{
  "id": "2025-01-22-california-institute-of-the-arts-hughes-fire-evacuation",
  "slug": "california-institute-of-the-arts-hughes-fire-evacuation-2025-01-22",
  "institution": {
    "name": "California Institute of the Arts",
    "shortName": "CalArts",
    "state": "CA",
    "type": "private-bachelors",
    "alertSystemName": "CalArts Campus Safety / LiveSafe",
    "enrollment": 1500
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-01-22",
    "endDate": "2025-01-26",
    "type": "wildfire",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "LA fire / wind campus alert; campus reopened",
    "summary": "CalArts [published Campus Alert updates](https://calarts.edu/news/campus-alert-la-fire-and-wind-impacts) during LA fire and wind impacts, including evacuation standby and campus reopen. Full official text recovered.",
    "headlinePublic": "LA fire / wind campus alert; campus reopened"
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Campus Alert page updates through Jan. 26 2025 reopen",
      "channel": "website",
      "verbatimText": "In the event of an emergency evacuation for the CalArts campus, CalArts will be notified by local authorities well in advance of the actual evacuation time and date, and placed on standby. If that occurs, we post and send that information immediately to students, faculty and staff.\n\nWelcome back! CalArts' campus is open and has resumed all normal operations as of 11 am today, Sunday, Jan. 26.\n\nWith improving weather conditions and good progress by firefighters, we are preparing to reopen CalArts' campus at 11 am Sunday. Residential students may return to the Chouinard, Ahmanson, and Monticello residences at that time.\n\nCampus will reopen and resume normal operations at 11 am Sunday, Jan. 26. All student residents will be able to return to their dorms and apartments at that time, and Steve's Café will reopen for Sunday lunch. Evacuated students will receive an email this evening with detailed instructions for their return to campus.\n\nSpring term classes will begin in person, as scheduled, on Monday, Jan. 27.\n\nCampus Safety for questions about campus closures, facilities, or general information: campussafety@calarts.edu or 661-222-2702\n\nResidence Life for questions about evacuations and returning to campus housing: reslife@calarts.edu\n\nDue to the challenging circumstances related to the Hughes Fire, and the need to keep campus closed on Friday, January 24 as a precautionary measure, we will not be holding in-person classes on Friday. Instructors have the option to hold classes remotely if feasible and will contact you directly regarding this option; however, due to differences in individual circumstances, attendance will not be mandatory. Considering that Winter Session has been so impacted by wildfire-related disruptions, we have made the decision to issue credit/passing grades for all students enrolled in Winter Session. Please continue to monitor your email for updates about the reopening of campus and the plan for classes on Monday.\n\nAs of this morning, the Hughes Fire, which broke out yesterday about 13 miles north of CalArts, has reached 14% containment, and the CalArts campus remains safe. Here are the latest updates on campus closures, class cancellations, evacuations, and resources:\n\nAll CalArts residence halls - Chouinard, Ahmanson, and the Monticello Apartments - have been evacuated out of an abundance of caution. Residential students who need accommodations have been relocated to nearby Redlands and Woodbury Universities. Affected students will receive ongoing updates from Residence Life staff.\n\nChouinard update: Water service to Chouinard Hall is expected to be restored next week following a waterline break. If water is not yet available when students are cleared to return to campus, portable toilets and showers will be available.\n\nResources & Contacts: We will continue to post updates to the website as they become available. We encourage you to use the Genasys Protect and Watch Duty apps or websites to access up-to-the-minute information about fires and evacuation warnings in your area.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://calarts.edu/news/campus-alert-la-fire-and-wind-impacts",
      "sourceDescription": "Official CalArts Campus Alert: LA Fire and Wind Impacts page",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim excerpts from official CalArts multi-update campus alert page."
      ],
      "characterCount": 3053,
      "confidence": "high"
    }
  ],
  "context": "CalArts, the small Valencia conservatory founded by Walt Disney, sits in northern Los Angeles County near terrain that burns. When the [Hughes Fire](https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/22/hughes-fire/) ignited east of Castaic Lake at 10:42 a.m. PST on January 22, 2025 and exploded past 3,400 acres with zero containment within two hours, CalArts closed campus and canceled classes the same afternoon even though it was never placed in a mandatory evacuation zone, according to the school's [Campus Alert page](https://calarts.edu/news/campus-alert-la-fire-and-wind-impacts). The institute then proactively evacuated its Chouinard and Ahmanson residence halls, busing roughly 150 students and staff to the [University of Redlands](https://www.redlands.edu/about/office-of-the-president/presidents-messages/2025/supporting-calarts-students-impacted-by-hughes-fire) and 44 more to Woodbury University. The Hughes Fire forced [tens of thousands of evacuations across northern LA County](https://ktla.com/news/local-news/hughes-fire-leaves-tens-of-thousands-evacuated-in-northern-l-a-county/) before crews held it. CalArts kept the campus closed through at least January 26 and converted disrupted Winter Session courses to credit/passing, a notable example of a specialty arts school making conservative life-safety calls ahead of any official order.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "CalArts closed and canceled classes the same afternoon the Hughes Fire ignited, before any mandatory evacuation order reached the campus",
    "The institute proactively evacuated its Chouinard and Ahmanson residence halls, relocating about 150 students and staff to the University of Redlands and 44 to Woodbury University",
    "Even after the fire reached 14% containment, CalArts kept the campus closed through at least January 26, 2025 rather than declare an all-clear",
    "Disrupted Winter Session courses were graded credit/passing, an academic accommodation tied directly to the wildfire emergency"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Campus Alert: LA Fire and Wind Impacts - CalArts",
      "url": "https://calarts.edu/news/campus-alert-la-fire-and-wind-impacts",
      "type": "official-archive",
      "accessDate": "2026-07-26"
    },
    {
      "title": "Supporting CalArts Students Impacted by Hughes Fire - University of Redlands",
      "url": "https://www.redlands.edu/about/office-of-the-president/presidents-messages/2025/supporting-calarts-students-impacted-by-hughes-fire",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hughes Fire - CAL FIRE incident page",
      "url": "https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/22/hughes-fire/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hughes Fire leaves tens of thousands evacuated in northern L.A. County - KTLA",
      "url": "https://ktla.com/news/local-news/hughes-fire-leaves-tens-of-thousands-evacuated-in-northern-l-a-county/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "arts-school",
    "conservatory",
    "wildfire",
    "evacuation",
    "california",
    "hughes-fire",
    "specialty-institution"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-28",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-08-03",
  "addedBy": "ingestion",
  "annotations": [
    "B24 first-message queue 2026-08-16: first preserved message is type update (not 'initial'); no earlier official initial located on cited source at re-check. Record starts here; type left unchanged."
  ],
  "dateModified": "2026-08-16"
}