It was one of eight January 2025 Southern California wildfires driven by an extremely powerful Santa Ana wind event.

[5] Southern California Edison issued a report on January 10 about a downed conductor at a tower in the area of the fire.

[3] Mandatory evacuation orders began to be sent out by 10:37 p.m., January 7, to the residents of Sylmar north of the 210 Freeway from the Newhall Pass interchange to Olive View Medical Center, including the Oakridge Manufactured Home Park and most of Rancho Cascades.

[2] Evacuation orders were extended by 12:36 a.m., January 8, west to the Sunshine Canyon Landfill and north into the San Gabriel Mountains, including Whitney Canyon Park and southern Newhall; evacuation warnings were also sent out to residents in the Knollwood area of Granada Hills and the area around O'Melveny Park.

[21] As of Wednesday night, the fire departments projected that a red flag warning would remain in effect for the area until 6 p.m. Thursday, January 9.

[3] Additionally, 71 horses were safely evacuated from the Stetson Ranch area to the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center the night of the fire.

[3] About an hour after the fire began, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Probation Department said that the nearby J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall had not yet been ordered to evacuate, but they were monitoring the situation and were prepared to do so.