, prompting evacuations.
CAL FIRE crews are battling the Border 2 Fire that erupted on Otay Mountain to the southeast of the city of San Diego.
The Border 2 Fire has affected about 600 acres near the U.S.-Mexico border. A massive plume of smoke can be seen blowing from the mountain.
It was reported after 2:15 p.m. in the area of Otay Mountain Truck Trail in the Otay Wilderness Area.
The second fire is the Gilman fire, which was reported in La Jolla, in the area of Gilman Drive and Via Alicante, and has a moderate rate of spread, according to NewsNation’s local San Diego affiliate KUSI.
Evacuation orders were issued for the area bordered by La Jolla Village Drive to the north, La Jolla Parkway to the south, Gilman Drive to the east and Torrey Pines Road to the west. The orders were lifted an hour later once forward progress on the fire was stopped.
More than 50,000 people are also under evacuation orders or warnings because of another fire that broke out late Wednesday morning in Los Angeles County.
The Hughes fire started quickly and engulfed 10,176 acres, according to CAL FIRE. It charred miles of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area.
The extremely strong winds were fueling the flames. However, they later died down — something firefighters used to their advantage. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said that because winds were not as strong as they were two weeks ago, aircraft crews were able to drop fire retardant on the south side of the fire, where the flames were moving.
However, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles cautioned that winds are expected to increase and expand into Thursday morning.
“Humidity is already extremely dry,” the NWS said. “Much of LA and Ventura Counties are at critical Red Flag levels. Any new fire can grow rapidly.”
Parts of Interstate 5 near the Hughes fire that had been closed reopened Wednesday evening.
“It’s really terrible to see it happening,” Chris Dittes, a member of the Castaic Town Council, said. “But this instance here is not one of tragedy. There’s no homes that have been burned as far as I know. It’s just been brush that has actually long needed to burn.”
Still, “any fire, of course, is scary,” Dittes added.
Another blaze in Ventura County, which local outlets say is being called the Laguna fire, was reported near Camarillo in the hills near California State University Channel Islands. Firefighters responded to Laguna at around 8:35 a.m., the Ventura County Star wrote. Currently, it is at 50 acres and 0% containment.
Those on CSUCI’s campus were told to evacuate.
Evacuation warnings were also in effect Wednesday but later lifted for parts of the Brentwood and Bel Air neighborhoods for the Sepulveda Fire, which started overnight. Firefighters were able to stop forward progress on Sepulveda around 2 a.m. Thursday, NewsNation local affiliate KTLA reported. That blaze torched around 45 acres.
The Los Angeles area had already been devastated by wildfires that began earlier this month and have continued burning.
Of these, the Palisades fire is the largest, burning 23,448 acres. It is 72% contained, per CAL FIRE.
The second-largest, the Eaton fire, is 14,021 acres and 95% contained. At least 28 people have died, and more than 14,000 structures destroyed, between both the Palisades and Eaton fires.
In Riverside County, the Gibbel fire quickly burned 15 acres as fire departments worked to contain the spread, according to reports. It began as a small vegetation fire, according to nonprofit fire tracking app Watch Duty.
Meanwhile, the Clay fire, also in Riverside County, has burned 39 acres and reached 70% containment.
Marrone said residents and officials have been on edge over the last 16 days because of the numerous figures started in January.
However, Marrone noted that the situation for the Hughes fire is different.
“In addition to the state resources that were pre-deployed, we had two strike teams in the Santa Clarita area,” he told reporters. “We were able to amass a lot of fire resources early on to change what this fire looks like.”
Dana Dierkes, public affairs officer for the Angeles National Forest, told NewsNation anchor Nichole Berlie that in areas that have burned, there can be challenges with debris flows and mud or rock slides.
“It depends also highly upon how severely an area was burned after a fire,” she said.
Earlier this week, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed an executive order to prevent “hazardous runoff.”
This includes preparing for future wet weather by installing reinforced barriers;removing fire debris with heavy-duty equipment, and capturing stormwater and diverting it to the sewer system.
“I’m directing city crews to swiftly install reinforced concrete barriers, lay down sandbags and clear debris to shore up burn areas and stem the flow of toxins,” Bass said in a statement. “These communities have already endured unimaginable loss – we are taking action against further harm.”
California state lawmakers on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a more than $2.5 billion fire relief package for those affected by the fires. It now heads to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for his signature.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.