Castaic jail complex in wildfire evacuation zone; officials plan to shelter in place

When a rapidly growing wildfire spread to more than 5,000 acres of northern L.A. County, Sheriff Robert Luna told locals to evacuate immediately. “No evacuations have been ordered yet,” the department said at 10:58 a.m. “The facilities are aware and will take appropriate action as necessary.” The blaze soon ballooned to more than 3,000 acres, and just before noon, the ACLU of Southern California — which represents inmates in two class-action lawsuits against the jails — began reaching out to county officials. “They certainly don’t have enough buses to move them all at once for an evacuation.” By 12:20 p.m. Wednesday, the department said it was not evacuating the Castaic complex “yet,” but that day-shift deputies and jailers had been asked to stay late — both to help in the event of an evacuation at the jails and to assist with evacuations in parts of Santa Clarita affected by the blaze. “We demand that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff’s Department take swift action to protect the lives of the thousands of incarcerated individuals entrusted to their care,” the statement said. “Right now, nearly 5,000 lives are in danger because of Los Angeles County’s ongoing failure to keep incarcerated people safe and alive.” By that point, the flames had spread to 8,000 acres.