New fires erupt in southern California ahead of Trump visit

5 new fires have broken out in southern California ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region.

The fires – named Laguna, Sepulveda, Gibbel, Gilman and Border 2 – burned Thursday in Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura and Riverside counties.

Meanwhile, firefighters have made progress in bringing the 10,000th Hughes Fire in Los Angeles under control, which is 36% contained as of Wednesday.

Fires have ravaged the US in the past few weeks, with the Palisades and Eaton fires burning more than 37,000 acres and killing at least 28 people.

Here’s some information on the latest fire, based on updates from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire):

• The Border 2 fire in San Diego is over 800 acres in size. Evacuation orders are currently in place
• The Laguna Fire in Ventura covers 94 acres and is 70% contained.
• The Sepulveda Fire in Los Angeles is 45 acres and 60% contained. In an update posted on X, the Los Angeles Fire Department said it had stopped the fire from spreading and had evacuated residents.
• The Gibbel Fire broke out in Riverside County, covering 15 acres. Firefighters were able to contain the fire.
• The Gilman Wildfire in San Diego covers two acres, but progress has been halted.

Trump is due to travel to Los Angeles on Friday to view the damage from the wildfires.

The newly elected president has been critical of the fire’s response and has threatened to withhold federal aid if California fails to improve its water management.

He criticized the Governor of California Gavin Newsom and repeatedly said that the state had a water problem because it messed things up to save a small fish called smelt.

When asked by the US media if he would cut money to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), Trump said: “I have to. Sometimes that’s the only thing you can do. California is a very good example.

“If you poll people, they don’t want sanctuary cities, but Gavin Newsom does.

Brian Rice, president of the California Professional Firefighters, told the BBC that he hoped Trump would not reject federal aid.

“The most important thing we have is to get federal aid in California, in areas where people have lost their lives, their homes,” he said.

“In the history of this country, federal disaster relief has never been agreed upon if you do this, you get that. This is a conversation that’s happening, it’s never happened before.”

The Hughes fire — the state’s third-largest wildfire after the Palisades and Eaton fires — forced thousands to evacuate after it broke out Wednesday.

According to Cal Fire, crews were able to make progress on the fast-moving fire Thursday.

Los Angeles is under the fire danger zone for today’s storms, according to BBC Weather.

Rain is expected through the weekend in the region, with snow in the mountains of southern California.