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(NewsNation) – More than 50,000 people are under evacuation orders or warnings due to another fire that broke out late Wednesday morning in Los Angeles County.
The Hughes fire started quickly engulfing 10,176 acres, according to CAL FIRE. It charred miles of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area.
The extremely strong winds fueled the flames. However, they have since died – something firefighters used to their advantage. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said that because the winds were not as strong as two weeks ago, aircrews were able to drop fire retardant on the south side of the fire where the flames were moving.
However, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles warned that winds are expected to increase and expand through Thursday morning.
“The humidity is already extremely dry,” the NWS said. “Much of LA and Ventura Counties are at critical Red Flag levels. Any new fire can grow quickly.”
Portions of Interstate 5 near the Hughes Fire that had been closed were reopened Wednesday evening.
“It’s really horrible to see it happen,” said Castaic Town Council member Chris Dittes. “But this case here is not about tragedy. There are no homes that have been burned, as far as I know. It’s just been brush that’s actually been burning for a long time.”
Still, “any fire is obviously scary,” Dittes added.
Another wildfire in Ventura County, which local businesses says is being called the Laguna fire, was reported near Camarillo in the hills near the California State University Channel Islands. Firefighters responded to Laguna around 8:35 a.m., the Ventura County Star reported.
Those on CSUCI’s campus were told to evacuate.
Evacuation warnings were also in effect Wednesday but were later lifted for parts of the Brentwood and Bel Air neighborhoods because of the Sepulveda fire that started overnight. Firefighters were able to stop progress on Sepulveda around 1 p.m. 02.00 Thursday, NewsNation local affiliate KTLA reported. It flamed burned about 40 acres.
The Los Angeles area had already been devastated by wildfires that began earlier this month and has continued to burn.
Of these, the Palisades fire is the largest, burning 23,448 acres. That’s it 72% containedper CAL FOUR.
The second largest, the Eaton Fire, is 14,021 acres and 95% contained. At least 28 people are dead and more than 14,000 structures destroyed between both the Palisades and Eaton fires.
Meanwhile, the Clay Fire in Riverside County has burned 39 acres and reached 70% containment.
Marrone said residents and officials have been on edge over the past 16 days because of the high numbers that started in January.
However, Marrone noted that the situation for the Hughes fire is different.
“In addition to the state resources that were pre-deployed, we had two strike teams in the Santa Clarita area,” he told reporters. “We were able to bring together a lot of brand resources early on to change what this brand looks like.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
