Los Angeles: A fast-moving brush fire erupted in Los Angeles County Wednesday morning, expanding to 8,096 acres (32.76 square km) with zero containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
The blaze dubbed Hughes Fire broke out around 10:30 a.m. local time (1830 GMT) in the area of Lake Hughes Road near Castaic Lake, about 80 km northwest of downtown Los Angeles, the Cal Fire reported, noting it quickly grew to the size in less than 6 hours and had crossed the county line to the neighboring Venture County.
Fueled by heavy and dry plants, and pushed by gusting Santa Ana winds, the latest wildfire in Southern California spread rapidly, the local media said, adding approximately 19,000 residents are under mandatory evacuation orders.
Students from middle and elementary schools in the Castaic community were evacuated on Wednesday afternoon, and the Castaic Sports Complex was also under a mandatory evacuation order, which was used by firefighters as a command post.
The Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic evacuated 476 inmates to the nearby North County Correction Facility.
Los Angeles County has been inundated with deadly blazes this month. The Palisades and Eaton fires, the largest ones in the most populous county of the United States, have killed 28 people, sparked numerous mandatory evacuations, and destroyed thousands of structures.
The National Weather Service Los Angeles warned Wednesday afternoon that high winds were expected to continue in Southern California throughout the afternoon and overnight, further inhibiting firefighting efforts against the wildfires raging in the region.
“Winds will be elevated enough to cause explosive fire behavior,” meteorologist Ariel Cohen said. “This is a very volatile situation and everyone needs to be prepared.”
