A rapidly moving wildfire erupted north of Los Angeles on Wednesday, torching nearly 10,000 acres in a short span, with more than 50,000 residents forced to evacuate, just weeks after fierce winds triggered deadly fires throughout Southern California.
Known as the Hughes Fire, the blaze broke out shortly before 11 a.m. near the town of Castaic, located around 40 miles from the areas ravaged by the Eaton and Palisades fires. Initially reported as a 50-acre fire, it swiftly exploded to around 9,400 acres by early evening, according to Los Angeles Fire Chief Anthony Marrone. Another 23,000 people are in areas under evacuation warnings, according to the LA County Sheriff's Department.
Another Wildfire Within Days

Fire officials reported that no buildings have been damaged or destroyed so far. Around 4,000 firefighters are actively fighting the blaze. Marrone said that crews would remain on-site overnight and into Thursday morning to manage and extinguish hot spots.
"Do not drive into these areas," Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said.
"You are impacting the ingress and egress of emergency vehicles, and we don't need more traffic. We want less traffic. We don't want you walking around in the impacted areas to impact the community members who live here."
Luna urged residents to avoid entering evacuated areas, adding that more personnel had been deployed to protect homes.
Around 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday, a massive plume of smoke was sotted in the wilderness near Santa Clarita. In response, first responders called for four aircraft and 50 fire engines, as reported by the fire monitoring group Watch Duty.
The initial request suggested that the fire was already on the verge of becoming uncontrollable, noted Jacob Weigley, a wildfire coordinator from Central Pierce County, Washington, who has been monitoring the blaze and staying in contact with colleagues near the site.
Out of Control

The Palisades Fire, which has consumed over 24,000 acres in Los Angeles since it began on January 7, was 63 percent contained as of Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, the Eaton Fire in northern LA County, which has burned roughly 14,000 acres, reached 91 percent containment.
The Hughes Fire led authorities to shut down a 30-mile section of the 5 Freeway in both directions as flames tore across hilltops and descended into forested canyons. However, the freeway has since reopened.
At the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, one of three facilities housing 476 inmates was evacuated, with prisoners relocated to a brick building within the same complex, according to Luna. He added that contingency plans are in place for the prison, which still holds 4,500 inmates, should fire conditions worsen, describing the situation as dynamic and rapidly changing.
The cause of the Hughes Fire remains unclear, and containment efforts are still at 0%.
Weekend rainfall could aid in suppressing the wildfires, but it also raises the risk of hazardous mudslides and flooding in areas near the burn zones.
Red Flag Warnings will stay in effect until Friday morning for much of LA and Ventura counties, with light to moderate Santa Ana winds persisting through Thursday.