CNN
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Thousands of Southern California residents were ordered to evacuate Wednesday after fire crews battled the out-of-control Hughes Fire near Castaic, a suburban town in the foothills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County.
In five hours, the fire spread over 8,000 acres. According to Cal Fire. Residents in the immediate vicinity of Castaic Lake are mandated to evacuate. LA County Fire Department. The unincorporated community of Castac is approximately 15 miles northwest of the city of Santa Clarita and borders the Angeles National Forest.
Cal Fire said the fire was 0% contained as of 4 p.m. and was affecting both Los Angeles and Ventura counties. About 19,000 residents are under evacuation orders, while 16,000 are under evacuation warnings, a Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman told CNN Wednesday afternoon.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told CNN affiliate KCAL on Wednesday that evacuation numbers “are going to change.” “I have a feeling we’re going to upgrade it to something else.”
The fire has forced authorities to close. Part of Interstate 5a major freeway in the Los Angeles area that runs north and south. According to the California Highway Patrol, the closed portion of the freeway services the suburbs north of Los Angeles.
At the rate it’s going, the fire is burning an area the size of a football field every 2 to 3 seconds. Winds in the area are currently at about 20 mph and the flames are pushing southwest, with gusts of 30-40 mph in some places, according to the National Weather Service.
Oh County Jail According to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Castac has been partially evacuated. The prison is just south of the fire area and can house 4,295 inmates.
About 470 inmates have been evacuated, a sheriff’s department spokesman told CNN, but it’s unclear why they’re being moved or where they’re being taken.
Meanwhile, all students who attend Castaic Middle School and Castaic High School were evacuated to a Ralph’s supermarket parking lot Wednesday, according to the California Highway Patrol. Students from North Lake Elementary were transported to the Caustic Sports Complex. The agency said on X.
College of the Canyons’ Valencia and Canyon Country campuses have been closed as a “precautionary measure” due to the Hughes Fire, the college said in a statement. Website.
City officials said smoke was visible as far as the city of Oxnard, about 50 miles southwest of Castaic in Ventura County. said on social media Wednesday.
Images showed a large plume of smoke billowing westbound on Interstate 5 as flames erupted near Caustic Lake in the grassy hills just north of Santa Clarita.
The fire will likely spread south and west from where it started, according to data and forecast models from thermal intelligence company Aurora Technologies. Models show Caustic is at considerable risk of being affected by flare-ups.
Satellite data used by Aurora Technologies first detected a hotspot just north of Castac Lake at 10:45 a.m. Cal Fire officials said they first discovered the fire at 10:53 a.m.
Additional data from Aurora Technologies shows that the area where the fire started and is currently burning is mostly scrub and grassland, with some limited woodland.
According to Dana Dirks, spokeswoman for the Angeles National Forest, thick brush in the area is fueling the fast-growing fire.
“We’re in pretty tough conditions” and it’s “incredibly dry,” Dierks told CNN affiliate KCAL on Wednesday. “There are houses in the general vicinity and in the immediate vicinity.”
Fire officials previously told KCAL that at least 10 firefighting aircraft had been requested for the airstrike.
The whole of Angeles is a national forest. off to the general public through Jan. 24, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
