A rapidly growing wildfire broke out some 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Los Angeles on Wednesday, burning 5,054 acres (20 square kilometers) while two major fires burning in the metropolitan area for more than two weeks were getting under control, fire officials said.
The Hughes Fire in the Castaic Lake area of Los Angeles County forced evacuations with warnings of "immediate threat to life," while much of Southern California remained under a red-flag warning for extreme fire risk due to strong, dry winds.
Some 19,000 people, a number roughly equal to the entire population of the community of Castaic, were under mandatory evacuation orders, according to Los Angeles County officials. Another 16,000 were under evacuation warnings.
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