Thousands evacuated due to fire near Los Angeles

A new, fast-spreading wildfire has broken out in Los Angeles County, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate a region already reeling from the most destructive fires in history.

The Hughes Fire ignited Wednesday afternoon near Castaic Lake in a mountainous area bordering several residential communities and schools about 45 miles northwest of the city of Los Angeles.

The out-of-control blaze grew to more than 9,400 acres in a matter of hours, fueled by wind and dry brush that served as fuel. No homes or businesses were damaged, but about 31,000 residents were forced to evacuate and Interstate 5, a major highway that runs from Mexico to Canada along the U.S. West Coast, was closed.

A new fire is burning north of two massive fires that destroyed several Los Angeles-area neighborhoods earlier this month (and are still burning).

Two other fires spread farther south near San Diego and Oceanside, officials said.

The Lilac Fire near Oceanside burned at 85 acres and the Bernardo Fire at 3.9 acres, both smaller but in densely populated areas. Firefighters appeared to have both fires under control, evacuation orders were largely lifted and progress was halted.

Local news in Los Angeles County showed people near the Hughes Fire spraying water on their homes and yards and rushing to evacuate the area.

Orange blazes line the mountain. The aircraft dropped water and flame retardant..

Warnings have once again been issued for the region of a high fire risk due to strong winds and dry, low humidity conditions.

Winds in the area are gusting around 20 to 30 mph but are expected to strengthen throughout the day. This could cause the flames to grow further and make it more difficult for aircrews to continue the fight from above.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said about 31,000 people in the area were under mandatory evacuation orders and another 23,000 were under warnings. He added that nearly 500 inmates were being evacuated from a prison in the region.

The fire continued to grow as the sun set, but Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said firefighters believed they were making progress.

“The situation remains dynamic and although we have the upper hand, the fire remains a difficult wildfire to extinguish,” he said.

Ed Fletcher, who works for Cal Fire, the state fire agency, told the BBC this fire was different from the one that occurred earlier this month. The winds aren’t that strong yet and a lot of manpower is working to put out the fire, he said.

“It’s very dry and we know it’s going to get more and more windy later on,” he said. “We will know more in a few hours.”

Mr Fletcher pointed out that the area is not very densely populated and that winds are currently blowing the fire towards Lake Castaic, which acts as a buffer between the Castaic region, which has about 20,000 residents.

“If you jump across the lake, it’s a much more dynamic situation,” he said.

A woman who was evacuated from her home told NBC 4 she was trapped on Interstate 5, California’s main transportation highway that runs through the state. Parts of the highway in the area were closed due to the fire.

“It looked like a cloud, but when I got closer, it felt like I was going to hell,” she said of the black smoke and red flames she saw. “I was pretty scared to be honest with you.”

She admitted she became anxious after seeing the nearby Palisades and Eaton fires, which killed at least 28 people and damaged more than 10,000 homes and businesses.

“I don’t know why they keep showing up,” she said. “It’s definitely a scary time for this region.”

Dana Dierkes, a spokeswoman for the Angeles National Forest, noted that wind and dry brush are making recent fires much more difficult to contain.

“There is no fire season in California. We have a fire year,” she said. “We’ve had wildfires in January before, but Santa Ana winds have made them worse. In a dry year like this, winds are a big factor.”

Rain is forecast for the region over the weekend, which is welcome news as it could help ease the fire threat. But heavy rains are raising new fears in the form of landslides, floods and mudslides.

Areas with recent fires are particularly at risk because the burned ground is not very absorbent. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Monday to free up resources to prepare for flooding and slides following the fires.

Crews filled the thousands. sandbag About the affected areas.

Samantha Granville contributed to this report.