Live Updates: New Fire Explodes North of Los Angeles, Forcing Evacuations
The Hughes fire, burning near Castaic Lake north of Santa Clarita, grew to more than 5,000 acres in a little over two hours. Nearby schools and thousands of residents were evacuated.
A new brush fire rapidly exploded on Wednesday near Castaic Lake, a reservoir about 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, forcing nearby schools and thousands of residents to evacuate. The blaze brought new terror to Southern California more than two weeks after fires first tore through parts of Los Angeles County.
The new threat, named the Hughes fire, ignited just before 11 a.m. local time and consumed more than 5,000 acres in a little more than two hours, according to Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency. About 19,000 residents were under evacuation orders, and another 15,000 were under evacuation warnings.
Firefighters from several nearby communities were quickly deployed. The Los Angeles County Fire Department’s aerial fleet was dropping retardant to try to put out the flames amid 30 mile-per-hour gusts. Firefighters were again facing the kind of dry, windy conditions that can serve as fuel for fast-growing wildfires.
