Thousands evacuate amid blaze near Los Angeles | Global News Avenue

A new, fast-moving wildfire has broken out in Los Angeles County, prompting tens of thousands of people to evacuate a region already suffering some of the most destructive fires in history.

The Hughes Fire ignited Wednesday morning about 45 miles northwest of Los Angeles, near Castaic Lake in a mountainous area bordering several residential areas and schools.

The fire spread to more than 9,200 acres in a matter of hours on Wednesday, driven by high winds and dry brush. No homes or businesses were damaged and fire officials expressed confidence that the blaze was under control.

The new fire is north of the two still-burning Mammoth Fires that devastated multiple Los Angeles-area communities earlier this month.

Local news showed residents near the Hughes Fire hosing down their homes and gardens with water, while others rushed to evacuate the community.

Orange flames line the mountain Aircraft dropping water and flame retardants.

A red flag warning has been issued again for the area, warning of high fire risk due to strong winds and dry, low-humidity conditions.

Winds in the area are around 20 to 30 mph (32 to 48 kilometers per hour), but wind speeds could increase, intensifying fires and making operations more difficult for crews.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said about 31,000 people in the area were under mandatory evacuation orders and another 23,000 were warned they might have to flee. He added that a prison in the area was evacuating nearly 500 inmates from the facility.

The fire continued to spread as the sun set, but Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Malone said he believed rescuers were making progress.

“Although we are gaining the upper hand, the situation remains unstable and the fire remains difficult to control,” he said.

Chief Marrone explained how this fire differs from the Palisades and Eaton fires earlier this month, which killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 10,000 homes and businesses.

He said it was a mix of low winds – unlike the 70 to 90 mph winds seen at previous fires – and having so many helicopters and planes able to attack the blaze from above.

“I think we’ve all been on edge the last 16 days,” he said. “We were able to bring together significant firefighting resources early on to change the look of this fire.”

Ed Fletcher of Cal Fire, California’s statewide firefighting agency, told the BBC that the fire was different from those earlier this month. He said the winds were not that strong yet and many crews were working to extinguish the flames.

“It was very dry and we knew the winds were going to pick up later on,” he said. “We’ll know more in a few hours.”

Mr. Fletcher noted that the area is not heavily populated and that current winds are blowing the fire toward Castaic Lake, which serves as a buffer between the Castaic area, which has about 20,000 residents.

“If it jumped over the lake,” he said, “it would make things more dynamic.”

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

“It looked like a cloud, but when you got closer, it looked like we were driving into hell,” she said of the black smoke and red flames she saw. “Honestly, it’s just horrible.”

She admitted she was nervous after seeing the nearby Palisades and Eaton fires burning.

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

Two other fires broke out Wednesday further south near San Diego and Oceanside, officials said.

They are both smaller — the Lilac Fire near Oceanside is 85 acres and the Center Fire is 3.9 acres — but both burn in densely populated areas. Firefighters appear to have both blazes under control and evacuation orders have mostly been lifted.

Angeles National Forest spokesperson Dana Dilks noted that high winds and dry brush have made recent fires more difficult to extinguish.

“California doesn’t have a fire season. We have a fire year,” she said. “We’ve had wildfires in January before, but they were exacerbated by Santa Ana winds. Wind is a big factor when we have such a dry year.”

Rain is forecast for the region over the weekend, which is good news to remove the threat of fires. But the rains have brought new worries about mudslides, floods and landslides.

Areas that have experienced recent fires are particularly at risk because burned ground is less absorbent.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Monday to help free up resources for post-fire flood and landslide preparations.

Thousands of people have been filled by staff sandbag for hazardous areas.

Samantha Glanville contributed to this report.