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(NewsNation) – More than 50,000 people are under evacuation warnings due to another fire that broke out late Wednesday morning in Los Angeles County.
The Hughes fire started late Wednesday morning and quickly engulfed 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 use to their advantage.
“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.
Evacuation warnings were also in effect but later lifted for parts of the Brentwood and Bel Air neighborhoods because of the Sepulveda fire, which 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 70% containedper CAL FOUR.
The second largest, the Eaton Fire, is 14,021 acres and 95% contained.
Meanwhile, the Clay Fire in Riverside County has burned 39 acres and reached 65% containment.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony 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.
