100,000 Edison customers lose power as Southern California braces for peak of Santa Ana winds

Clara Harter, Ruben Vives and Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times on Oct 16, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — Fire crews across Southern California were on full alert Friday as they braced for the most extreme window of Santa Ana winds forecast in the ongoing red flag event.

Crews continued to battle two fires that ignited Thursday. The Bryson fire in Malibu was 146 acres and 17% contained by Friday morning, while at Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County the Henderson fire had burned 1,404 acres.

At least 100,000 customers served by Southern California Edison — including around 35,000 Los Angeles County households — were without electricity as the utility initiated public safety power outages to lessen the risk of its equipment sparking a fire.

At a Friday morning news conference, L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone praised the “great progress” crews made on the Bryson fire overnight.

“There has been no reported structure loss or damage, and only minor injuries to our firefighting personnel,” he said.

The blaze erupted shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, sparking evacuation orders for the Encinal Canyon area near Trancas Canyon and placing a larger swath of Malibu under an evacuation warning. On Friday morning, 414 personnel and multiple aerial resources were assigned to the incident, with a focus on ensuring flames do not jump over Ensignal Canyon Road, which would place a much larger hillside area under threat, Marrone said.

A red flag warning remains in effect for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties through 8 p.m. Saturday.

“This morning through this afternoon is our most critical period of time during this red flag event: strong winds and very dry conditions will continue to cause fire starts to spread rapidly,” said Kevin McGowan, director of the county office of emergency management. “We’re urging everyone to remain vigilant and ready to act.”

Wind speeds Friday are forecast to be about 10 mph greater than on Thursday, said meteorologist Mike Wofford with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Downed trees and power lines are also a danger.

“High wind warnings and strong wind advisories look good for much of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties with peak winds likely in the 50 to 70 mph range through late morning or early afternoon before gradually weakening,” the National Weather Service said in its Friday morning forecast.

Even areas that don’t typically see a lot of wind during the Sana Anas may see wind gusts between 25 and 45 mph Friday, the forecast said.

On Thursday, windy areas of San Diego saw peak gusts ranging from 60 to 78 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The Henderson fire ignited around 2:30 p.m. Thursday in a dry, brushy area of Camp Pendleton, prompting a temporary closure of the 5 Freeway.

Mayor Karen Bass said Thursday that Los Angeles fire officials were pre-deploying personnel and resources to potential fire hot spots including the San Fernando Valley, Santa Monica Mountains and Hollywood in anticipation of the red flag conditions.

Reviews of the Los Angeles Fire Department response to the January 2025 firestorm revealed critical failures to pre-stage resources. In particular, fire officials drew heat for failing to pre-deploy engines to Pacific Palisades, despite forecasters warning of extreme fire weather conditions.

At Friday’s news conference, officials projected confidence that they were better prepared to respond to the ongoing fire danger.

Marrone said that “the county family is always improving” and that agencies are implementing changes recommend in after-action reports of last year’s wildfire’s.

“The Jan. 7, 2025, wildfires were very unique in that we had two wildfire-initiated community conflagrations eight hours apart,” he said. “No other jurisdiction in the United States ever fought the fires that we fought on Jan. 7.”